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Lantzville fills District’s vacant top job

Dec 7, 2016 | 7:48 PM

NANAIMO — The district of Lantzville has hired a new chief administrative officer to lead the seaside community of nearly 4,000 people.

Darren Kiedyk, whose been the CAO in the north island village of Sayward for nearly five years, takes the reigns in Lantzville on Jan. 13, 2017.

Lantzville mayor Colin Haime says Kiedyk has a wide range of desirable skills.

“His finance background, the CPA (Chartered Professional Accountant) side of things that he has is an important aspect of why we considered him very seriously. Recognizing the pressure that’s put on taxation these days, a good grasp on the financial side,” Haime said.

Kiedyk has 17-years of municipal government experience, including 12 years in a financial management role with the city of Nanaimo, according to Kiedyk. He also has five years of experience running his own business and has worked for a large multi-national company and the provincial government, according to a District release.

In a phone conversation with NanaimoNewsNOW late Wednesday afternoon, Kiedyk said he was drawn to the Lantzville job for several reasons.

“I like the size of the community, it’s a great natural progression for me in terms of a career,” he said. “The other thing that attracted me was the residents seem really passionate about the community.”

Kiedyk sees many similarities between overseeing Sayward and what’s in store for him in Lantzville.

“We have many of the same challenges. Trying to fund infrastructure, keeping taxes at a reasonable level, offering our residents great services for a reasonable price,” he said.

Kiedyk says his salary will be $110,000 annually over a six month probationary period, then increases by $10,000.

Haime says coming from a small community allowed Kiedyk to experience a range of responsibilities.

“Becomes somewhat of a jack-of-all-trades in that regard and I think from that standpoint his experience in a variety of areas will lead him to be a great asset for the District of Lantzville,” Haime said.

The top job in Lantzville opened up in September when Brad McRrae took a senior management job with the city of Nanaimo after just 13 months with the District. Former city of Parksville CAO Fred Manson came out of retirement to fill Lantzville’s top job on an interm basis.