Here at the LGMA, we are proud to highlight our members and their many achievements in BC local government! This week, we are featuring a long-time member and supporter, Stephen Fleming, City Clerk at the City of Kelowna. Stephen is retiring at the end of this month, capping off a 28-year-long career in local government. We hope you enjoy Stephen's membership highlight, written in his own words: 

Like many of my local government colleagues I did not grow up dreaming of a job at City Hall and I ended up working in the profession almost by accident. A summer practicum at the North Vancouver Archives in 1996 led to an offer to join the Municipal Clerks Office at the District of North Vancouver. It took some convincing from Ruth Tolerton to get me to apply, as I was overqualified for the entry-level position in records management that was advertised, and I had applied for two overseas jobs that I was waiting to hear back on (each fell through). Little did I realize at the time that this was the beginning of a 28-year career in municipal government. And what a long, strange trip it’s been!

The seven years I spent at the District were a wonderful learning experience. I progressed within the Municipal Clerk’s Office with several additional responsibilities while navigating what was at the time considered the most, or perhaps second most, disfuctional municipal Council in the GVRD. I learned how to navigate and survive in such an environment from Dennis Back and Don Sigston, among others.

In May 2003 I joined the City of Kelowna as Deputy City Clerk, being named the City Clerk in July 2008. My last Council meeting as City Clerk was February 26, 2024 - it was the 610th day I spent at a council meeting in Kelowna, along with an additional 313 evenings spent at public hearings. Thanks to Linn Teetzel, I joined the Local Government Administration faculty at Capilano College (as it was at the time) in September 2005, teaching the core courses in Kelowna until 2018. I rejoined the faculty in 2022.

I have been an LGMA member for most of my career. I was part of a group of Lower Mainland FOI practitioners who ended up co drafting the first LGMA FOIPOP Manual. Brenda Simms (Whistler) Paul Hancock (Vancouver) and I then started the “FOI Road Show” on behalf of the LGMA that took us all over the Province delivering FOI and privacy training workshops for local government employees. A presentation in April 2003 in Kelowna coincided with the Deputy City Clerk position posting, and Brenda among others convinced me to apply on the flight back to Vancouver. Three weeks later Kelowna called to offer me the job.

I was fortunate to work for municipalities that valued employee training and took advantage of several education opportunities offered by the LGMA. Taking MATI Leadership in 2004 was the most important and influential training experience in my career (although meeting Todd Pugh at MATI Foundations in 2000 is a close second; Todd you can keep my nameplate).

I have served on different LGMA committees, on the TOLGMA chapter executive and I encourage anyone with the time and inclination to take advantage of the many volunteer opportunities the LGMA offers.

My impending retirement at the end of March is providing me the opportunity to reflect on my career, and of the many people who helped me along the way. Some things I learned:

• Practice, cultivate and maintain a high level of professionalism
• Take your job and responsibilities seriously but not yourself
• We are all replaceable and each of us will be replaced - the institution keeps going with or without you -  accept that inevitability and don’t be blinded or led astray by your ego
• Learn how to work in the gray without compromising your personal integrity
• You always have options - sometimes those options are hard choices
• Find ways to maintain a healthy work-life balance

There are far too many people I am indebted to list by name, so I’ll conclude by thanking my wife Rachael and sons Alex and Sam as I could not have had the career I had without their love and support.