Briefly: October 4, 2013

Westby loses job

A former City of Powell River chief administrative officer has been fired by the City of Whitehorse.

Stan Westby, who was hired by Whitehorse as city manager in July 2012, told Peak Publishing he is seeking legal advice and would not comment on the decision.

Whitehorse Mayor Dan Curtis released a statement on Thursday, September 26. “The city manager has been terminated for cause, effectively immediately,” it stated.

Whitehorse officials would not comment or discuss the reasons for the termination as it is a personnel matter. City council held a special meeting on Thursday, September 26, and Westby’s termination took effect immediately.

Westby has been off the job in Whitehorse since April 5, 2013. Last May, Whitehorse officials said he was on medical leave. However, Whitehorse officials confirmed he had been suspended from his job prior to the medical leave. Curtis said Westby will not receive severance pay.

Whitehorse’s director of infrastructure and operations, Brian Crist, has been appointed as acting city manager. Recruitment of a new city manager will begin in a “timely and efficient manner,” according to the statement.

Curtis also said that Westby has received a salary since his departure in April, although Whitehorse doesn’t reveal how much that salary is under the provisions of a city manager bylaw.

Westby moved to Powell River in 1999 when he was hired as the director of financial services. He was appointed chief administrative officer in 2003, a position he held for nine years.

A story about the Charter for Compassion and the Compassionate City of Powell River will be broadcast on a national network this Sunday, October 6.

The film will be shown on the CBUFT, Radio-Canada Television (French CBC TV) on the program Second Regard at 1:30 pm.

A film crew travelled to Powell River in February 2013 to gather footage for the show, said Jeanette Scott, chair of School District 47’s Board of Education who has spearheaded the Powell River Compassionate Action Network. The initiative grew out of the Compassion Project at Brooks Secondary School.

In June 2012, an event was held in Powell River as it committed to becoming a Compassionate City and affirmed the International Charter for Compassion.