Heather Foley Melvin will continue to have her salary paid by taxpayers even though her job soon won’t exist.
Seen by many as a patronage appointment by the Conservative government, Foley Melvin was chief of staff to then Premier Rodney MacDonald. Despite questions about her qualifications, MacDonald appointed her to head up Conserve Nova Scotia in 2006 for $130,000 per year.
Days before his government lost power, MacDonald gave Foley Melvin a two-year extension.
As Conserve Nova Scotia gets transformed into Efficiency Nova Scotia, Foley Melvin’s job will not carry over.
Instead the ENS board of directors will pick a new head.
“If she is of the mind to apply for one of the positions she would, I assume, be considered. But at this stage that’s something for Ms. Foley Melvin to decide,” Energy Minister Bill Estabrooks said.
Estabrooks added it’s been a “positive experience” working with Foley Melvin. Even if she doesn’t get the new ENS job the government will honour her contract, which runs until June, 2011.
The 15 other Conserve Nova Scotia employees will also have a chance to apply for new ENS jobs or they can move to a different position within government.
“There will be a place in the public service for them,” Estabrooks said.
