This Friday, the city of Victoria says goodbye to city manager Gail Stephens, one of the most important and dynamic leaders the city has had in a long time.
She is leaving to become the chief operating officer of the 91原创 Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.
Before coming to Victoria in 2009, Stephens held senior executive positions in some of Canada鈥檚 top institutions, including vice-president of finance and services for the University of Calgary and CEO of B.C. Pension Corp., which won the premier鈥檚 award of excellence during her term for its shift to a client-focused culture.
No stranger to city administration, she was chief administrative officer for the City of Winnipeg, where she helped it become one of the most cost-effective city governments in Canada, with a citizen-satisfaction rating of over 92 per cent.
Stephens received the Manitoba Gold Medal for the highest level of excellence in the CGA program and graduated on the dean鈥檚 honour list from the Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba. She has been named one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada.
Victoria鈥檚 loss is Winnipeg鈥檚 gain, and we will be lucky to find a city manager candidate with these same merits to replace her.
Does the tall-poppy syndrome exist in Victoria? You be the judge. The syndrome is a social phenomenon in which people of genuine merit are resented, attacked, cut down or criticized because their talents or achievements elevate them above or distinguish them from their peers.
We are not losing Stephens because of another job opportunity, but because we failed to support her as she tackled and accomplished some of the most difficult projects Victoria, with its aging infrastructure, diverse population and unique attributes as a capital city on an island, has experienced.
We failed to speak up for her, as negative and vocal opponents buried her and her team in freedom-of-information requests and openly attacked her personally through public channels.
Despite these barriers, in less than five years Stephens proved to be a dynamic visionary who was both collaborative and mentoring. She helped set strong policy direction for many years to come with the completion and approval of the Official Community Plan and the Downtown Core Area Plan, both of which have won awards and are seen by other communities across Canada as best practices.
Stephens introduced better accountability reporting, including a quarterly performance report, project charters, risk assessments, financial analysis and millions of dollars in budget reductions.
The Johnson Street Bridge, the largest and most complicated project ever undertaken by the city of Victoria, is moving ahead with a mandate approved by the majority of the community.
Stephens oversaw the grand opening of the service centre on the second floor of city hall, the completion of renovations to the former Traveller鈥檚 Inns to provide for homeless housing, and the kitchen-scraps program. She envisioned the development of David Foster Way, and helped develop the garden-suites policy, the Pandora Avenue boulevard improvements and Fisherman鈥檚 Wharf Park, to name just a few.
We need to support our 鈥渢all poppies鈥� if Victoria is going to grow and thrive.
If we want to attract the type of leadership and passion that Stephens brought to our city, we have to stand up to the bullying that is often thrown at leaders who dare to change the status quo, who push to make positive changes happen for the greater good, and provide them with the supportive environment they need to succeed.
While we have lost Stephens, there are other tall poppies in our city, and I will endeavour to champion and encourage them as they strive to enhance our community.
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Deirdre Campbell is owner of the public-relations firm Tartan Group, past chair of Tourism Victoria and a member of the board of the Downtown Victoria Business Association.
