The Rural Municipality of Dauphin will soon have a new Chief Administrative Officer.
Grady Stephenson will take over the position effective, July 28. He is currently the CAO for the Town of Carberry.
“It was a different challenge,” he said of accepting the position with the RM of Dauphin.
“I come from a small town and a rural municipality is going to be a different challenge for me. That would be a good opportunity for some growth and to help out the RM and the community out there,” he said.
Stephenson has been CAO in Carberry for about 5-1/2 years and worked in the public works and parks and recreation departments before that, giving him 11 years of experience in municipal work.
Among the challenges Stephenson expects is going from an urban setting to rural.
“It’s a little bit different for me and coming from basically the desert to somewhere with challenges with water in the springtime and flooding will be new to me,” he said.
“But I know there is some great staff there that are going to be able to guide me through that and help me out to get my feet wet, no pun intended. I think there’s going to be other challenges, too, but we’ll cross those bridges when we get there. I think it’s going to be good.”
Stephenson is looking forward to the opportunity and getting to know the area.
“I’m an outdoors guy, so I look forward to some of the fishing and hunting opportunities up there, as well,” he said.
RM of Dauphin reeve Ernie Sirski said Stephenson conducted himself well in his interview with council.
“He brings a lot of municipal experience to the table, which is something that we rated very highly. He handled himself very well and we liked what he offered for us,” he said.
There will be an adjustment period for both parties as they get to know each other.
“The first thing is to get to know us. He’s got to get to know the council. He’s got to get to know the staff,” he said.
“When you come into this kind of position from outside, it’s going to take a little bit of time. So I think that’s the first thing we’re going to try and do, is get hm to know us, so that he can start doing his job in the best possible way.”
Council, Sirski added, is looking forward to Stephenson’s contribution to the RM in helping lead the municipality in a direction that is positive for the RM.
“We’ve done a new strategic plan and we’re looking at rolling that out, but we want to make sure that we roll it out properly and that he knows what the strategic plan is and what it contains, as well as the council has a good understanding of it,” he said.
“And, of course, a whole bunch of other files that we’re dealing with at the same time. So we’re looking forward to his help in those regards.”
