By Pepper Parr
January 19th, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON.
In the very near future city council will decide who the next city manager is going to be.
He is close to the last man standing. Scott Stewart, on the right, is the only senior staff member left. Former city manager Jeff Fielding left for Calgary after 26 months; Kim Phillips took a package leaving Stewart running the city with interim city manager Pat Moyle overseeing the operation.
It’s been a challenge to keep a bum in the city manager’s chair for a reasonable length of time. Roman Martiuk got asked to take a walk; Jeff Fielding bought a one way ticket to Calgary.
Prior to those two Tim Dobbie served as city manager – he held the post for 9 years which was part of his 33 years of service to the city.
Can this council choose a city manager that will stick around for more than the couple of years we had Martiuk and Fielding?
The first round of interviews has taken place. There were a reported 10 candidates with current General Manager Scott Stewart in the line-up. Stewart made the first cut.
The Community and Corporate Services Committee are scheduled to go into a closed session for a “human resources update regarding employee and labour relations matter” on Tuesday January 20th.
Pat Moyle, the interim City Manager has been told by his wife that they will be in their car driving south on February 1st – so it isn’t unreasonable to assume that the human resources matter is related to the new city manager decision.
While we have several names – we are not at liberty to divulge what we’ve learned but unable to confirm.
One of that brave band that believes the Maple Leaf’s will one day win the Stanley Cup; Stewart brings a sense of humour to the job he does,
Scott Stewart has been running the city and is the only General Manager on Staff. Should Stewart get the nod he then has to build a new top tier and hire the two general managers the city has decided it needs. There were three General Manages for a large part of the previous term of office.
If Stewart doesn’t get the nod – whoever is hired is going to have to build a completely new General Manager level for the city – and that isn’t going to get done in less than a year.
It would be naive to expect Stewart to stick around after being turned down for the job of city manager twice. Quite why he wasn’t made interim city manager when Jeff Fielding took a job in Calgary.
The glance – you know it when you get it. Stewart gives 110% and expect at least 100% from everyone else. You know when you’re not performing – you get the glance.
If Stewart gets the job he doesn’t have all that much to pick from at the Director level to create the General Managers that will be needed. Several senior people will find they want to move on – which will give Stewart an opportunity to build a staff that he can get things done with.
Planning and legal are certainly going to get a solid review.
Stewart does have a number of very promising people at the senior manager level but most of them are not ready yet for a move up the food chain. Some significant promise there however.
Should this Council decide that Stewart is not their choice – then what?
There were a number of exceptional people who had not grown to be managers but they were very good at their jobs; several have left for jobs elsewhere because they didn’t see the leadership they needed to grow as better professionals in the municipal sector.
When Jeff Fielding was city manager he and Scott Stewart were almost like a wrestling tag team. Fielding cam up with the big ideas and expected Stewart to make them happen.
Many thought he should have been made at least interim city manager when Martiuk turned in his keys but the city went for the story Fielding gave them – and it was a good story. He certainly made significant changes – the way our budget is being put together in 2015 is the result of the change Fielding brought when he introduced Results Bases Accountability.
He challenged staff on a daily basis and most loved the difference he was making – for may his decision to leave was a huge let down.
Stewart isn’t a Fielding – he is more cautious, more prudent with a solid history of finishing what he starts. He hasn’t yet gotten the kind of parking meters many think the city needs – but one lapse doesn’t end a career. He was in line for a major promotion in Hamilton that was taking forever to get confirmed. Stewart saw the opening in Burlington and went for the job – got it and has been serving the city very well ever since.
He leads well, takes the time to nurture staff and develop their skills and abilities. Should Council choose someone else – Burlington is looking at 18 months of confusion and delay. A new city manager without the Stewart skill set at his or her side would have a very difficult time making the wheels go around the way they are supposed to go around.
Not necessarily a “bookish” type Stewart works with the city boards well. Here he joins Library chief Maureen Berry on a One Book promotion.
While the Gazette doesn’t have any exclusive information – we can’t see Scott Stewart sticking around and watching someone else do the job he has been doing for the most part for the past year – – being turned down twice is hint enough for anyone.
We should know what kind of a decision council is going to make very soon.
