The City of Port Alberni has appointed Timothy Pley as the new Chief Administrative Officer (CAO).
Pley has been acting manager for the city since January and will take over the position from Ken Watson, former city manager.
Pley has served the city for the 26 years, eight as deputy fire chief and eight as fire chief with the Port Alberni Fire Department.
More than 50 applicants from across Canada and the United States applied for the position of CAO, according to a city press release. Pley was selected following a recruitment process by Davies Park Executive Search.
According to a July 14 press release from the City of Port Alberni, the selection process followed was fair, based on merit and included a comprehensive assessment of the skills, experience, knowledge and qualifications of candidates.
“Council was very impressed with the high caliber of candidates,” said Mayor Mike Ruttan in the press release. “We’re confident that Mr. Pley is the right choice for this critical position and brings with him considerable experience, passion and a familiarity with the Alberni Valley.”
Ruttan said council is very pleased to have Pley on as CAO.
“Tim is well-respected throughout the community and has delivered exceptional results on key projects and files throughout his time with the City,” Ruttan said. “Tim’s leadership capabilities will serve our community very well as we move forward with a number of exciting projects under way and on the horizon.”
Pley will continue in his dual role as both CAO and fire chief until council recruits and names a new fire chief.
“I am pleased to accept this position and look forward to leading the dedicated and hard-working staff at the City of Port Alberni,” Tim Pley said in a press release. “These are exciting times for our community and I look forward to working with City Council, employees and all residents to make Port Alberni an ever better place for all of us to live and do business.”
Pley said the city has had some thoughts on who the new fire chief will be but no firm decisions have been made.
“We’ll be putting our minds to that and making a decision about the direction as soon as we can,” Pley said later.
Deputy fire chief, Wes Patterson has been picking up some of Pley’s duties as fire chief as he fulfills his role as CAO.
“Chief Patterson has been doing an awesome job in picking up a lot of my duties at the fire department,” Pley said.
