Two city managers fly south

By Scott Neufeld Wednesday, January 17, 2007 http://www.dailycourier.ca/article_884.php

Months of stability at City Hall were interrupted on Tuesday as the City of Vernon announced the departure of two managers.Finance manager Rob Mayne and human resources manager Jody Drope have been hired away by the City of Kelowna and will be leaving in February. Including these latest departures, six managers have left city hall since July.

“Local government is under-supplied in many different areas,” said chief administrative officer Leon Gous. “People tend to poach from each other.”Mayne had worked for the city since July while Drope had worked at City Hall for three years. Both still lived in Kelowna where they had worked before and Gous said it’s often difficult to retain staff hired from Kelowna.“Obviously we managed to recruit them from Kelowna so I guess sometimes you have to give as good as you get,” Gous said. “From our side it’s never an easy thing.”Local governments have been meeting to set up a plan to hire more staff from other industries rather than hiring employees away from each other, Gous said.

Kevin Bertles, the city’s deputy finance manager, has been promoted to replace Mayne. Before working for the city, the certified general accountant worked for the provincial auditor. Bertles has worked for the city for four years and knows the ins and outs of Vernon’s finances, said Coun. Jack Gilroy.“Kevin’s great, I don’t think we’re going to have a problem at all, he’ll just slide right over,” Gilroy said.The city is finding it difficult to compete with the wages offered by private industry, Gilroy said. With a booming economy comes many more opportunities for some of the city’s highly qualified staff, he said.“It’s a sign of the times now, really good people are hard to keep,” he said. “There’s always a better paying job out there.”

As a city employee for 32 years, Gilroy said the city needs to hire young local people who are willing to work with the city for a long period of time. He said he hopes that the new managers will stay with the city for the long term.The city will begin recruiting for a new human resources manager to replace Drope. Gous said that human resources is a competitive field and it can be difficult to attract new hires.