Municipal administrators are an essential part of the delivery of services and management of the resources of both urban and rural municipalities in the province of Saskatchewan.
On the front lines of these bodies, administrators are the faces you will likely deal with first anytime you have to deal with your municipality, whether it is paying taxes or utility bills, lodging complaints, and any other business you might have with your town.
The town of Arcola has been blessed with the services of an able and talented administrator by the name of Glenda Johnston.
Johnston, who has been serving the community for more than six years, has sadly announced her pending retirement from the position she has served.
"I took the position because it was an opportunity to service my own community," said Johnston. "The position was coming open, and I had a background in book keeping and financial planning."
"While there are a lot of different parts to the job, one of the more important parts is book keeping for the town."
In Saskatchewan, a post-secondary certificate program has to be completed for an individual to be qualified for an administrator position.
Johnston, who had many of the basic skills, still had to complete the certificate course so she could take the job.
"I took the certificate over four courses," Johnston said. "I was able to complete them from here as correspondence courses, and I wrote the final exam in Regina."
Once she was fully certified, Johnston was able to move forward into the position.
"It was just a really ideal job for me," Johnston said. "I really enjoy book keeping and other parts of the job. But what has really grown to be my favourite part of the job is dealing with the people who come in. That has been great."
Johnston has administered the town through one of the most significant periods of growth in years, and while she downplays her involvement, the rapid growth created a number of challenges for the administrator.
"We had new residential areas going up, and new businesses coming to town," Johnston said. "It was really quite an exciting period to be involved with the town."
Besides dealing with the town members on a day-to-day basis, the administrator position requires the administrator to be involved in the town council sessions, acting as the secretary and ensuring that the policies adopted and passed through the council are enacted and applied,
"Dealing with the council has been interesting too," Johnston said. "It was nice to be a part of the town in that way, and seeing how the town grew and changed because of decisions that came through the council."
Despite her love for the position, Johnston is moving on to other things, a decision that she said was not an easy one to make.
"I have really enjoyed my job, and it was a tough decision to make," Johnston said. "Family matters are a big part of the decision, and I needed to move into a position that was less encompassing of my time."
"I will be doing book keeping still, which will allow me to work from home," Johnston said. "There are other opportunities that I am looking forward to exploring as well."
"I really loved the job, and it was a real privilege to work so closely with the members of the community," Johnston said. "Once I have gone, I already know that what I am going to miss the most is dealing with the people."
"The people were always the best, most shining part of the job."
Johnston will be continuing in the position until early October. In the meantime the town of Arcola is continuing its search to find her successor in the position.
