Iglulik's new SAO settling into job
Greg Morash says he's been welcomed with open arms
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Monday, May 8, 2017
IGLULIK
After about a month on the job, Iglulik's new senior administrative officer says he is settling into his new position quite nicely.
Greg Morash, 62, started as the hamlet's top bureaucrat on April 7.
He replaced Gordon Dinney who Morash said left to take a break and go home to New Brunswick. Morash said his feet have already been put to the administrative fire.
"It's going really well. I came in at the worst time with budget and (fiscal) year end. The turnover with the former SAO and myself went fairly well. The staff has treated me really well," Morash said. "They also understand that things may not work the way they did in other communities I have been in so they are really trying to adapt and get me trained so I do things correctly."
Morash said there were a lot of things on the go in the community before he arrived.
"We have a new sewage lagoon, we have a new water station. There are renovations going on at the school," Morash said. "Not all of this involves us directly but we still have to make sure that things like leases are done correctly and I have good staff to do that."
With a population of 1,700 residents, Morash said Iglulik is a little bigger than most of the communities he has worked at in the past.
"We have a lot more staff here than I am used to. In the smaller communities you could call a staff meeting and talk to all the staff. Up here, it's almost impossible to do that at at once so you have to break your meetings up into sections," Morash said. He added he views himself as a hands-on leader but in Iglulik he said he has had to learn to delegate because he simply does not have the time to head up every single project and initiative.
Morash said he has been overwhelmed by the hospitality and generosity shown to him by Iglulik residents since he arrived.
"People are very friendly. They are willing to listen They are very easy to get along with and when you explain yourself to them they listen and understand," Morash said. "They will voice their concerns if they think there is something wrong and I love that."
Morash said the hamlet is moving in the right direction, heading towards the high expectations it has set.
The native of Halifax said he has given the hamlet a three-year commitment. He noted he will be 65 when that span is up and he may retire.
Morash said he has held similar positions in more than a dozen communities across the North and he has learned that things are done a little differently in each one of them.
"I listen to what they are saying and then make a judgment call and so far up here it's not the exactly the way I would do it. But it does get the job done in a timely fashion so you know they are doing a great job so far."
Morash has headed municipal governments in Gjoa Haven as well as several communities across the NWT.
He was most recently band manger and SAO for Lutsel K'e on the East Arm of Great Slave Lake.
