The Town of Redwater has appointed a new CAO

Ken Van Buul has more than 30 years of experience in public service. He grew up in Slave Lake, where he began his career in public service.

He’s moved around to many different communities and held various roles, including manager of recreation services in Spruce Grove, general manager for Parkland County and CAO in Lac La Biche.

His first day as Redwater CAO was Mar. 28.

“It really is humbling, quite frankly, anytime you get appointed as a CAO for a municipality. It’s an invitation by the leadership of council to join their team. And it’s an invitation and a responsibility to help council and the community attain its vision,” he said.

Van Buul’s first order of business is to better understand the council and the town as a whole. He said he wants to better understand where they are and where they want to go in the future.

He is replacing former CAO Larry Davidson.

“The ultimate goal was to secure the services of someone who is proficient, qualified and capable of moving Redwater forward by binding our team into a strong service-minded organization, ready to support the needs of our municipality. Council believes that Ken will be such a person and has offered him the opportunity to administratively lead us. Ken will be a strong asset, and on behalf of council and staff, I welcome him to Redwater,” said mayor Dave McRae.

When he isn’t working, Van Buul said he loves being with his family, and he has three big passions; movies, music and sports.