By paNOW

Jody Boulet named permanent director of community services

Feb 24, 2014 | 11:34 PM

The City of Prince Albert has filled another vacant director position at City Hall, this time naming the interim department head the permanent replacement.

On Monday, city manager Jim Toye announced that he appointed Jody Boulet as the permanent director of the community services department. Boulet took over the role on an interim basis after the former director, Greg Zeeben, left the position last year.

The appointment takes effect on March 1.

After the council meeting on Monday, Toye called Boulet a “great communicator” and said he is well respected by a lot of organizations and facility users.

“He’s also been acting director on two occasions. And, since I’ve been here, he’s been acting director and I met with him a couple times prior to coming, when I started my job in Prince Albert,” Toye said. “He just showed me he’s a true leader and he’s going to be a very, very integral part of the senior administration team.”

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The city manager added that Boulet helped to champion the recently concluded 2014 Saskatchewan Winter Games. As well, the feedback from the community and the department’s staff about Boulet was positive, according to Toye.

“I think it was very important to talk to other people about him, not just what my observations were, or what council’s observations were, but get down to the community.”

The appointment was praised by Mayor Greg Dionne, who noted that Boulet’s rise is an example for other employees working for the City of Prince Albert.

He said Boulet not only stepped up, but he took on the Saskatchewan Winter Games, The Prince Albert Winter Festival and the Canadian Challenge Dog Sled Race.

“He had lots on his plate to do, and he made our city shine, so I’m very pleased today with the appointment,” Dionne said.

Boulet has been working for the city since 1999, while attending university. By 2004, he landed a permanent position. In September, he was appointed the acting director of the community services department.

It came at a time of seasonal transition. With the extended fall season, the department’s outdoor work became an immediate priority, Boulet said. At the same time, his department was working towards having its budget ready sooner.

The department also had to contend with vacancies within the department. Boulet said he’s had an opportunity to look at the department’s structure and come up with a plan moving forward. He’s presented the plan to Toye.

He’s also looking to bring in someone to take on the parks manager position.

“In the short spring and summer seasons that we do have, we do have a lot of work that we have to do in a short period of time. And a lot of that does require some dedicated senior management resources,” he said.

There is however, one more major role to fill in the city’s administration.

The last director position left vacant after last year’s shakeup at City Hall is within the corporate services department. The department has been without a director since Chris Cvik left late last year.

Toye said they are actively looking for someone to fill the role.

“It’s been advertised for a little over two weeks. And, I believe it closes this week, on Friday this week. So, we’ve got a number of applications in, and they’re from right across Canada, actually going through the United States, for the ones I’ve looked at so far. So there’s great interest in that position. It’s a great opportunity for the right person.”

Officials could compile a short list of candidates as soon as the week after this week, and sit down with three or four prospects.

“One of those is going to be the director of corporate services for the City of Prince Albert.”

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames