City manager Patrick Draper has redrawn some of the lines on the city’s organizational chart and swapped some of the city’s departments in what he describes as a move to better position the administration to support economic growth.
Curtis Cundy, who has worked as the city’s planning and development director since he came to work for the city, is the new general manager of planning and engineering. Cundy takes over for Guy Boston, who was named St. Albert’s executive director of economic development in early June.
But Cundy inherits a leaner department with a slightly different name. Now known as the planning and engineering division, it will no longer be responsible for transit and public works.
Both of those departments have been consolidated under a new division —the infrastructure services division — and will be led by a new general manager. Long-time public works director Glenn Tompolski has been named as the general manager for infrastructure services.
Planning and engineering also loses the office of the environment, which will now report directly to Draper.
“We had a lot of talented people there and the general manager was spread pretty thin based on the breadth of the portfolio (Boston) had,” Draper said. “It made sense to create two divisions from the one.”
Tompolski, who has worked as the director of public works since 2005, said he never expected to become part of the city’s senior leadership team, which consists of the now four general managers, the chief financial officer and the city manager, but is looking forward to the challenge.
“It’s more so exciting with the new challenges ahead,” Tompolski said. “I’m taking on a new portfolio in terms of transit and I look forward to working with the new city manager and council in ensuring council priorities get completed in a timely fashion.”
Cundy and Tompolski are the second and third internal hires for senior leadership positions this year for the city. Boston’s hiring was the first. Council hired Draper, from Ontario, in March. Anita Ho, the chief financial officer, came from Vancouver in April.
Chris Jardine, general manager of community and protective services, and Jennifer Jennax, general manager of corporate strategic services, round out the senior leadership team.
Draper said the realignment helps support the city’s goal of encouraging economic development.
“When doing the industrial side, we want to be able to offer more land choices, so there’s a multitude of interests and projects that get created. We need to be able to plan for these,” he said.
Draper said the vacancies created with the Cundy and Tompolski’s hirings will be filled internally in an attempt to combat a rising employee turnover rate at city hall.
