The City of Estevan is looking for someone to fill one of its most high-profile managerial positions.
Nathan Jesse stepped down from the job early in the month. His last day will be on Friday.
The decision is personal, he said in an interview with the Mercury. Jesse’s girlfriend is in Vancouver, and he is moving to be with her.
“It … had nothing to do with my current role here,” said Jesse. “It was actually a very tough decision for me.”
He has already been hired as an operations manager with the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) athletics and recreation department – a job that will see him supervise around 75 staff members.
“It’s a little bit of a different role,” said Jesse. “I would say it’s a step forward in a big organization. The department is fairly big. They have quite a few athletic and recreational complexes there that I will be working in and managing.”
Jesse has also worked in Vancouver in the past. In 2009 and 2010, he was part of the host committee for the 2010 Winter Olympics. He said his past experience in the city played a role in his decision to move to Vancouver and take the job at UBC.
“A few friends and colleagues are still in Vancouver, so there’s a chance to reconnect with them,” said Jesse.
Jesse, who is originally from Estevan, returned to the Energy City following the 2010 Winter Olympics, to work as the aquatics and program manager for leisure services.
He was promoted to the role of leisure services manager early in 2013.
When he was hired to work for the city, Affinity Place was still under construction. The completion of the events centre, and the events it has hosted, rate at the top of his list of highlights from the past seven years.
“It was one of the reasons I came back to Estevan, because I knew the building was set to open, and I wanted to be involved with that,” said Jesse. “I feel that over the last seven years, we’ve done a pretty good job with this brand new building, and treated the community to some great events, and lots of good hockey and ice sports as well.”
There were a lot of kinks to work out with the building, but the city has done a good job with the venue, considering the size of the community and the size of the city’s workforce.
He’s also proud of the city’s efforts to host the Saskatchewan Summer Games and the Western Canada Cup junior A hockey tournament last year.
Jesse also applauded the core staff he has worked with for the last few years at leisure services.
“We have a really good core,” said Jesse. “We’ve held onto our staff. We have some pretty good retention of our staff. They have all been here five, six or seven years now.”
He admits he would have liked to stick around a little longer, so he could give more than two weeks’ notice, and it will be tough to leave his hometown for a second time.
City manager Jeff Ward said Jesse’s decision was unexpected, but he recognizes that an opportunity arose for Jesse that couldn’t be passed up.
The city is now looking at all options for Jesse’s replacement. They have advertised for a replacement, but they might go in a different route by merging managerial positions.
“We need someone who can be the face of that facility (Affinity Place),” said Ward. “We have events. We have corporate box holders. We have citizens in there for many types of events.
“We need somebody that would really take ownership of that building and be a face for it and promote it and try to get different types of events in there.”
Affinity Place was constructed to be more than just a hockey rink, and Ward wants to see as many different events in there as possible.
Traditionally the leisure services manager was also responsible for the city’s parks department. Ward said the city is not looking to merge the responsibilities of the leisure services and parks managers again.
As for an interim manager, Ward said they are working out the details. If there are gaps where the city needs a point of contact for a short period of time, Ward said he will likely take care of it.
Ward stressed they have people like program manager Erin Wilson, food and beverage manager Diane Wenham and maintenance supervisor Dan Kroeker who can look after the bulk of the day to day operations during the search for Jesse’s replacement.
“I might be getting e-mails forwarded to me dealing with high-level issues, but on day to day stuff, I think there are some people over there who can take those duties on the interim basis,” said Ward.
He hopes to have a decision made on which direction they’re moving with Jesse’s replacement in the next few weeks.
