By Mark Squibb
The City of Mount Pearl’s newest municipal enforcement officer (MEO) Claire Wiseman was sworn in during a public meeting last month.
Wiseman and her husband hail from the United Kingdom and moved to Calgary in 2014. While in Calgary, Wiseman worked with the highway patrol for eight years.
“We really missed living by the ocean, because we had lived on the south coast of England, and my best friend lives in Paradise, so we took a week’s trip in 2022,” said Wiseman. “My friend showed us around, and we said, ‘Yes, we love Newfoundland, we want to move here,’ and we made the move right at the end of the year in 2022.”
Prior to moving, Wiseman secured a job as an MEO with the Town of Paradise, where she worked until accepting the position with Mount Pearl.
Members of council welcomed Wiseman, with councillor Mark Rice quipping he was glad that Wiseman decided to leave Paradise for Mount Pearl.
As already reported in The Pearl, Jordan Cole was sworn in as an MEO this past August.
While you might think the City was hiring additional MEO’s in response to violent incidents last year, which resulted in the drafting of a new soon-to-be released community safety plan, staff say that as yet there has been no change in the City’s approach to the hiring of MEOs, and that the two new officers were hired due to regular turnover of staff. No extra officers have been added to the City’s roster.
The City’s newest municipal enforcement officer, Claire Wiseman, was sworn in last month. From left are Mayor Dave Aker, and Claire Wiseman.