I had the good fortune to spend an hour this morning with Randy Diehl, Chief Administrative Officer, for the City of Kamloops. Randy is our head employee, leading all city employees in the day to day management of our city.
Randy has always struck me as a quiet person. He would probably make a lousy politician, but I think he is a very good manager. I could be wrong (about the politician part) as I am just getting to know Randy better.
I was especially interested to talk to Randy about City Hall's quest to became one of the 100 Top Organizations in Canada. This is a rigorous process, administered by the National Quality Institute of Canada, which requires going through City Hall processes and assessing their efficiency by international standards. The City has been through 2 of the 4 steps in the process. It is important that results in this process are measurable. Randy is of the same view.
Anything the City can do to be more efficient and not lose its humanity - I am in favour of. Too often, organizations don't go that extra mile to become as efficient as possible.
Randy and I also talked about the importance of City Council having a strategic plan, the 360 reviews of city managers where there staff also get to anonymously review their manager's performance, and the issue of substandard infrastructure on the North Shore.
I firmly believe Randy has been a huge asset to the City.
What an extraordinairy amount of effort Arjun. You introduced me to gmail eons ago... regret to say I didn't vote for you last election...
silly me.. Credit Dale Bass's column for giving you the kudos I believe you deserve. What a fantastic website. VERY professional. You are quite a character. I look forward to watching your future endeavors, and your positions on council!
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Posted by: Pat Leibel | February 19, 2006 at 06:08 PM
Hello- I live at the far end of Ord Road and drive by the beautiful Temple almost every day. I am very curious about that building and was wondering if you could help me find out something about it. How long has it been there, who built it, who uses it, how large is the congregation? I almost never see anyone there- is it well used? I hope you are able to answer some of my questions- I am just interested in the different groups in our city and would like to know more about that lovely facility. Thanks for your time- Cheri Purpur.
Posted by: Cheri Purpur | February 21, 2006 at 03:22 PM