Greenwood hires new top administrator, financial officer

The City of Greenwood has hired a new top administrator, according to Mayor Barry Noll.

READ MORE: Greenwood hires interim manager

Marcus Lebler, a professional accountant from Oliver, will start as Greenwood’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) on May 31. He will also serve as the city’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), giving Greenwood its first resident CFO in many years. Lebler will take over from interim CAO Ron Mattiussi and CFO Beth Burget following a transition period, Noll said.

“We wanted to have a very strong financial person at the helm, so we incorporated his two positions into one,” Noll said.

Lebler was also selected for his related experience at the Village of Keremeos and most recently in the Town of Oliver.

“I’m hoping to bring my five-and-a half years’ experience of municipal government experience to Greenwood,” Lebler said Tuesday, April 27. Lebler graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration from Okanagan College in 2012, going on to earn his certification as a Chartered Professional Accountant while working at a Penticton accounting firm.

He served as Keremeos’s Dep. Treasurer for three years starting in 2016. He has meanwhile served as Oliver’s Dep. Financial Officer.

Lebler said he and his wife purchased a family home near Greenwood before he interviewed for the job at city hall. “We’ve always loved the Kootenay Boundary area,” he said, adding that, “The success of both the local economy and the people who live there are really important to me.”

Moving forward, Lebler said he hoped to help recruit new staff at city hall while keeping mayor and council up-to-date on the city’s finances.

Greenwood has been without a permanent CAO since February, when mayor and council voted to part ways with Lebler’s predecessor, Wendy Higashi. Ron Mattiussi was appointed as interim CAO on April 12.

The Leblers and their two small children are looking forward to moving to Canada’s smallest city next week.

@ltritsch1 laurie.tritschler@grandforksgazette.caLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.