Nov. 17 was the last Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) infrastructure services committee meeting for the department’s outgoing general manager, Bryan Shoji.
Shoji announced earlier this fall that he’d be leaving the SCRD for Vancouver. He’d previously worked at the Town of Gibsons.
Committee chair Mark Lebbell, the director for Roberts Creek, noted that Shoji’s role at the SCRD had been “a very challenging file” that he handled with professionalism and grace.
SCRD chair Garry Nohr praised Shoji’s work on the regional district’s Drought Management Plan and water supply projects and said he should feel that he’s “leaving on very solid ground, and very proud of what he’s done.”
In her report for the Nov. 24 board meeting, CAO Janette Loveys says she’ll be assisting and supporting the department while the SCRD recruits a new general manager.
Shoji is the second general manager to leave the SCRD this year. Steve Olmstead, the general manager of planning and development, retired over the summer, and was replaced by Ian Hall in September. Hall came to the SCRD from Manitoba, where he’d been working as the director of the University of Manitoba’s sustainability office after earlier experience in economic development and community planning.
Loveys told Coast Reporter this week that the SCRD has recently hired Karen Preston as manager of recreation and community development, Bess Wong from the City of Calgary as the manager of purchasing and risk management, and Codi Abbott from the District of Squamish as utility operations superintendent.
The regional district is still looking to fill a manager of information technology and GIS position.
“The SCRD board has been very supportive of the recent organizational changes, and I would like to personally recognize their efforts and leadership,” Loveys said.
