Skip to content

Senior staff 'wear many hats' to get job done

Village CAO and others outline their roles in special presentation
48624agassiz05-28stafftalksHarrison
Debra Key and Andre Isakov (right) listen as Ian Crane

The Village's senior staff gave a special presentation to the public on Tuesday night, outlining their job history, their experience and their current roles.

Senior staff includes CAO Ted Tisdale, who said after 35 years of working with municipalities, Harrison's staff is "on par" with other staff he's worked with, and very professional.

Other senior staff include Debra Key, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer/ Corporate Officer, who steps into Tisdale's shoes in his absence. She is responsible for overseeing the corporate administration of municipal affairs, records management, and oaths, among other tasks.

Peggy Parberry, Manager of Revenue Services/Payroll and Taxation, pointed out that with a smaller staff, they all take on numerous roles to keep the Village operating.

Working for the Village since 1987, Parberry said she has "done a little bit of everything" over the years.

"We do wear a lot of different hats, because there are not a lot of us," she said.

Ian Crane, Manager of Development Services, works as the building inspector for the Village, starting his career in Richmond in the '70s and moving to Chilliwack in 1992.

Andre Isakov has had a title change recently, to manager of planning and community services. He works on everything from the Official Community Plan, rezoning and and long range planning, to social service matters, grant applications and waste removal plans.

Dale Courtice is director of finance and human resources, and as such he is in charge of the entire finances for the Village. It's a boon to the Village, he says, because he used to audit municipalities.

Finally, Ian Gardner is operations manager.

"After all these people are done their jobs, I do everything else," he joked, referring to the many comments they all wear many hats.

Gardner manages a crew of seven people who take care of everything physical in the Village, from the streetlights and roadways, to park trails, drainage and maintenance.

"We have a really, really good crew in this Village, and you should all be proud of them," he said.

At the end of the meeting, resident Elisabeth Scotson asked when the steps would be added to the beach, to allow people a gentler slope from the new concrete wall.

"They are being planned and will be installed very shortly," he told her, with the existing one being renovated, and two more being added.

news@ahobserver.com



Jessica Peters

About the Author: Jessica Peters

I began my career in 1999, covering communities across the Fraser Valley ever since.
Read more