CANMORE – An interim management team is in place for Canmore Community Housing as the board of directors searches for a new head of the organization.
Theresa Bolton, the longtime CCH rental administrator, will fill the role of interim operations manager and Lisa de Soto, the former longtime Canmore CAO, will serve in a strategic leadership support position until a new managing director is found.
Rob Murray, the CCH board chair, said they wanted to play to the strengths of two very capable people, noting Bolton is familiar with the day-to-day operations having worked at CCH for a number of years, while de Soto has a lot of experience and amazing resume.
"The decision was really based around taking the best characteristics of two people we already had in the fold making it so we have a strong interim team," said Murray.
"We want to continue the important work we’re doing in the community while we search for a person to lead the organization.”
De Soto, who became a board member in late 2022, was approved for a leave of absence from her board role, leaving an eight-member board for the short-term.
While de Soto assumes a role in assisting at the strategic level, particularly given her more than two decades of municipal leadership experience in Canmore, Murray said the board has no concerns about perception even though she was on the board which decided on making the leadership change.
“The decision was truly based on her experience, and ability to take on a really important role in the transition. … It’s the best way forward in the short-term with Lisa and Theresa in their respective roles,” Murray said.
The CCH board appointed Wade Graham, Jeff Mah and de Soto to a subcommittee for requests for proposals for a recruitment company to lead the search for a new managing director.
The search comes on the heels of the CCH board voting to fire without cause the former managing director Dougal Forteath, effective Feb. 21.
The makeup of the CCH board was shaken up at Town council’s annual organizational meeting last October. The board went from having two council members to four on the nine-person board. The move was made to better align with council’s, the Town’s and CCH’s goals to address affordable housing.
Following the change in the board’s composition, meetings were once again reopened to the public after they had been restricted to only board members at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The board approved its 2023 business plan on March 30, which serves as one of its more ambitious plans in several years. The plan had to be reworked to align with the board’s strategic goals after the initial draft plan didn’t meet the board’s goals.
Created in 2000, CCH is a non-profit organization fully owned by the Town of Canmore, but operates independently of the Town to establish affordable housing for residents through rental and owning opportunities. As of Feb. 28, it has 160 units to own, which includes the addition of three from Spring Creek in February, and 118 available to rent.
Murray said the board is hoping to have a new managing director in place before summer.
“We realize how important this organization is to the future of our community and affordability in our community. We would rather this transition time be as short as possible.”
