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Council approves two permanent executive admin positions

Two currently temporary executive leadership positions within St. Albert's administration will be permanent as of next year, as two motions to remove the positions were defeated on Dec. 1 in a council budget deliberation meeting.
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Multiple motions to prevent making two temporary city administration executive leadership positions permanent as of next year failed to receive the majority vote during the Dec. 1 council meeting. FILE/Photo

Two temporary executive leadership positions within St. Albert's administration will be permanent as of next year after two motions to remove the positions from the 2023 budget were defeated in a Dec. 1 council meeting. 

As previously reported by The Gazette, the city's proposed 2023 budget included $480,000 earmarked for two leadership positions to aid Bill Fletcher, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), with workload capacity issues and strategic planning. 

The two positions, which have been in place on a temporary basis since Fletcher was hired in June, were funded through salary savings from other vacant positions within administration, city spokesperson Cory Sinclair told The Gazette last month. 

During the Dec. 1 council meeting, motions brought forward by Coun. Shelley Biermanski and Coun. Sheena Hughes seeking to prevent the codification of the two positions failed by majority. 

Biermanski's motion was one of many she brought forward during budget deliberations that sought to reduce new city staff positions, and in an interview she said she didn't see the need to increase staffing costs in the current financial climate. 

In debate, Biermanski said, "I honestly want you (Fletcher) to succeed, I'm just hoping that we can find a way of doing it with out costing half a million dollars."

Coun. Ken MacKay, during council's discussion, said he was opposing the motions because it would prevent administration's ability to make efficient decisions, and harm the organization's long-term strategic planning. 

"We have wonderful people working in our organization, but they're hitting ceilings, and I think it's something that is going to significantly impact this organization in the long term," MacKay said. "I think we have a fairly strong leader that knows teams and knows team building and knows what he needs."

In an interview, MacKay said he believes making the two positions permanent will allow Fletcher to delegate responsibility while providing strong leadership for administration. 

"This allows a proper flow in the sense of it gives him not only good leadership and a good delegation of responsibilities, but it also trains and prepares senior staff for succession planning around new leaders," MacKay said. 

"I really believe that it will work so that we will get some better decision making at the more appropriate level."

Coun. Mike Killick also opposed the motions put forward by Biermanski and Hughes, and in debate, Killick said council needed to follow through on supporting Fletcher, who had no municipal governance experience prior to his role with the city. 

"We should follow through with our support of both him and the direction that he wants to take the operations and administration of St. Albert, and he can only do that with the support of the structure that he's put in place," Killick said, adding that he expects further leadership structure changes in the future as Fletcher continues in his role. 

"I think he has a vision for what he wants his team to look like and we have to support him in his view of what the future is going to look like for his executive organization," Killick said in an interview. 

Creates stability

"One of my critical roles is communicating with, informing, and enabling council to debate and make decisions," Fletcher told The Gazette, adding, "I can't do that, I think, if [council doesn't] have faith in everything from my character through to my intentions, and ultimately, my direction for city staff."

Fletcher said he thought council's vote to make the two positions permanent was a testament to the increased productivity from administration, but also the quality of support the two roles have been able to provide council on decision making over the past six months. 

Looking ahead, Fletcher said the permanent positions will bring some stability for the leadership group, and will kick-start work on developing a long-term strategic plan for administration, which is something that hasn't been put in place yet. 

"That's going to be a big priority for us in the next little while is to set out that long term outlook or framework, everything for visions, missions and values through to the measurement of success that we use between five and 10 year benchmarks that will allow us to prioritize our efforts and our work," he said. 

"I think it will improve communication in both directions, improve our ability to prioritize and resource the stuff that we're doing and ultimately, I think, make it a better workplace for folks because they'll be able to get what they need when they need it."


Jack Farrell

About the Author: Jack Farrell

Jack Farrell joined the St. Albert Gazette in May, 2022.
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