A man who’s handled some of the most controversial issues at city hall is calling it a day.
Keith Coueffin, the city’s manager of licensing and integrated services, is retiring on May 16 after more than three decades with the city. Coueffin began working for the health department in 1980 as a public health inspector and served as the chief public health officer from 1990 to 1996.
“I would like to say that the city really has treated me extremely well. It’s an organization I am very proud to have worked for,” he said. “I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of amazing people. The city is a very good employer. I feel very fortunate.”
After 34-and-a-half years of employment with the city, Coueffin is looking forward to spending time with family and friends, and fully recharging his batteries.
During his three decades with the city, Coueffin has been involved with complex files such as drug and nuisance behaviours, bylaw enforcement, smoking control bylaws, liquor licences, marijuana dispensaries and problematic properties and businesses that generated negative impacts to the city, such as one that purchased scrap metal and stolen property from people.
“That one had a profound impact on our community in that it was generating people to go steal property,” he recalled.
In the years before the Fraser Health Authority was created through regionalization of health-care services, the City of New Westminster was among the cities that had its own health unit. Coueffin was the lone employee of the New Westminster health unit that moved into city hall when the unit was transferred to the Fraser Health.
In 1999 Coueffin was appointed the assistant director of strategic services and in 2006 he was named the manager of licensing and integrated services.
“A lot of the work I did had to deal with coordinating actions of a number of groups or parties to improve neighbourhood livability,” he said. “I think we have had some successes in doing that. That’s been very satisfying.”
As an example, Coueffin said the city developed a comprehensive strategy to help deal with drug and nuisance activities in the downtown. He said one of the creative actions taken as part of that initiative was building a dog park in the downtown to create positive traffic flow and bring positive activity to the area as opposed to leaving it open and void.
Coueffin recalls working with former city staffer Brian Coates and others to devise a way to deter graffiti on the city’s traffic control boxes.
“It’s really quite satisfying for me to go around New Westminster and see the beautiful traffic control boxes now with flowers and so forth,” he said. “That was basically an anti-graffiti initiative. We took a graffiti problem and made it community beautification.” Most of the files Coueffin has dealt with have been complex in that they’ve involved
multiple issues and agencies. His goal has always been to seek solutions that make sense.
“We have dealt with a lot of difficult files but I think we were always guided by certain principles. Those principles are serving the community and bettering the community, while representing people’s individual’s properties and rights. It’s sort of a wishy answer but I think it’s the case,” he said. “We dealt with difficult things. Also a lot of things were litigious and so we certainly had to act carefully.”
City administrator Lisa Spitale said Coueffin spearheaded many of the city’s most progressive initiatives on business licence regulations, rental housing maintenance standards and bylaw enforcement procedures. She said she’s tried to emulate his professionalism and commitment to excellence and his passion for serving he community.
“Keith is considered a leader in the region and in the province for his balanced and strategic approach to bylaw enforcement, community livability and business-friendly regulations,” she said in an email to city staff. “Keith has a stellar reputation for promoting actions that solve problems and building relationships. He has been instrumental with developing strategic approaches in the organization and amongst all departments regarding bylaw compliance and enforcement matters.”
