Estevan city council has decided they would like to move in a different direction, and that direction does not include Jim Puffalt.
Puffalt was dismissed as city manager on Oct. 8 after 12 years on the job. He was hired in September of 2001 from the City of Dauphin, Man., where he had also been city manager. The decision was made public last Wednesday, shortly after City employees were notified of the news.
Mayor Roy Ludwig said council was unanimous in its decision to dismiss Puffalt, citing the desire for a change in direction as the impetus behind the move.
"With the new council, there comes a different perspective on how they feel the City should be run and what direction that we should be taking," said Ludwig. "Lately they just felt that they wanted to move in a new direction, so (Tuesday) afternoon Jim was notified."
Ludwig was quick to point out there was not one particular matter or any concerns of wrongdoing that led to the decision, but more a general sense that a change was needed.
"Council was just not happy with the direction we were going and we just wanted a change, unfortunately for Jim. It's probably been moving that way for awhile now," said Ludwig.
"This was not a decision that council took lightly, and it's not one where they made a decision overnight. This has been a long process."
Although the City has experienced a great deal of staff turnover in the past couple of years, the dismissal of Puffalt is significant news. As the top administrator he was, in many respects, the face of the City on a number of fronts. He was also the man tasked with both advising and carrying out directives from council, which made him a somewhat polarizing figure in controversial matters such as the switch to automated garbage collection.
Ludwig acknowledged the difficulties that come with the city manager's role and said it is a demanding position.
"The city manager is a lightning rod, good, bad or indifferent, as is the mayor. Council's decisions rest on the shoulders of the mayor and, to a certain degree, on the city manager. One of the hard issues that the city manager always has to deal with is he's given direction from council and he may not approve of it himself. But in that role you have a job to do and you carry it out.
"In some cases it's not a popular job because you are giving direction over the workforce and that is not always an easy job."
Ludwig said the search for a replacement would begin immediately although he admitted it will likely take months. He said the City will probably work with a headhunting firm and would also post the job with the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association and Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
Asked what qualifications they will be seeking in a new manager, Ludwig said experience will be important given the ongoing challenges facing Estevan.
"With the new council, everybody has their own ideas of where they want to go, where they want the City to go. So we will be sitting down with a headhunter and going over some of the qualifications that council expects and out of that we will be moving forward."
Until that replacement is found, treasurer Jeff Ward will serve as city manager. Ward is still relatively new to the City and Ludwig said they will be asking all of their division managers to step up through the transition.
"It's unfortunate for Jeff, he just came into his role and he's doing a great job for us and now we are piling this on him," Ludwig. "We are trying to shoulder the load with all of the managers to help Jeff out and everyone, including myself, will be picking up some of the slack until we get a replacement."
Ludwig said as far as severance for Puffalt, the City has a policy to deal with the matter and did not divulge the amount he will receive.
The Mercury contacted Puffalt for a comment on his dismissal but he did not wish to speak about the matter at this time. As well, the members of council contacted deferred comments to Ludwig.
