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c economist suntribune thursday july 4 2002 3 alan wells always brought his w game to bear on challenges presented by regions growth cao was common voice of confederation by jeff mitchell staff writer alan wells was set to retire two years ago but decided to postpone the date he was simply too busy to take a break thats a testament to the nature of the organization mr wells led for seven years as chief administrative officer of york region the 62yearold retired june 28 making way for new cao michael garrett as the top bureaucrat leading a staff of 1700 and assisting with an annual regional budget now in excess of 1 billion mr wells was at the helm as york region plowed through a sustained explosion of growth that has secured its rank as one of canadas fastestgrowing municipalities the challenges of managing that growth and providing services for thousands of new residents annually have created a corporate culture that is forward thinking and progres sive mr wells said theres no other area where youre deal ing with an additional 40000 people every year mr wells said taking a break last friday from cleaning out his fourth floor office at regional headquarters in newmarket its surprising in that it doesnt slow down it just continues building permits amount annually to millions of dollars demands on infrastruc ture and services increase exponentially each year it is the regions responsibility to oversee this rampant growth and ensure it occurs logically and in a way that creates communi ties hot just subdivisions mr wells said the tricky thing is to make sure were keeping up with building communities as well as building houses mr wells said the building industry is interested in building houses government must be com mitted to building communities that commitment has resulted in a num ber of policies and vision statements span ning the regions departments from plan ning transportation and works to social services and housing transit and health the policy document to which all depart ments look for guidance is vision 2026 a recently adopted paper that calls for safe sustainable communities that vision speaks to the creation of a mature community and all that encompass es including employment opportunities a blend of housing types recreation arts cul ture and hard municipal services mr wells said were no longer a bedroom community he said increasingly york region is a place in which people live and work employment opportunities have grown over the years it is the regions responsibility to respond by providing infrastructure and transit to move people within their communities and beyond mr wells said a massive public transit project involving 3 r staff photosteve somerville alan wells is retiring this month after 27 years with york region a private sector consortium has been launched with the goal of creating rapid transit corridors on hwy 7 spanning the region from west to east and extending along yonge street as far north as newmarket a fiveyear plan for york region transit calls for increased service and more buses on roads linking communities within the region and connecting rid ers with the toronto transit commission the region continually lobbies queens park for road upgrades and extensions to the tricky thing is to make sure were keeping up with building communities as well as building houses move people and goods to be heard and to accomplish such ambitious goals a common voice is required mr wells said and thats not always easy in a region that extends from steeles avenue to the southern shores of lake simcoe concord and jacksons point are worlds apart the region works as a confederation mr wells said thats one of my jobs to make the confederation work conflict between rural and urban rep resentatives among urban mayors and councillors striving to obtain services for their municipalities is inevitable but not insurmountable mr wells said we do have conflicts because were becoming more urbanized he said but regional councillors and mayors are far more used to these broader issues ward councillors tend to focus more on ward problems iw progress is achieved in the confederation by looking at the big picture mr wells con tends its happening more and more all the time he said in some ways it is outside pressures that help the region achieve its goal of concerted responses to issues he said a prime example is the downloading from the province to municipalities of responsibilities for welfare social housing roads and many other services the additional responsibilities which almost invariably come along with insuffi cient funding as regional officials have learned call for creative cooperative meas ures mr wells said thats the tricky part utilizing our resources our tax dollars the best way pos sible he said mr wells said that in his seven years as cao he has been with the region 27 years in positions including social services com missioner and deputy cao his job has evolved involving him less in policy forma tion and more in the management of the regions departments and its commissioners my job pre- 1998 and now is entirely dif ferent he said referring to the beginning of the downloading era ushered in bygthe harris conservatives m the most important job for me to do now is hire good people who understand the job they do and have the resources to do it my job is to set out whats technically need ed and whats politically a reality among the directives mr wells has taken pains to pass along is that government is ulti mately about service and the customers the residents and ratepayers ofyork region must be remembered and served well i grew up with the motto the customer is always right said mr wells ive always car ried that with me mr wells plans to take the summer to relax at his uxbridgearea home and north ern cottage with his wife anne before look ing to new challenges those include working on fundraising with the lake simcoe region conservation authority foundation and other conserva tion initiatives the avid angler will find time to wet a line or two as well he admitted he will miss the most funda mental and intriguing element of govern ment in a large municipality the action this is a very intellectual job we deal with huge policy issues ive got to play my a game every day at work mr wells said im going to miss that challenge 7th annual art in the park july 20th 8 21 st fine art show antique show sale l brought to you by economist sun stouffvillembune stlutfvlllbsun teynmmigement t8iiowjmoiijj 1 markham museum grounds call 905 2942200 for more information