After a six-month search, St. Albert council has chosen a man with a strong economic development background to be the city’s next top manager.
Patrick Draper, who is currently the president and CEO of the Toronto Region Research Alliance, will take over the role of city manager on April 23, filling the position left vacant since Bill Holtby was dismissed back in October.
The city announced the hiring Tuesday morning at a news conference, which Draper joined by telephone.
“I have been advised by the mayor and council that there is a fabulous staff. They’ve been very complimentary about the staff,” Draper said in describing why he decided to take the position. “It seems to be a very close match with my interests, skills and experience.”
In his role as president and CEO of the Toronto Region Research Alliance, an economic development organization promoting increased investment in research and innovation, Draper worked within the Greater Toronto Area’s 29 municipalities as well as post-secondary institutions and “large, foreign-owned multinational corporations.”
“There’s been a lot of progress made in terms of economic development in terms of identifying lands that need to be brought on stream for deployment purposes,” Draper said of St. Albert.
Draper has also served as director of economic strategy and tourism for the Regional Municipality of York, the senior vice president of sales and marketing for Nielsen Cadbury and the deputy minister for economic development, trade and tourism for the Ontario government. His private resume also includes time in marketing with PepsiCo USA.
“I think I’ve been very fortunate to experience the government environment and the business environment,” Draper said. “Some would suggest there are some similarities in terms of operating and providing services.”
Mayor Nolan Crouse confirmed the city finalized its deal with Draper the week before last. He will receive the standard benefits package and draw a salary of $250,000 annually.
“We put together criteria on what we were looking for and he met every one of them. We wanted someone with municipal experience – he had municipal work. The deputy minister skills were a bonus,” said Crouse. “We wanted a good blend of private sector. He understood the governance, the economic development.”
Council fired long-time city manager Holtby in early October and then employed headhunting agency Davies Park to find candidates for the vacant position. General manager of community and protective services Chris Jardine has been serving as acting city manager since October and had applied for the position, making council’s short list of applicants.
While Jardine says he is disappointed he was not selected, he plans to stay with the city.
“While I am confident in my abilities, I think that council has made a good choice given the vision they have and the leadership needs to move toward that vision,” Jardine said. “I am looking forward to working with Patrick and plan to do all I can to help and support him.”
The mayor and councillors were effusive in their praise of the work Jardine has done as acting city manager. Coun. Malcolm Parker credited Jardine’s work with creating a “seamless” transition after Holtby was fired, while Coun. Cathy Heron said Jardine “totally saved our butts through this transition.”
“We couldn’t have survived the transition without him. He’s very valuable and deserves to be told that,” Heron said.
Crouse said Jardine has been very professional since learning two weeks ago that Draper had been selected, adding it wasn’t a matter of Jardine not being the right candidate, but of meeting all of the criteria council had established.
“You can’t establish the criteria and then turn your head,” Crouse said.
In total, Davies Park received 49 applications, which they short-listed and forwarded to city council.
“It’s been six months. We are happy this is behind us,” Crouse said. “We’re most happy that, I believe, we’ve got the right candidate.”
Draper said his family spent approximately eight days in St. Albert during the recruitment process and instantly fell in love with the city.
“We were so impressed. I met all kinds of different people – at hockey rinks, at restaurants, at different venues – and they were so positive about St. Albert. They were so friendly.”
Draper is married to Kristine, who he said is hoping to attend a program at NAIT. He also has a son, who is 13.
