Former city manager Bill Holtby looked back on 21 years with St. Albert this week just days after his sudden dismissal by city council.
City council fired Holtby from his job as city manager on Tuesday. He had held the job for 10 years.
Reached at his St. Albert home, Holtby says he was disappointed, but not surprised by the move as council had recently held a few in camera sessions he was not involved with. He suspects he was fired due to disagreements over the proper role of administrators and councillors, and a perceived gap between what council wanted out of its orders and how he carried them out.
He says he thoroughly enjoyed his 21 years working for the city and leaves his job without regret. "I couldn't think of a better community in Canada than St. Albert."
Long career
Holtby, 54, first came to St. Albert as head of what is now known as the community and protective services branch.
Those were exciting days, he says: he was 34, had moved to a city four times bigger than his old home of Spruce Grove, and was managing three times as many people than he did in his old job.
He soon found himself embroiled in the first of many controversial decisions — the demolition of the Ducky Dome.
"It was a huge decision of the day," he recalls, with plenty of protests from local hockey groups. But council stood its ground, and the walls came down, later shipped to Mexico to build homes. "The downtown today is very much a result of the work that happened back then."
Those were also the early days of planning for Red Willow Park in which he took part. Many of the park's elements are now a reality — well, except for the golf course. "I don't think it will [happen]," he says.
Holtby would serve under four mayors during office, becoming city manager in 2001 under the Richard Plain government.
Asked to reflect on his toughest moments, Holtby points to the building of the controversial Ray Gibbon Drive and Servus Credit Union Place as well as the city's annexation with Sturgeon County.
The best part of his job was the people, he says. "All the staff and the volunteers and the city councils and the business community and the professional colleagues that I've worked with have really been the heart and soul of why I love municipal government," he says. "If you can lead people and give them the opportunity to excel, you're doing your job."
Praise and criticism
Former mayor Plain praises Holtby for his service. "Think of all the things that have been developed in St. Albert in the last 10 years," he says. "[Holtby's] legacy is reflected in project after completed project."
Former councillor Lorie Garritty echoes Plain's remarks, and says he was shocked by Holtby's dismissal. "He always gave council good advice, in my opinion — not always advice we wanted to hear, necessarily."
Holtby also respected council's decisions and never complained about them. "I wish him well and I'm sorry to hear he's going."
Ivan Mayer, president of the Riel Business Park Association, is more critical of Holtby, saying, "Bill's time had come.
"I just don't think he was supporting the push for economic development as much as he could have."
Holtby put roadblocks in the path of development, Mayer says, citing his opposition to a request from Triple Five Worldwide last year to service land north of St. Albert as an example.
"Every time we wanted to acquire more land for industrial purposes … it seemed that administration headed by Bill Holtby was saying we don't need it."
That's fair comment, Holtby says of Mayer's remarks, but much of the work he did to support development was behind the scenes. "I felt my focus was more strategic." He had worked with Triple Five for years before they bought land in the city, he says, and helped create many business opportunities with the recent annexation.
Mayer says he suspects Holtby's dismissal had a lot to do with Larry Horncastle, the city's former business and tourism development director who was fired earlier this year with Holtby's approval. At a tribute event to Horncastle held last month that he attended, Mayer says many local businessmen agreed, "we had to do something with the city manager situation."
Holtby says he's still discussing his severance package with his lawyer. He has no plans to leave St. Albert, and plans to take some time off to figure out what to do next with his life. "I look forward to being a contributing citizen and having my Monday nights off."
