By Pepper Parr
April 12th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Several hours after publishing a story on what the city needed to do as it began the process of hiring a new city manager the Gazette received a note from the Mayor’s office advising us that there would be a media release – soon.
An hour or so after that notice the city did issue a media release announcing that a firm of head hunters had been engaged to find a new city manager – the target was to have the job filled by sometime in July.
The announcement said: “The recruitment process for the new City Manager of the City of Burlington is well underway. The City has hired the firm of Legacy Partners to assist with the recruitment. Resumes are being accepted until April 16 and interviews will take place the end of April and beginning of May. It is expected that a new City Manager will be in place in July 2019.”
Those are very ambitious dates – one hopes that the advertisement for the position has already been running for a period of time. The closing date for applications is just over two and a half days away.
The announcement also said: “The City Manager is the administrative head of our city of 185,000 highly-engaged citizens and one that offers a unique balance between the rural and urban, situated between the western shores of the Niagara Escarpment and Lake Ontario.”
“The City Manager position reports to the Mayor and Councillors. This role provides strategic vision, leadership and guidance on the general management of the corporation as well as participates in the overall direction of the municipality.
“Council is responsible for making the final selection for this position and has been actively involved with developing the criteria for this integral leadership role.”
If you want to read the details released by the recruiting firm CLICK HERE.
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward set out what she wants to see: “The City Manager we are looking for is a strategic thinker who will work closely with Council to move the City’s objectives forward and champion innovative ideas. We have a great community that wants to be engaged and it continues to be important that residents have a voice in shaping city decisions with open government. Our new City Manager must be someone who is committed to inspiring all of our staff to deliver the best customer service to our community and contribute to an environment of respect and collaboration at all levels. In addition, they must be a highly-qualified individual who will be dedicated to continually making Burlington the best it can be.”
Laura Boyd, Director of Human Resources said: “The Human Resource Department is pleased to be working in partnership with Legacy Partners on this extensive and nationwide search. We are looking for candidates that will meet the key competencies for this role and a person with a passion and commitment for serving our community.”
Related opinion column:
Former City Manager James Ridge created the position of Deputy City Manager, filled by Mary Lou Tanner. She was not given the interim position, and this search for the new City Manager is obviously taking place outside City Hall. We never really knew what the justification was and is for having the Deputy City Manager position at all, what were the parameters for the hire – were others considered, for example? If so, on what basis was the particular hire made, especially considering there was no job description made public. I hope that the new City Manager will indeed fill the requirements set out by Mayor Meed Ward, above. Perhaps it’s time to consider whether we need a Deputy City Manager at all, and the $200,000+ annual salary and benefits.