St. Albert has a new person at the helm of its communications department.
Maya Pungur-Buick took over as director of corporate communications and marketing last week. That position has been vacant since late January due to the resignation of Mike Kluttig.
“It’s a huge help for us,” said city manager Bill Holtby, of having the position filled. “Maya’s got excellent background and experience and has already hit the ground running and appears to be a perfect fit in terms of what our needs are.”
Pungur-Buick comes with 19 years experience in the communications field, with her most recent posting being with Norquest College. She’s also a former employee of the Public Affairs Bureau, the provincial government’s communications branch.
Pungur-Buick said she was attracted to St. Albert’s opening for the opportunity to work in a civic environment, which she’s never done before.
“It will take some time to really understand the issues in depth so I’m going to depend on other people for advice,” she said.
Her arrival comes at a time when city council is trying to improve the information flow between the city and residents. Council has expressed interest in exploring the use of social media.
“I think these new ways of communicating are really exciting. I think it can be really positive for people, for the community, so I’m really looking forward to figuring out how we do that in a meaningful way,” Pungur-Buick said.
Her tenure also comes at a time when both junior communications staff are in transition. One left last week to take a more senior position with the City of Edmonton while another who recently returned from maternity leave resigned last week to pursue part-time work. This situation represents both a challenge and an opportunity, Pungur-Buick said.
“It’s an opportunity for growth but it’s challenging because you don’t have institutional memory and then you’re leaning on other departments and people for guidance,” she said.
That said, the situation isn’t that new for her.
“When I was at Norquest I had no staff. I was brought in to build a department so I understand what it’s about,” Pungur-Buick said.
An extra challenge at city hall is the fact that Pungur-Buick has no immediate supervisor at the moment. The city is in the process of filling a vacancy in the position of general manager of business and strategic services, which has been vacant since Feb. 18.
The city will start the second round of interviews next week and hopes to have a new person in place by early May, Holtby said.
