Mario Gerbeau, who was hired as City Clerk following a lengthy search for the right candidate, worked for the City of Outremont, before it merged five years ago with the City of Montreal.

He was most recently director of the borough office in Outremont. In addition to his clerk's duties in Westmount, Gerbeau will also be the City's Director of Legal Services.

Earlier in his career as a civil servant, Gerbeau served in the northern Quebec village of Kuujjuak. He has also worked for the City of Amos a little further south, followed by a stint as assistant city clerk with the City of Montreal.

Welcoming him during city council's monthly meeting last Monday evening, Mayor Karin Marks described Gerbeau as an expert's expert, who is often consulted by other city clerks when they are in doubt.

"Mario Gerbeau was always the go-to person," she said. "When any city clerks have a difficult question that they weren't sure how they were going to answer, they would phone Mario Gerbeau. And our first question tonight is 'who is he going phone?' So he's going to have to figure that one out."

Gerbeau's appointment fills a vacancy left when former Westmount city clerk Lucie Tousignant resigned last year. Since then, assistant clerk Nancy Gagnon was enlisted to do the job. However, Gagnon has recently been on sick leave. Alan Kulaga, Westmount's assistant director-general and head of human resources, was acting as interim city clerk over the last few months.

Councillor Tom Thompson, who as chairman of the Finance and Administration Committee played a role in the decision to hire Gerbeau, said Kulaga was so busy as a result of all the jobs he was doing that "when Alan sat down for lunch he'd have a staff meeting.

"We are very pleased to welcome Me. Mario Gerbeau to the City of Westmount and we wish him well," Thompson added. "This will not, I hope, be the last time we thank him very much for being here."