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Vol.16 No. 17
Pelham’s independent news source from the Heart of Niagara
The
VOICE
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Proud to be
The Voice of Pelham
for 15 years
Celebrating our 15th anniversary in print
New CAO loves the community he now calls home BY SARAH MURRELL VOICE Staff In the last month Darren Ottoway hasn’t had much time to hang photos or diplomas or decorate his office with personal items. The desk, however, is a different story. It has been filled, cleared, filled again, cleared off once more and is currently stacked high with reports, bylaws, planning documents and all manner of information about Pelham. “My focus has been learning, reading, talking,” says Ottoway, who took over the reins of Pelham as the new Chief Administrative Officer on May 28. Just after his first month on the job Ottoway sat down with the Voice to talk about the new position and the community he is the new leader of. “I don’t pretend to know everything,” he says, noting he has worked hard to get the
DARREN OTTOWAY, Pelham’s new Chief Adminstrative Officer, has been busy reading stecks of documents to get to know Pelham, and all of the issues facing the community, since beginning his job a month ago. Sarah Murrell/Voice Photo
pulse of the community and understand the municipality and the issues it is facing. Ottoway, who moved with his wife and four children, all under the age of seven, from Alberta to take on the leadership of Pelham, had nothing but praise for this community. He notes all of his reading and talking has shown him a municipality with a great administration in place, good staff working here, and great plans for the future. His challenge, he says, is not going to be directing the future of Pelham but rather executing all of the excellent ideas already in place in the strategic plan and council’s vision. The ex military man who discovered a love for municipal administration almost by accident, Ottoway says this community is embarking on all of the things he is passionate about in municipal government, planning
and development and “all of the things that move a community forward.” Since being in Pelham he has been busy, he says, but that’s to be expected. While he has been learning, he says his role as leader doesn’t wait until he’s caught up. “It’s been exciting, very rewarding,” he says of his first month. “I’m really impressed with the people.” Beyond work, Ottoway says he and his family love the unique shops in downtown, the Farmer’s market and other goings on in Fonthill. Coming from a onegrocery store town, Ottoway says the abundance of unique shops is terrific. The events, he said, show him a town where people want to be and are proud to call home. His family, he says, has quickly become one of the families who are happy to call Pelham home and want to live here.
INSIDE
Graduating Page 6
www.lampmanfurniture.com
Canada Day Celebrations Page 7
A Party fit for a Queen Page 12