 | Home page |  | Text size |  | E-mail this page |
Bob Long lands job in B.C. Former city boss hired as city manager in Prince Rupert
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Friday, June 14, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The city's former top bureaucrat has returned to British Columbia where he is from, and landed a new job in the process.
Long, who was fired by city council following last fall's municipal election, was recently hired as the city manager for his hometown of Prince Rupert, B.C.
Long was at the centre of a number of controversies during his two-year tenure as Yellowknife's senior administrative officer, including a contentious plan to install a public floatplane dock in Old Town, and borrowing up to $49 million to harness geothermal energy from Con Mine. The latter plan was rejected by voters in a referendum held in March 2011.
Criticisms of Long's heavy-handed management style were voiced several times by city council and mayoral candidates during last year's election.
According to a Prince Rupert newspaper The Northern View, Long was announced as the community's new city manager at a May 13 council meeting. The article states he "was hired by Prince Rupert city council at a prior in-camera meeting to fill the position." It makes no mention of Long's previous controversies in Yellowknife or at his former job in Tofino, B.C.
A subsequent article published on May 30 stated that "part of the appeal of hiring Long for the city is his experience, being he has spent more than two decades working as (chief administrative officer) for regional districts and municipalities."
A person who identified himself as an editor at The Northern View told Yellowknifer he was aware of Long's history, and that the newspaper "dealt with him once and didn't have a problem." The editor refused to give his last name, only identifying himself as "Shaun." The newspaper's masthead identifies Shaun Thomas as its editor.
According to the May 30 article, Long was born in Prince Rupert, which has a population of around 13,000. It mentions that his father was a prominent figure on Prince Rupert's city council in the 1950s and 1960s.
Prince Rupert city councillor Joy Thorkelson said she would not discuss whether Long's past experience in Yellowknife came up in discussions regarding his consideration for the job.
Her only comment was that Long was the most qualified individual for the position.
"What I will say is that he was certainly the best candidate, and that's why we hired him," she said.
Other Prince Rupert city officials involved in hiring Long, including Mayor Jack Mussallem, did not return phone calls by press time.
| 
