It's back to the future at City Hall!

Meet the new boss, same as the old, old, old boss! Podunk has finally found someone to take the controls at City Hall, as Gord Howie returns to take on the job of Chief Administrative Officer.

Howie joins the staff at city hall, after what Mayor Herb Pond calls an exhaustive search to find the “best man for the job”. Not one, but two executive searches were conducted before they came up with the name of the fellow that had been there years before.

And getting the best apparently costs more money, the city despite its current financial limitations, had to sweeten the compensation pot by 24,000 dollars to get Howie to sign on the dotted line.

Howie takes over after Victor Kumar, who ran city hall during the implosion years of the local economy, as the major industries of the city suffered severe set backs, taking with them a key component of the economic base of the city.

Kumar’s time at city hall featured many heated conversations with local unions, city staff and the population at large, about cost cutting and financial management, and included plans to transform a portion of the city’s fire department to an auxiliary force. There were other controversial measures discussed during the Kumar years, all related to the tentative state of the city’s finances. Kumar left his post last year and has since re-located to Grand Forks

Howie takes over his duties as the financial picture still holds many challenges, with a hope for a better future a little bit further down the line. It will be interesting to see how the present is managed, with an eye to that future.

The Daily provides a meet the Administrator story from Wednesday’s paper, provided here in Podunkicized form.

CITY LANDS THE ‘BEST MAN’ FOR THE POSITION
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Page One and Three

It is a former city administrator who has come back to take the reigns at city hall.

And the city had to increase its administrator’s salary by $24,000 to nab him.

On Monday, Acting Mayor Tony Briglio announced the negotiation of a successful contract between the city and Interim City Manager, Gord Howie.

“We are happy to have Gord lead our team again, and we look forward to welcoming his wife who is joining him soon,” said Briglio. “Gord is very highly thought of by council and city staff and has impeccable credentials.

The city has spent the last six months seeking an administrator, following the departure of Victor Kumar, who went on to Grand Forks.

Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond said the city, through a private firm conducted two searches – one before the November election and one after.

“Both were exhaustive searches,” said Pond. “We are confident we got the best man for the job.”

The new chief administrative officer will earn $120,000 plus benefits. Kumar was clearing $96,000 plus benefits in 2004.

Pond said the increase is a reflection of what’s happening in public sector administration not only in B. C. but across Canada.

We needed to stay in the pack to attract talent,” he said.

Howie spent 28 years in senior leadership positions in local government. His credits include CAO in Prince Rupert, Deputy CAO in Richmond and CAO for the District of North Vancouver.

Pond pointed out that cities like Kamloops have been increasing their salaries for administrators recently in order to keep talent, and those cities have been offering above and beyond what Prince Rupert put on the table.

Kamloops city council recently agreed to bump their administrator’s salary from $136,914 to $166,411 by the end of five years.

Prince George pays its administrators $153,165, and Kelowna pays the most at $187,523.
The average of six other municipalities for administrators was $168,962.

Howie said he is pleased with his decision to stay on in Prince Rupert.

“I’ve always loved Prince Rupert and the people here,” said Howie, an outdoor enthusiast who prior to working at city hall in the 1970’s used to work for B. C. Packers.

“It was an opportunity to come back at an exciting time for the future of the city and a challenging time.”

In 1998, Howie received the Municipal Officers’ Association of B. C. Professional Award for innovation, leadership and contributions to the advancement of local government and in 2000, he was the first recipient of the Local Government Management Association of B. C. Distinguished Member Award.

In 2002, Howie was a key member of the Local Government Leadership Institute/Canadian International Development agency contingent that assisted with training in the Philippines by showing more than 600 local government people, through an intensive interactive program, another way of making decisions in their country.

Howie is also a founding board member and past chair of the Municipal Insurance Association of B. C.

He holds a diploma in public sector management form the University of Victoria and has a senior certification in local government management from the B. C. Board of Examiners. He has a long history acting as a mentor within his field. He also has a keen interest in outdoor pursuits, in particular fly fishing and is an ardent member of the Prince Rupert Rotary Club. His last position was with the District of North Vancouver. It ended after seven years in 2003 when a newly elected council decided to terminate Howie without cause.

The Mayor of North Vancouver’s press release announcing Howie’s termination simply stated that a change in administrative leadership would benefit the municipality.