The District of Houston has reached once again into a northern development program for public sector managers in its hiring of Michael Dewar as its new chief administrative officer.
Dewar, 40, is a product of the Northern Development Initiative Trust’s intern program, the same program which produced his predecessor, Gerald Pinchbeck, and the District’s current corporate services officer, Holly Brown.
The program has fit in well with Dewar’s Master of Arts from the University of Northern B.C. in natural resources and environmental studies as well as planning and how people live within their environment. He wrote about young farmers along Hwy16 and built up data about food security in the region.
Raised in Red Deer, Dewar graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy.
And that was followed by several years away from further study.
“Then I moved to the Kootenays where I enjoyed mountain biking and skiing,” Dewar said during a conversation last week.
Dewar’s internship with the Northern Development Initiative Trust took him first to a position with the City of Prince Rupert and following that for the past six years to the District of Kitimat where he was in charge of its economic development and communications functions.
With Rio Tinto Alcan’s major project to rebuild its aluminum smelter in the last decade followed by the prospect of several liquefied natural gas projects resulting in one of those, LNG Canada, officially launching in 2018, Dewar comes to Houston with considerable experience in industrial projects located in northern communities.
When Pinchbeck resigned last summer, the District of Houston began its search for a replacement, something that was brought to the attention of Dewar by several colleagues.
“I looked into it and found that it fit my personal preferences and my professional ambitions so I was happy to apply for it and then to accept the offer,” he said.
“My first impression is that this is a very welcoming community. It has a strong sense of place and is in a naturally amazing setting,” Dewar added.
Dewar’s first day on the job was Jan. 3 and his appointment was officially confirmed by council at its Jan. 4 meeting.
Aside from the challenges of how the District interacts with the community it serves, Dewar has several internal challenges as well.
Two senior positions are vacant, that of operations manager and director of finance.
Three other senior positions became vacant last year and have since been filled with Brown being promoted internally to corporate services officer from being the deputy corporate services director, Cassie Ofner being hired as the leisure services director and Dewar himself now as chief administrative officer.
“There has been a transition in the last six months or so and we are looking to fill those positions,” said Dewar of the vacant operations manager and finance director slots.
“We have strong people in those roles right now.”
Protective services director Jim Daigneault is also wearing the operations manager hat for the time being and the district does have an interim finance director in Jennifer Larson while it looks for a permanent one.