The Political Trenches: Local Government At Work · The Political Trenches

Full Interview: CAO Kelly Lloyd

·30 min·1 clip

Milk River's water supply comes from Montana, and Kelly says the past year has been "interesting."

1. The Political Trenches: Local Government At Work focuses on dual CAO leadership for Milk River and Warner in southern Alberta. 2. Kelly Lloyd is the guest CAO, and she matters because she runs both municipalities while discussing how the arrangement works in practice. 3. The episode asks what it takes to manage two councils, two staffs, and two communities under one administrative role. 4. Lloyd says she arrived after an earlier dual-role arrangement already existed, and both councils had agreed to share a CAO. 5. Milk River serves as the lead managing partner, handling payroll, contract management, and service billing for Warner. 6. The contract between the two municipalities spells out how many hours per week each community receives. 7. Lloyd describes the first year as a learning curve, including living in her son's holiday trailer at a campground from March to November. 8. She explains that she eventually set a schedule of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for Milk River and Tuesday and Thursday for Warner. 9. Lloyd says non-emergency questions often have to wait until the day she is physically working for that community. 10. She says the arrangement slowed fast-moving requests that were arriving from both towns at once. 11. Lloyd says residents and businesses still expect immediate responses, even when she is scheduled in the other municipality. 12. She jokes that she can be in Milk River and still receive calls from Warner, or be in Warner and receive calls from Milk River. 13. Lloyd says the small-community size helps because people already know one another and some duties can be shared. 14. She points to public works collaboration and bulk buying as practical ways the two places help each other. 15. Milk River's water supply from Montana is a current issue, and Lloyd says work on a temporary or permanent supplemental supply now includes Warner. 16. She says advocacy requires wearing different "hats" and being clear with council about which municipality she is speaking for. 17. The interview is conversational and practical, with Craig asking follow-up questions about culture, burnout, and regional collaboration. 18. Lloyd keeps returning to communication, boundaries, and openness as the tools that make the role workable. 19. People interested in municipal administration, rural governance, and shared services will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners looking for fast political analysis or a heavily scripted format may skip it.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Political Trenches: Local Government At Work