Vegreville Town Manager Receives Long Service Recognition Award

Vegreville Town Manager Receives Long Service Recognition Award

Michelle Pinon News Advertiser

Vegreville Town Manager Cliff Craig was recently honoured for his 25 years of service by the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators, (CAMA).

The CAMA’s Long Service Recognition Awards Program recognizes and celebrates the dedication to public service and municipal management. CAMA recently bestowed a recognition pin to Craig, who has served 15 of his 25 years with the Town of Vegreville.

According to CAMA, the awards are based on the number of years of full-time, paid employment in municipal government in a management capacity. Craig responded by stating, “The CAMA 25 Year Award is appreciated as it recognizes the years of service that I have worked in municipal management for communities in Alberta.”

Mayor Tim MacPhee said, “Cliff has worked with the Town since 2005 first starting in the Finance Department. He worked his way up to Corporate Services Director, and in 2016 he became the Town Manager. We are very fortunate to have Cliff as our Town Manager. The diverse requirements of the role are no small task, and the fact that Cliff worked his way up the management chain is a huge benefit to the Town of Vegreville.”

Craig said he started his career in local government in 1992 as Secretary- Treasurer to the Board of Education with County of Forty Mile No. 8. “Over the next ten years, I was with County of Forty Mile, County of Wheatland, Municipality of Crowsnest Pass, and the Town of Coaldale. My positions ranged from Secretary-Treasurer, Assistant Administrator to Director of Finance and Systems.”

Back in April of 2005, Craig accepted the Finance Officer position with the Town and moved to Vegreville. “During my tenure here, I have held the following positions: Finance Officer, Assistant Town Manager, Corporate Services Director and am currently the Town Manager.”

He explained, “The Town Manager position reports directly to Mayor and Council. It is my responsibility to keep council updated and informed about governmental and community affairs in addition to providing recommendations for policies to improve operational efficiencies. Some of the main policies and programs include organizational and department structures, employee policies, and financial policies. The Town Manager position is responsible to ensure all bylaws and resolutions of the Town are enforced while being kept current and relevant.”

Craig feels the town’s senior leadership group is key to his position and the success of the town as a whole. “It is the contributions of the directors and staff together with council that result in the effectiveness of our town operations for our community.”

He went on to say, “Some of the accomplishments of the town have been the formalization of the annual Budgeting process, updated financial policies and practices, fully funded reserves, current Employee Policy Manual, Inter-municipal Collaboration Framework Agreements in place with the County of Minburn in addition to recently approved ‘Respect in the Work Place’ and the ‘Drug and Alcohol’ policies which have positive implications beyond just our employees. On a professional level, I attained my Certified Local Government Manager [CLGM] designation have been a member on various task forces and advisory boards related to government finance and municipal organizations.

One of the major challenges that occurred within my first year of accepting the Town Manager position, was the closure of the CPC Centre in Vegreville. There have been many other highlights over the years as well, and Craig said he continues to work closely with economic development for the attraction of new business to the community.