Meet Pelham’s senior leadership team
These managers direct our day-to-day municipal operations
Pelham Township was part of Welland County since the late 1780s, and was established as the Town of Pelham in 1970. It owes its title to John Graves Simcoe, the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, who named it after landowner Joshua Pell’s home in Westchester County, New York: Pelham Manor. Pell lost his home during the American Revolution, and came to Upper Canada as a United Empire Loyalist. He was granted lands in the Niagara area after a direct appeal to King George III.
Like all of Ontario’s 444 municipalities, Pelham has a cadre of senior directors who are responsible for strategizing business operations, leading core initiatives, and establishing organization-wide policies and procedures. This group works with elected council members to define the mission, vision, and values of the corporation, identify objectives and goals, and manage change.
Pelham’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT) is led by Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) David Cribbs, and includes Teresa Quinlin-Murphy (Corporate Services), Barbara Wiens (Community Planning), William Tigert (Clerk’s Office), Bob Lymburner (Fire Department), Vickie vanRavenswaay (Recreation, Culture, and Wellness), Jason Marr (Public Works), and Jennifer Stirton (Solicitor).
Pelham has a $22 million operating budget in 2023, with approximately the same amount of long-term debt, which is being sagaciously reduced over time. Almost 83 percent of the operating budget is fueled by tax dollars. Salaries and benefits to Town employees total about $9 million, or 40 percent of the operating budget.
The Town’s capital budget is just under $16 million, with over $7 million directed to roads, and about $1 million each to fleet vehicle replacement and fire department equipment upgrades. Close to $4.7 million is for water and wastewater work.
David Cribbs, Chief Administrative Officer
“Budgets are a challenge every year,” said Cribbs. “In previous years, there was a crisis of confidence and transparency with regard to Town Council. Also, there was no money in the bank. The coffers were bare, due in large part to the MCC construction, and the manner in which it was financed.” Accordingly, said Cribbs, the initial challenges for the last term were to stabilize the corporation financially, and figure out how to proceed with land sales, which supported the growth required to pay for the MCC and all the other things the Town does—and, of course, Covid threw a wrench into the planning, so that essentially it took four years to fix the structural problems, dispose of the land assets, and address the Town’s financial reserve needs.
This term of council, by comparison, has been quite different, said Cribbs.
“If you look at our strategic plan, it's now focusing on all the things that were ignored for a lot of years,” he said. “To pay for the MCC, the Town stopped buying fire trucks, it stopped buying new snowplows, and invested no money in the maintenance of its other facilities. What's needed here now has changed dramatically. The previous priorities were dealing with the financial crisis, getting some assets in the bank, and restoring confidence. Today, it's all about building infrastructure, repairing and protecting what we have in order to provide services to our residents, and the larger population in Pelham’s future.”
The Ontario and Regional Niagara governments have established a growth target for Pelham of 29,000 by 2050.
The “building up” to accommodate Pelham’s burgeoning population is the source of a lot of friction in the community, said Cribbs.
“Because most land in this town cannot be built upon — it’s prime agricultural, or it’s environmentally significant — there’s a relatively small amount upon which one can build. All the pressures are to build upwards. And that's what causes conflict,” he said.
A key component of Cribbs’ job is to assemble and lead the senior leadership team.
“It's relatively easy to recruit good people, when we have such an attractive community, and enjoy such a positive work environment,” he said. “We have a group of committed professionals — lawyers, engineers, accountants, planners — with all sorts of skillsets. Because on our size as a small municipality, everyone has to be a generalist within the context of their profession, and work on the important files all the time. So the variety, the challenge, and the importance are all there.”
Teresa Quinlin-Murphy, Treasurer
Quinlin-Murphy said that she worked hard in her corporate services portfolio over the course of the last six years to secure grant money.
“We applied for about over $40 million in grants in 2022, and got approved for over $20 million,” she said. “It’s great to be able to receive grant money and do wonderful things here that don’t use tax levy dollars. Grant money helped pay for our six new pickleball courts, refurbished tennis courts, and two splash pads. We now have a part-time grant writer on staff, whose focus is to proactively look for grants.”
Barb Wiens, Director of Community Planning and Development
Wiens said that her biggest challenge in community planning has been establishing a framework for current and future urban growth, as well dealing with the cannabis issue.
