The City of Cranbrook has officially announced the appointment of David Kim as the new Chief Administrative Officer (CAO).

The announcement concludes the search for the replacement of outgoing CAO Wayne Staudt, who retires on March 24 after being with the city since 2002, both as Director of Finance and CAO.

“There were a large number of applicants for the CAO position and a series of interviews were conducted with some excellent candidates,” said Mayor Lee Pratt. “As a result of these interviews conducted by mayor and council, David Kim was the unanimous choice. We are pleased that David has accepted the position.”

David comes to Cranbrook via Calgary bringing with him over 20 years of leadership experience in both the public and private sectors. An engineer by trade, David spent 14 years with the City of Calgary first as an engineer with the Transportation department before moving up to Manager of Urban Development with the municipality.

Most recently David was Vice President of Land Development with R.J. Burnside & Associates Limited –a Canadian and international engineering and environmental consulting company with eleven branches nationally including Calgary.

“I am easily approachable and really enjoy working with various people and groups to find ways to solve matters that will mutually benefit,” said Kim.

“As CAO, I intend to work collaboratively and openly with various community and industry stakeholders, members of council and city staff to learn about Cranbrook and identify wants and needs to help build Cranbrook into a greater city.”

Kim is anticipated to bring a strong mentoring leadership style to the role of CAO, along with a background in strategic planning, collaborative negotiation, problem solving and organizational improvement skills.

He also brings experience with business, land and municipal growth management, infrastructure policies, financial feasibilities and municipal approvals.

“This mayor and council have brought a new approach to the city and how its business is conducted,” Mayor Pratt noted. “We believe David’s past experience and success in the direction we want to go will be very valuable to us. Council and I are excited to welcome David to the CAO position. We all look forward to working with him.”

David Kim is married with three children and has a cat and a dog. While off work, he enjoys exploring the wilderness, hiking, riding his motorcycles and enjoys hot-rods.

The incoming CAO will start with the City of Cranbrook on Monday April 4, when he will be officially sworn in. His first public council meeting as CAO will be Monday April 11.

City of Cranbrook

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