Cypress County's interim CAO Mike Koziol poses for a photograph on Tuesday.--News Photo Anna Smith
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
With Cypress County chief administrative officer Tarolyn Aaserud taking a position with the City of Medicine Hat, the county welcomes an interim replacement in Mike Koziol.
Koziol was born and raised in Edmonton, but has taken on various roles throughout the province over the years before he retired in 2017.
“I started my career with Alberta transportation as a bridge engineer. I lived in Peace River, Red Deer, Edmonton,” said Koziol. “I moved to Lethbridge to work in the private sector, and did a lot of transportation-type work presentations to councils. And then when I was done with that, I went on to highway maintenance.”
Koziol served as the manager of street engineering for the City of Edmonton for eight years, which he called the “best job in the world,” though he added it was occasionally intimidating to present to council there.
“When I worked for the City of Edmonton, I had a terrific mentor,” said Koziol. “He taught me so much about how to deal with council, how to avoid political landmines, how to be prepared for the types of questions councillors are going to ask you. So after I left that job after, you know, eight and a half years, I kept that with me.”
This lesson stuck with him through his own retirement, where he found he missed the ins and outs of municipal work, and advice from a friend finally led him to pursue an interim CAO position in Hinton.
Since then, Koziol has taken on a series of similar jobs, bridging the gap between permanent CAOs for different municipalities and keeping things running smoothly while they search for an individual qualified for the job.
“It is a neat job in retirement. So they call me up, but they only need me for three to six months,” said Koziol. “So I pack up my little life and move there and try to keep the employees from worrying about what the new guy will be like, and I help the council find a new person for a permanent CAO.”
The location was attractive to Koziol for an interim position, with Cypress being a former client of his during his career, and he added his family even has some small history in the region, with his grandfather once serving as mayor of Brooks.
Koziol says that while he is present at the county, staff and residents alike can expect cool and steady leadership.
“I try not to make unnecessary changes that the incoming person might not want, and I try to fix problems that you know that this same person is going to have to fix anyway,” said Koziol. “It’s all about keeping things smooth and making it easier for the new person when they get here.”
