The City of New Westminster didn’t have to go too far to find its new director of development services.
After a nationwide search, the city concluded that Beverly Grieve was the best person for the job. Grieve, the city’s manager of planning, has been serving as acting director of development services since June.
“Beverly has been doing great work for the city throughout the time she’s been here,” Mayor Wayne Wright said in a press release. “I’m looking forward to continuing to work with her and to her contributions in her new leadership role – she will be busy.”
Grieve, who has worked with the city's planning department for six years, previously worked as a senior planner with Metro Vancouver for three years and as a housing planner with the City of Burnaby for nearly two decades. Grieve has a master’s degree from the University of British Columbia’s School of Planning and is currently an instructor at Simon Fraser University’s centre for sustainable community development.
“I’m excited to help create a strong vision for the future of New Westminster,” Grieve said. “I’m looking forward to taking a leadership role in the department I’ve grown to love and continuing to work with a wonderful staff.”
Grieve has been serving as acting director of development services since June, when former director Lisa Spitale was appointed as the city’s new chief administrative officer.
“It’s fantastic,” Spitale said. “She earned it. She worked really hard as a manager of planning. She put long hours in, she works hard with staff.”
According to Spitale, the city received about 100 “very good” applicants from across Canada who were put through a “rigorous” selection process.
“She won it,” she told The Record. “She won it fair and square.”
The development services department, created in 2004, oversees the city’s planning, building, and licensing and enforcement functions.
“It was really important for me that we select a director that understands not just planning, but all three divisions,” Spitale said. “When people think of development services, they tend to think of the city’s planning function. That is just one-third of this person’s responsibility.”
John Stark, the city’s senior social planner, is currently serving as the acting manger of planning.
