It appears three key positions within the City of Estevan have been filled.
Estevan city council was slated to approve Jeff Ward as the new city manager, Dale Feser to be the new fire chief for the Estevan Fire Rescue Service, and Norm Mack to be the new roads and drainage manager for public works at council’s meeting on Monday night.
(The meeting was held after the Mercury went to print, but their appointments were included in the council agenda).
All three appointments will take effect on Jan. 1.
Council hired Ward to be the new city manager, while Ward was responsible for hiring Feser and Mack. There wasn’t a job hunt for any of the positions.
A job search has been held in the past when the city manager and the fire chief positions have become vacant.
Ward has been the city treasurer since 2013, and he has also had two stints as the acting city manager: in late 2013 and early 2014 after Jim Puffalt was let go from the job, and this fall after Amber Smale was dismissed.
“We had a good opportunity to experience Jeff in his acting city manager role. We like what we see as a council. We feel that he is the right person for the job, and we look forward to working with Jeff in the future,” Mayor Roy Ludwig said in an interview with the Mercury.
Ludwig isn’t concerned with Ward’s lack of experience at the municipal level or as a city manager. Ward has been with the city for about 2 1/2 years; previously, he was an accountant in the private sector.
“He’s had the opportunity now to be fully involved in all aspects of running the city, while being in the interim positions,” said Ludwig. “He stepped up to the plate admirably, and we look forward to more of the same.”
The mayor also lauded Ward’s involvement with numerous organizations.
Ward said he really enjoys the collaborative approach of working with council and the city’s management team to find solutions to the issues the city has been facing over the last few years.
“Obviously my background is in the accounting and the number crunching, and we’ve made great strides on that while I’ve been here, in regards to reducing our debt load and making sure our cash flow management was under control,” said Ward.
There will be a learning curve as he adjusts to a municipal manager’s role, as he’ll be responsible for more staff, and he’ll be working with a management team.
He has looked into taking some courses, and he wants to obtain his legislative government administration certification.
Ward also believes he’s ready for the public scrutiny associated with the city manager’s job. It’s a position that often draws criticism from the public, particularly when times are tough.
“Obviously you’re always going to have the people who want to complain just to complain, but I think any input from the public is going to be great, as long as it’s done in a respectful manner,” said Ward.
He also wants to see the city be transparent with the public, and for the public to be ready to approach him.
The citizen satisfaction survey, released in late October, showed people are happy with the services the city provides, but Ward said they want better roads and better value for their property tax dollars.
“Doing things like surveys and internet polls will really help steer what’s going on,” said Ward.
Dale Feser has been a member of the Estevan Fire and Rescue Service since 2004, and the deputy fire chief since late 2009. Like Ward, he has some experience in the top job, as he was the acting fire chief for several months last year following the retirement of Ron Tocker, and has been the acting fire chief since Shane Code was removed from the job on Dec. 1.
“Dale is a local guy and he cares about the city, and we know that as he moves forward in the position, that he will always keep the best interests of the city in mind,” said Ward.
Ward noted he has worked with Feser on the budget and planning initiatives, and he believes it’s clear that Feser will steer the fire department forward.
Feser applied for the job when it became vacant last year, but was passed over in favour of Code. There have been opportunities to relocate during the last couple years, he said, but Feser chose to remain in the Energy City because of the nature of the work environment, the people he gets to work with and the residents of the community.
“I feel it’s very important they have a very reliable emergency response service here,” said Feser.
Six years as the deputy chief allowed him to get to know the area, the buildings in the city and the people he is working with.
As the chief, he’ll work closer with city council and the different rural municipalities the fire department serves than he has in the past, and he’ll be involved with budget preparations and training modules.
Feser previously worked with the mines, and has some contacts with emergency response teams out there.
“I’m really looking forward to working with them, and incorporating them into emergency response and mutual aid partnerships when it comes to responding to emergencies in our areas,” said Feser.
There have been discussions already, he said, and now that new rules are in place with the provincial Fire Safety Act, he’ll be investigating to see if the mine employees would be covered for insurance and Workers Compensation Board purposes.
Feser said he will also continue with some of the initiatives from previous administrations. The fire department will look to attract new people through their spring and fall intakes for new firefighting recruits.
They’ll also continue to work with other emergency response crews, including the RCMP, the Estevan Police Service and EMS. The different emergency services providers in the city currently don’t have the same radio bandwidth.
Recruitment and retention will be a big focus during his tenure, like it is with all fire departments in North America.
“We definitely need to make sure we’re trying to entice our individuals to stay here, and look at people who are willing to serve their community,” said Feser. “A lot of times what happens is people feel they would like to join the fire department, but once they realize the level of commitment and the call volumes we are currently experiencing, they say afterwards that it is a very big commitment.”
Norm Mack brings 28 years of experience working for the city to his new job as the roads and drainage manager. His entire tenure with the city has been with the public works department, and he was most recently working as a foreman.
His appointment marks a shift in managerial positions within public works. Traditionally they have had a public works manager to run the entire department. The last public works manager, Peter Kennedy, stepped down in the fall for personal reasons.
But now they have split the job in two. Mack will be responsible for roads and drainage, and Kevin Sutter – the manager of the water treatment plant and the waste water treatment plant divisions – will be responsible for water and sewer.
“Norm has exceptional customer service,” said Ward. “The amount of background knowledge that he has with all the linear assets of the city (is tremendous). He has worked many positions within the department, and has the skills to operate all the equipment the city owns.”
Ward believes the last couple of public works managers lost sight of the water and sewer aspects of their jobs, but Sutter has the knowledge of all the distributions and lift centres in the city.
Mack believes his knowledge of the city will give him an advantage over someone who would have been imported from another community. He’s looking forward to working with a management team that has a stronger local emphasis.
“Jeff Ward is heading the city, and I thought I could work well with him. Also fire Chief Dale Feser and Kevin Sutter in sewer and water and many others will make a good team with a local flavour.”
He wants to see stable management in the city, and for jobs to be done quickly, properly and on time.
“It really gives me a good handle on how to get the jobs done,” said Mack. “A lot of jobs we’ve done that way for a long time, and there’s a reason we’ve done them that way, because it works. But we’re open to new ideas and new ways and innovations for doing things.”
Mack expects pavement to be maintained and crack filling and sealing to happen in an efficient manner.
“I want us to be pro-active in our jobs; for example, we’re going to be on top of things a lot quicker than maybe in the past, with things like snow removal, crack filling, line painting and anything. We want to provide a prompt, fast service.”
Mack is a big supporter of the fleet renewal program that is included in next year’s budget for $250,000, and is slated to remain in the budget for the next few years. He also wants to see a contingency fund in case equipment breaks down.
A search for a new city treasurer and a new deputy fire chief will begin in the new year. Ward will be tasked with finding the new city treasurer, while Feser and Ward will be responsible for the new deputy chief.
Feser said the fire department’s captains will be taking on more responsibility until a new deputy chief is found.
As for Mack’s replacement, since he was a unionized employee before his promotion, his successor as a foreman will be an open position from within the city’s employees.
