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New park board chief plucked from Ontario

July 19th, 2010 · 13 Comments

I just had this internal notice from the city passed on to me:

From: COV Broadcast Server
To: All Staff (COV) – DL
Sent: Mon Jul 19 14:16:17 2010
Subject: COV Broadcast: Announcement of New General Manager of Parks and Recreation (from Park Board Chair, Aaron Jasper and City Manager, Penny Ballem)

The Chair of the Park Board, Aaron Jasper and I are pleased to announce the appointment of Malcolm Bromley as General Manager, Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation. His appointment follows a national search undertaken by a sub-committee of the Board and confirmation last week by the whole Board.
Malcolm brings over 30 years of experience in parks and recreation management in Ontario, leading high performance teams, delivering quality programs and leading the integration of recreation programs following the amalgamation of several municipalities into the City of Toronto.
Since 2007, Malcolm has served as Director of Community Recreation for the City of Toronto, providing strategic leadership for recreation services across the city including aquatics, ski hills, active living, sport development, community programs and customer service.
Over his career, Malcolm has held supervisory and management positions in parks, forestry and recreation operations in the Ontario cities of Belleville, North York and Toronto. He has also served as a part-time professor at Humber College where he led classes on a range of recreation topics.
A collaborative leader, Malcolm has a reputation as a strong builder of partnerships with other levels of government, the public, community groups and other key stakeholders.
Malcolm’s skills and experience within large municipalities will be invaluable for managing our world renowned parks and recreation facilities. He will begin his new duties in early September.
I would like to take this opportunity to offer thanks and appreciation to Peter Kuran, on behalf of the Park Board and the rest of the City, for the great job he did as Acting General Manager since October, 2009.
Please join me in welcoming Malcolm to Vancouver and to this important role for the City of Vancouver.
Penny Ballem
City Manager

Announcement of New General Manager of Parks and Recreation (from Park Board Chair, Aaron Jasper and City Manager, Penny Ballem)The Chair of the Park Board, Aaron Jasper and I are pleased to announce the appointment of Malcolm Bromley as General Manager, Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation. His appointment follows a national search undertaken by a sub-committee of the Board and confirmation last week by the whole Board.
Malcolm brings over 30 years of experience in parks and recreation management in Ontario, leading high performance teams, delivering quality programs and leading the integration of recreation programs following the amalgamation of several municipalities into the City of Toronto.
Since 2007, Malcolm has served as Director of Community Recreation for the City of Toronto, providing strategic leadership for recreation services across the city including aquatics, ski hills, active living, sport development, community programs and customer service.
Over his career, Malcolm has held supervisory and management positions in parks, forestry and recreation operations in the Ontario cities of Belleville, North York and Toronto. He has also served as a part-time professor at Humber College where he led classes on a range of recreation topics.
A collaborative leader, Malcolm has a reputation as a strong builder of partnerships with other levels of government, the public, community groups and other key stakeholders.
Malcolm’s skills and experience within large municipalities will be invaluable for managing our world renowned parks and recreation facilities. He will begin his new duties in early September.
I would like to take this opportunity to offer thanks and appreciation to Peter Kuran, on behalf of the Park Board and the rest of the City, for the great job he did as Acting General Manager since October, 2009.
Please join me in welcoming Malcolm to Vancouver and to this important role for the City of Vancouver.

Penny BallemCity Manager

Categories: Uncategorized

  • Leanne

    I wonder if this is a case of BC adopting ON retirees? I’ve heard of a few BC gov’t positions going to people who’ve retired from their roles in Ontario…. nice income.

  • Malcolm Bromley

    Not retiring from Toronto. Looking forward to Vancouver.

  • Frances Bula

    @Malcolm. On behalf of Vancouver, welcome aboard. Expectations will be high, as you know.

  • MB

    I’m glad to see you have a diverse background in parks, forestry and big cities, Malcolm. The leadership in other parks departments in the Metro are too heavily influenced by cheap suburban recreation standards and beancounting over quality land planning, urban design and architecture, as well as energy conservation in pools and community centres.

    I wish you well.

  • Bill McCreery

    @ Malcolm. I sincerely hope your role in Vancouver will be as positive & constructive as your previous career. There are many challenges in the Vancouver Parks & Recreation system which good management leadership can make the most of. Good luck.

    I am not at all happy that this announcement has been made by the City Manager & not the Chair of the Park Board.

  • spartikus

    I am not at all happy that this announcement has been made by the City Manager & not the Chair of the Park Board.

    Er. It might be a bit pedantic of me…but per above…

    The Chair of the Park Board, Aaron Jasper and I are pleased to announce the appointment of Malcolm Bromley as General Manager,

    Also, the Parks Board version of the announcement:

    Aaron Jasper, Chair of the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation and City Manager Penny Ballem today announced the appointment of Malcolm Bromley as General Manager, Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.

    The appointment follows a national search undertaken by a sub-committee of the Board and confirmed by the Board.

  • Sean Bickerton

    @Malcolm Bromley – Welcome! You are taking over a completely unique jewel in North America – Vancouver is the only city in North America with it’s own Park Board, one treasured by the people who love to live here.

    You will face several significant challenges:

    1) A very heavy-handed city administration that has already slashed the Vancouver Park Board budget and significantly reduced its independence;

    2) A tone-deaf Planning Department that has abrogated a long-standing commitment by councils of all stripes to add 2.75 acres of park for every 1000 residents in each new development project. Where that isn’t possible, the developers paid instead for community amenities based on that tried and true formula going back decades. It needs to be reinstated as city policy as it’s responsible for the parks you’ll be managing.

    3) Delivering Creekside Park within a reasonable timeframe. Delayed 25 years now, Creekside Park is owed the resident of Vancouver by Concord Pacific in return for being allowed to develop the old Expo lands. New soil remediation technology, and the Province’s eagerness to speed the casino approval process through, provide an opportunity to get that park built now in time for Vancouver’s 125th Anniversary.

    I guarantee you that your tenure will be judged on whether or not that park gets delivered.

    In the meantime, we all wish you the very best of luck and welcome to the most beautiful city in the world!

  • Star Tripper

    so you said yes, eh Malcolm.

    I’m waiting to hear about something here otherwise I am out soon.

    Good luck.

  • Bill McCreery

    @ Spartikus the unknown. ‘Pedantic’ is not quite the word. I replied to the info posted here by the author of this blog. My life does not consist of endless e-searchs.

    FB chose to use PB’s notice & did not mention AJs’. Why?

  • Frances Bula

    @Bill. I am somewhat dependent on what gets passed on to me by my loyal blog researchers. The internal memo from Penny came to me first via a source. A little later, I got Aaron Jasper’s official email announcement about the new chief, but I had already posted the first memo.

  • spartikus

    And both memos are a “joint” announcement – they just reverse who is mentioned first.

    It took me literally 30 seconds to find the Parks Board version. Some might characterize that as engaging in “endless e-searches”.

    Others might call it supporting one’s argument, or even due diligence.

    But if it makes you happy I did Google up the announcement of the 1998 hiring of Susan Mundick. And, to the extent my limited search revealed, it was Parks Board only. Happy now?

  • OOrt field

    Well, I find it interesting that three major pb directors announced their retirements today effective Sept.

  • Bill McCreery

    @FB. Thxs for clarification.
    @spark. Yes, thxs.
    @OOrt. Perhaps FB &/or other info sleuths can get more background on this. There have been a series of PB ‘leavings’.