The Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake's director of operations, Sheldon Randall, who was recently honoured for 25 years of service to the town, is one of NOTL's pandemic heroes.

Randall, who started at the town in 1996 and worked his way up to operations manager, has stepped in on multiple occasions to lead the town administration when needed.

Most recently in 2020, as interim chief administrator, Randall helped lead the town through the first nine months of the global pandemic, working virtually around the clock and adapting to a rapidly changing situation. He and the lord mayor were given emergency powers by council to make decisions in the best interests of the town and Randall used his experience to help ensure NOTL responded wisely to the pandemic.

During a Feb. 22 meeting of council, Lord Mayor Betty Disero praised Randall's role in guiding the town's pandemic response.

“For the first nine months of this COVID-19 pandemic, he tirelessly guided the emergency control group, working hard and pretty well all day, every day to steer our ship through these fairly rocky waters,” she said.

“The town staff have watched Sheldon expertly balance work and family life, becoming a role model of a father to Eric and Eva. He is fortunate to have Sandy, his lovely wife, at his side to put put up with his shenanigans.”

She also gave a shout out to his family dog Banks, the “ultimate heart softener.”

“Sheldon is truly a family man, a well-rounded and versatile employee who is always willing to step in where needed. (He is) an intelligent, kind and compassionate member of our senior management team, which is evident in the way our staff adore him,” Disero said.