DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Collaboration – steppingstone to a culture of appreciation” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in March 2024
Note to Reader:
Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. The edition published on March 12, 2024 features a conversational interview with Pete Steblin, former City Manager with the City of Coquitlam in the Metro Vancouver region. In the interview, he reflected on his experience in building trust through collaborating to create a culture and cycle of appreciation in the city.
Collaboration – steppingstone to a culture of appreciation
Peter Steblin is an engineer who progressed to City Manager. His local government career began with the City of Vancouver and concluded at the City of Coquitlam in 2023.
When he joined Coquitlam in January 2008, controversy surrounded the way the city had mandated use of green infrastructure in new development. One of his first priorities was to stickhandle a path forward to a balanced solution.
Balance is key to good government
“At the end of the day, good decision-making comes down to a good process. But it also relies on wisdom in terms of balanced advice. The essence of my guiding philosophy as a City Manager is distilled into the three Ts which are trust, time and think,” states Pete Steblin.
Trust: “When there is a significant level of trust in technical recommendations, Councils rarely override them. Staff explains recommendations. The Council makes the decisions. Trust is fragile and can easily be broken. When trust is lost, decades of good work can be lost.”
Time: “If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority! We took the ‘reality of time’ into consideration when we set workload priorities in Coquitlam. We ranked them as A, B or C because this allowed us to manage timelines effectively. It helped Council focus on what is most important to make progress over time.”
Think: “We are not perfect. We struggle with challenges related to blindly following standards of practice. Too often, that can lead to unsuitable or unsustainable solutions. So, I encouraged staff to think about compromises and maximizing the benefit for the money spent.”
To Learn More:
To read the complete story, download a copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Collaboration – steppingstone to a culture of appreciation.
