By Greg Higgins

Jim Puffalt feels "fulfilled and blessed" with role as city manager

Mar 27, 2018 | 5:00 PM

After just over four years of service, North Battleford city manager, Jim Puffalt, has decided to move on to another city, but says he will miss the people, the community and all the opportunity it provided him.

Puffalt has officially accepted the city manager position in Moose Jaw and starts in May. The announcement was made via email by Mayor Ryan Bater this morning.

Puffalt said it was simply an opportunity for his career he couldn’t turn down, but added it wouldn’t have been possible without the time he spent in North Battleford.

“We really enjoyed our time in North Battleford, it is a tremendous community,” Puffalt said. “Some of the projects I was able to work on here, I just couldn’t have got that exposure anywhere else. North Battleford has rapidly become a home to us. It was a tough decision to wrestle with.”

Puffalt said in the end the opportunity to go to a bigger community with a bigger budget and more staff was one he couldn’t turn down.

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The city manager described his time in North Battleford as fulfilling and said he was blessed to be able to work with everyone he has.

“We are doing things that no one else is doing in the country,” Puffalt said. “The city working with a tribal council under the city initiative with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, I mean no one else is doing that in the country so that is pretty exciting stuff to be able to work on.”

Puffalt said if he had it his way, he would stick around for another year to see more of the Community Safety Strategy through. He added he would like to see the progress the city has made when the Crime Severity Index comes out in July.

According to Puffalt, the Community Safety Strategy is one of the accomplishments he was most proud of while working for the city.

“I put alot of heart and soul into it,” Puffalt said. “I worked a lot with organizations in the community and RCMP, just trying to find a better way. That is a huge project that I worked on, which certainly gives a sense of fulfillment.”

When it comes to the community, Puffalt said he will miss the warmth and friendliness of the people the most and the geographical location.

“Getting up in the morning and knowing that north there is lakes and everything that’s here. The area is great, especially the river valley. I will miss everything about North Battleford. It is a tremendous community.”

Bater said in the email that a nationwide search for Puffalt’s replacement will begin shortly.   

greg.higgins@jpbg.ca

On Twitter @realgreghiggins