After nearly 24 years working with the City of Parksville, deputy corporate administrator Lynn Kitchen is retiring, and immediately heading cross country.
After raising a family in Yellowknife she and her husband where looking for somewhere “absolutely different.” They basically stuck a pin in a map and moved to Parksville in 1986.
Though she has lots of good memories and found Yellowknife to be a great place for a young family, she hasn’t been back since, but her children have.
She had worked for the government of the Northwest Territories and City of Yellowknife before she started with Parksville in 1989.
In 2001 she took a break to spend more time with family after both her children graduated from Ballenas Secondary School, and moved to Ontario.
She continued to work part-time in various city departments for several years and returned as executive assistant in 2006.
Since 2007 she has been the deputy corporate administrator and provides a wealth of experience and city information, said mayor Chris Burger.
He pointed out over half the city’s employees are reaching retirement age in the next 10 years, so succession planning is a big focus and it is always unfortunate when they lose someone with so much corporate knowledge.
Over the years she has taken part in every municipal election since 1988, worked with six different mayors and said Shirley Hine, the retired director of administration, was her biggest influence.
She said her favourite part of the job is the diversity of people who come into the office and working with council.
Kitchen’s financial planner husband is retiring at the same time, at the end of April, and they are planning a two month road trip to Newfoundland and back, followed by a couple months in Europe in the fall, including their ninth visit to Portugal, where she said she would love to live.
