With prior experience helping municipalities pinch their pennies, Lisa Brown is primed to do the same in Turner Valley.
Brown began her role as Turner Valley’s legislative services manager in early June – a job that will have her preparing for council meetings, drafting bylaws and policies, overseeing records management and establishing cost efficiencies, among numerous other tasks.
“I love drafting bylaw and policies,” said Brown. “That’s one of the fun aspects I like in this job and, of course, working with council to make sure we cover everything that they want while in compliance with the legislation.”
Brown comes to Turner Valley with several years of experience doing contract work for organizations ranging from non-profits to municipalities. This has included bylaw reviews, policy updates, managing meetings and applying for grants.
“It was working with different people and different municipalities, being able to help them get things sorted so they’re more efficient, especially nowadays when everyone is looking for efficiencies and cost savings,” she said. “It’s to help them understand the importance of their time management and being proactive so when something changes at the last minute they’re not panicking.”
When the contract work slowed down significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and many offices closed, Brown found herself seeking more stable work.
That’s when she stumbled across the advertisement for a legislative services manager in Turner Valley after Heather Thomson retired from the position last month after 11 years of service.
“I like this part of the province,” said Brown. “I’d been looking for something down here to be close to friends and family and I like the ambiance of a smaller community.”
Brown said she was hired on a term position based on the potential for amalgamation. The Towns of Black Diamond and Turner Valley began negotiations in the amalgamation process after submitting a letter to then Minister of Municipal Affairs Tracy Allard last fall, informing her of their intent to formally enter into amalgamation negotiations.
“It leaves the door open,” she said. “Down the road, it could morph into, ‘We want to keep you on because we’re going to be busy with legislative stuff.’”
If Black Diamond and Turner Valley councils decide to pursue amalgamation, a decision that’s scheduled to occur in late summer, Brown will have a lot of work ahead of her if she’s kept on staff.
“We have to review all of the bylaws and policies and redraft quite a few,” she said. “Right now we’re reviewing which ones are priority. We want to make sure that we’re being proactive and have those ready to roll in case this all moves forward.”
Brown said she was involved with the dissolution of Grande Cache into the Municipal District of Greenview, a process that began in 2015 and was completed in 2019.
“One of the reasons that I felt I fit into this role is it covers my skill set and knowledge base,” she said. “This is a little bit different from a dissolution, but there are a lot of similarities as well like working with the province and counterpart municipalities. I have a good understanding and ability to learn how the process is going to get completed.”
When Brown isn’t sitting at her desk, she’ll be out biking, rollerblading, playing shinny hockey, hiking and golfing.
In the meantime, she looks forward to becoming a part of the community.
“I’m excited about getting out and about and meeting a lot more of the residents,” she said. “I’m a friendly person. I usually just walk up and introduce myself.”
