Jasper’s incoming Chief Administrative Officer doesn’t see local government as politics.
“Government is about public service,” Bill Given says. “Partisanship doesn’t benefit anybody.”
He’s speaking from experience. Now 43-years-old, at 24, Given was the youngest person to ever be elected to public office when he was voted in as a Grande Prairie alderman. Three terms and nine years later, he became the mayor. Now, Given is taking a stab at the administrative side of local government. His first day on the job as Jasper’s new CAO in Jasper is January 1.
“I have a great deal of respect for the community of Jasper,” he said. “I’m looking forward to getting an inside view.”
If Jasperites are skeptical that Given’s resumé doesn’t contain any formal administrative experience, the father of two says that’s fair. However, he points out that nearly a decade spent in the mayor’s chair—a full time role in the city of 64,000 people—has given him plenty of opportunities to work with senior management and team leaders, duties which will serve him well in his new post.
“To be able to accomplish the things that I’ve accomplished, with my council colleagues, have had to come through guiding, assisting, mentoring, encouraging and cajoling people—without positional authority,” he said. “I think my role [as CAO] is to provide that leadership, insight and use those informal leadership skills that I think I’ve demonstrated.”
High on that list of accomplishments, Jasper ratepayers will be keen to learn, is that over his tenure as mayor, Grande Prairie recorded the lowest tax increases in the city’s history—and even netted a reduction in the tax requisition over the last four-year term. While it’s not fair to compare the double-digit hike currently being considered by Jasper officials to the 4.1 per cent decrease recently approved by GP, Given did say a “priority-based budgeting” approach was key to achieving such outcomes.
“It’s a process where there’s a deep examination of the services delivered by the municipality and a scoring of those services against a strategic plan set by council. The idea is to look at the services most closely aligned … with the community’s priorities … and to re-profile spending away from the services that are less aligned.”
Without pre-empting the work ahead of the current council, that deep conversation would likely take place with the 2021 slate of elected officials, Given suggested.
“I don’t approach this with an ideology,” he added. “This is about ensuring the money that residents and businesses contribute in the form of property taxes is spent on the things that residents and businesses most desire.”
Given’s political track record also demonstrates he doesn’t necessarily swing left or right. He ran in the 2006 federal election as an independent candidate.
“That was a time where it seemed as though our region of Alberta—which can feel like we’re at the back of the bus in terms of federal recognition— might have an opportunity to have more representation at the federal government.”
Fourteen years later, Given may have another opportunity to influence Ottawa. Given is well-aware of the unique power-sharing structure in Jasper when it comes to land use and development authority. He said he’s looking forward to working with Parks Canada and, more importantly, exploring if there’s any way to leverage that relationship.
“I think that relationship may present some special opportunities that may not be available to other municipalities,” he said.
As Given wraps up his obligations as Grande Prairie’s mayor (a leave he does not take lightly, he insisted), he will look forward to the special opportunities of becoming a resident of Jasper. A born-and-raised Albertan, he has many memories of visiting the national park. But he’s very much anticipating getting to know more intimately the community and the people who drive it.
“I’m looking forward to exploring Jasper as a local,” he said.
Bob Covey// thejasperlocal@gmail.com
