Ross Blackwell’s last day working for the District of Port Hardy was Friday, Sept. 15.
Blackwell held down the sizeable roles of Director of Corporate Services/Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for the district for the last two years and nine months, but he’s decided it’s now time for him to move on and take a position at the Village of Lions Bay as Chief Administrative Officer.
“This truly is a fantastic community,” Blackwell said when asked by the Gazette if he’d enjoyed his time spent working in Port Hardy. “Lots and lots of good memories.”
“The privilege of being able to do this job on behalf of the community has been fantastic, we’ve achieved some great results, and the cherry on top of the cake is the fantastic group of people I’ve been able to work with at the district here, as well as the outstanding group of elected officials on council.”
Blackwell added one of the projects he was most pleased to have had a hand in over the years was the urban street tree planning that’s been done on Granville Street and in front of Applewood Chevrolet.
“It’s a positive step forward,” he said, noting he also feels proud of all the work that’s been done to upgrade and beautify the downtown seawall.
Port Hardy Mayor Pat Corbett-Labatt said council was “sad to see him go, and we wish him good luck in Lions Bay as the CAO.”
Corbett-Labatt added council hasn’t made a decision yet regarding whether they will hire someone else to fill Blackwell’s two roles, or if they will simply combine the job with another one like was recently done with the district’s director of operations position that was held by Kam So.
Financial documents show Blackwell earned $110,454.04 in 2022 and had expenses totalling $2,450.54.
So, who also recently moved on from working for the district, earned $128,488.79 in 2022 and had expenses totalling $1,776.25.