As 2015 nears to a close, Ken Bosman is also nearing the completion of his first year as chief administrative officer (CAO) with the Town of Crossfield, which he has called an interesting experience in an interesting community.
He, along with council, has specifically focused a means to place directive on Crossfield’s potential for growth in the coming years, which was actually the reason he wanted to work for the Town in the first place.
“One of the first things I said to council during the interview process was this town is destined to grow very rapidly and I’d like to be a part of that growth,” he said.
Never knowing how a new municipality will work out for a CAO, Bosman finally moved into the community from his home in Canmore – an 80 minute commute one way – following council’s decision to extend his contract as CAO.
“My sense is that things are going at least reasonably well,” he said.
Though he worked in municipal planning with Athabasca County and the Municipal District of Big Lakes, Crossfield marks the first opportunity he’s had to work in an urban town environment.
With that, he said, comes attention to many of the fine details of municipal planning, but living in such a compact area allows a familiarity in the community and an immediacy of reporting and instant accountability.
“It’s a very nice work environment in a sense that when you want something to get done, it’s not 100 miles away and you can check in two minutes if it was done properly,” Bosman said.
A self proclaimed “recycled” computer programmer, he would have called you crazy if anyone told him 20 years ago he’d be the CAO of a municipality in Alberta.
Though he’s not sure if anyone ever ends up where they thought they would, since working in municipal development he’s realized being a CAO cannot be done by anyone who treats it as just a job.
If a CAO gets no enjoyment from what they do for the sake of doing it, he said, they won’t succeed.
“It’s a job you have to be all in mentally for,” he said. “You have to have some skin in the game and be motivated by something other than a paycheque.”
Long ago, a boss in Athabasca told Bosman in municipal planning one must look at every decision very carefully because making stupid decisions is in turn simply building a monument to your own stupidity.
He knew coming into the position, Crossfield was going to grow but the question he has asked himself since his first day is how to channel that growth in a way that 10, 15 or 20 years down the line everyone involved can look back and be proud of they’ve done to change the community for the better?
“That’s an exciting environment to be in,” he said. “ You can change and tangibly see what you do and what you’ve done to improve the lives of your citizens.
“And you know, as far as jobs go, that ain’t bad.”
Bosman said he has been honoured to work with this council and its very diverse opinions that incite conversation and debate from all angles, but does so in an incredibly constructive way.
Reflecting on everything the Town has achieved, and everything the Town will achieve in the years to come, Bosman said he is honoured to be serving Crossfield.
“It’s been an interesting ride and I think we’ve made some phenomenal progress this year,” he said. “The next two or three years are going to be exciting and I’m looking forward to being a part of it.”
