Two years after Jasper’s long-time town manager announced his retirement, the date for his departure has been set and a successor has been chosen. 

After one month of training, George Krefting will relinquish his duties to Peter Waterworth at the end of February 2012.

The municipality received 45 applications for Krefting’s position. Of those, 11 of the applicants were interviewed by council. The number was then cut down to five, before Waterworth was selected as the most suited for the position.

Waterworth was born in Northern Ireland, but has Canadian residency status and is currently living in Whistler, where he just recently obtained his Level 1 and Level 2 CSIA ski instructor designation.

Skiing aside, Waterworth has about 25 years of political experience, although not in the role of a municipal manager.

He has two law degrees and was a barrister-at-law for a few years before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1986. He was the head of the Political Affairs Division for Northern Ireland, which required him to lead a 30-person team in London and Belfast, delivering policy advice to three ministers.

Later, Waterworth became a political counsellor to the British Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan and then in Baghdad, Iraq. 

Upon leaving Baghdad, Waterworth became the British Deputy High Commissioner and Consul General in Lagos, Nigeria, where he led a 350-member team responsible for the protection of British citizens in the country.

And most recently, he was Governor of Montserrat, a British overseas territory in the West Indies. The role, to which he was appointed by the Queen, required him to manage 800 members of the public service, and administer a $34.5-million budget.

Waterworth’s appointment ended earlier this year, at which time he moved to Whistler.

He said he and his wife Cathy have known for at least a dozen years that they wanted to move to Western Canada to settle down.

“Having travelled the world, you eventually get to a point – it all sounds glamorous – but you get to a point you want to settle down somewhere, live somewhere,” he said on the phone from Whistler.

“We wanted to live in a mountain town, so when this job came up just after we moved to Canada, everything came together.”

Waterworth said although he’s never worked as a municipal manager, he thinks his previous positions have prepared him well for the role.

“I’m used to a system where you work closely with the politicians and as a public service, take direction from the politicians and deliver the policies that they determined for the town,” he said.

He said it will in a way be like when he worked in Belfast with the Secretary of State because in that role he was able to bring politics to the “front doors” of residents and deliver services that affect the people.

“I think the opportunity to work in that way and really make a direct impact – I hope for the better – on people’s lives, along with the council, is really a big challenge that I’m looking forward to,” he said.

In a speech introducing and welcoming Waterworth to the municipality, Mayor Richard Ireland told municipal staff that Waterworth was chosen by council because he has demonstrated an “ability to deliver outcomes even in the most challenging of environments.

“Mr. Waterworth, is, in council’s view, uniquely equipped to provide the style of management leadership, which will continue to take us – if I may steal a phrase from Grande Yellowhead – from good to great.”