By Tyler Waugh, The Pearl/Local Journalism Initiative
Mount Pearl council approved several items during the July 21 public meeting related to professional development and travel expenses for council members and senior staff.
Professional development requests for interim Deputy Mayor Jim Locke, CAO Cassie Rideout and councillors Isabelle Fry and Chelsea Lane to attend the Atlantic Mayors Congress taking place Sept. 11 - 13 in Truro, NS all got approval.
“This has to do with professional development and this is always important for us to move forward with our management and staff and council to go to other areas and learn more and bring it back to help our city,” said councillor Bill Antle.
Council also approved travel requests for Mayor Dave Aker and CAO Rideout to attend the Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador Urban Municipalities Committee (UMC) meeting taking place August 28-29 in Bay Roberts.
“There’s a lot of travel on the go this month, I guess,” said Antle in presenting the agenda items.
The last professional development request was for recreation and community safety director Jason Collins to attend the Corporate Event Marketing Association (CEMA) Summit 2026 Conference that took place Aug. 8 – 12 in Toronto, ON.
“This conference has a strong focus on corporate event planning. The skills and strategies shared at this summit will directly support the efforts to attract, market, and deliver successful events that maximize the use of the facilities and enhance community impact,” read an administrative summary in the July 21 agenda. “These sessions will provide actionable insights into trends, audience development, sponsorship, and event experience design that can be adapted to the City’s municipal and community focused environment.”
Council voted unanimously to approve all the professional development and travel requests. The specific costs for each approval were not provided.