BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Hudson has hired a new director-general – its third in as many years.

Vanessa Roach, a former top administrator with the Town of Senneville for 17 years, has been working as an independent consultant since 2023. She will start her new job June 25.

“She is results oriented,” said Mayor Chloe Hutchison on Monday evening, adding that is exactly what Hudson needs.

Roach, who also served as treasurer for the Town of Huntingdon in the Châteauguay Valley, has been hired on a two-year contract, with a four-month probationary period. This will give the current council the opportunity to assess her progress before the November municipal election, Hutchison said, while extending further assessments to the next council and maintaining continuity for the town’s administration.

Roach replaces Marie-Jacinthe Roberge, who reached a settlement to end her employment as director-general in March, almost seven months after taking a leave of absence. She officially was named to the post in early 2024.

Roberge was first hired in 2023 as assistant director-general under the guidance and training of interim director-general Martin Houde, a veteran municipal administrator who was hired by Hudson under contract on a temporary basis in the fall of 2022. Houde originally had been engaged on a four-month contract after Hudson council reached a settlement to terminate the employment of its previous director-general, Philip Toone.

Toone reached a settlement deal in September 2022 to terminate his employment. At that time, Hutchison said Toone opted to leave “to take on new challenges.”

As for Houde, he has seen his temporary contract renewed several times over the last almost three years, deals that saw his title flip from interim director-general to special projects’ consultant, back to director-general and interim treasurer, to part-time interim director-general. Hutchison said Houde will continue with the town until about August as special projects co-ordinator. He is currently overseeing negotiations with the municipality’s unionized workers.

The new hire will also signal the end of a contract with veteran administrator Susan McKercher, who is currently acting as interim director-general. Her contract ends in August.

In the meantime, Hudson is now on the hunt for a new co-ordinator of human resources following the resignation last month of Kathy Laviolette, a 14-year veteran with Hudson.

All of this comes after Hudson finally hired a treasurer in February, its second in three years.

Karine McDonald started as treasurer on March 5, replacing Christian Fincu, who served as director of finance for less than two months when he was fired in November 2024. His hiring last September came following a nine-month search after his predecessor, Mario Miller, was abruptly dismissed in January 2024.

Like Roach, McDonald is a former administrator with the Town of Senneville.