“Cannabis was a new industry that came to town and caused a lot of anxiety for the community,” she said. “In response, we passed an official plan amendment and zoning bylaw amendment. As far as urban growth is concerned, the province has mandated higher density, which means growing up versus out. We are going to see apartment buildings and smaller lot sizes, and maybe second dwelling units in existing houses, with intensification within established neighbourhoods. It’s a way to allow people to age in place, in their existing homes.”
In order to be a thriving and vibrant community, we need to embrace change, said Wiens.
“Staying the same is not a realistic outcome,” she said. “While many have fond memories of what Fonthill was like decades ago, we have to think about the future.”
Vickie vanRavenswaay, Director of Recreation, Culture, and Wellness
VanRavenswaay has a broad portfolio which touches on festivals, recreational activities, community sports, parks, and a variety of physical and emotional wellness programs. The Meridian Community Centre has proven to be hugely popular with Pelham residents, and vanRavenswaay said that new staff have been hired to deal with the expansion of offerings.
“This year we expect 600,000 individual users to come through the doors at the MCC,” she said. “They just keep coming back. Our revenues have grown so much, because we're open 17 hours a day. Both rinks are running 7 to 11 every day.”
With deep roots in Pelham, vanRavenswaay sings the praises of small communities.
“I always say, ‘It takes a village.’ We watch out for our own kids, and other people’s kids. We all work to improve the quality of life,” she said.
Bob Lymburner, Fire Chief
Fire Chief Bob Lymburner, a 31-year-veteran of Pelham Fire, worked his way up from volunteer firefighter to the top job. He is pleased that after years of deferrals, his department will be procuring new firefighting tools to replace aging equipment.
“We've just received a new heavy rescue vehicle, and have another pumper truck and utility vehicle on order,” he said. “We're also in the early stages of concept designs for a new Fire Station One, since the current building on Highway 20 is 42 years old and not up to contemporary standards.”
This year marks the 100th anniversary of Pelham Fire, celebrated with a dinner/dance on September 16 at the MCC. “We also have a recruitment drive going on, given that we are down about eight firefighters among the three stations,” he said. “That starts on November 1, to bring us up to a full strength of 97 firefighters.”
William Tigert, Acting Town Clerk
William Tigert, Pelham’s Town Clerk during Holly Willford’s parental leave, has been on the job just over six months, and brings significant experience in similar roles with other municipalities, along with an educational background in business and public administration.
“I essentially serve as a secretary to Town Council and a conduit for departmental reports, organizing agendas and providing points of order to questions on procedures,” he said. “My observation so far is that Town staff have a good working relationship with council. Less conflict and more open discussion leads to more timely decisions, and generally better results.”
Jennifer Stirton, Town Solicitor
Pelham’s solicitor, lawyer Jennifer Stirton, has been on the job for three years, and prides herself on working collaboratively with the other directors on the senior leadership team.
“Running something by legal isn't an afterthought, it's part of the process of good municipal government,” she said. “That mindset creates a real opportunity for the Town to be proactive in terms of avoiding legal troubles and mitigating legal risks. My role is to determine what our legal options are, and to provide objective advice to council, and not simply what might be the most politically palatable or expedient solution.”
Stirton is working to streamline Pelham’s bylaws to make them more consistent, readable, and user-friendly.
“We are implementing more tools on the Town’s website to try and provide a better experience for the public,” she said. “That's one of the things I love best about this job: I get to practice law in a way that is constructive and collaborative.”
Jason Marr, Public Works Director
Public Works Director Jason Marr, who worked in the construction field for 15 years prior to arriving in Pelham five years ago, is responsible for engineering projects, road maintenance and snow clearing, the local tree canopy, and the fleet of municipal vehicles, among other functions. There is a push on by council to move to electric vehicles, and Marr, a professional engineer, is spearheading that initiative, which includes the installation of charging stations.
“One of the big challenges in my department is trying to keep up with growth in Pelham, given our limited resources,” he said. “Many of our streets are around that 25-year mark which signifies the end of their life span, and will need to be resurfaced. We have hired additional staff and contractors to address the need to clear roadways and sidewalks of snow in the winter, and patch potholes. We've also got some major facility projects that will be addressed in the upcoming year, including Fire Station 1, and a new Tice Road Operations Centre that may be upgraded in partnership with the Region.”
