Ontario Construction Report staff writer
Don Herweyer has been named interim general manager (GM) of Ottawa’s Planning, Real Estate and Economic Development (PRED) department, which oversees most city activities relating to planning, infrastructure, and the construction industry. Former PRED GM Stephen Willis left the City of Ottawa effective Aug. 4 to pursue a new career opportunity.
“Don is a professional planner with significant municipal experience, having spent the past 32 years working for the city ofOttawa, former city of Nepean and the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton, city manager Steve Kanellakos wrote in a July 28 memo.
Herweyer’s earlier responsibilities with the city included Manager of Planning Services, Manager of the Kanata West Special Project, and Program Manager of Planning and Infrastructure Approvals. “His various roles have provided him with progressively responsible municipal experience in development review, policy planning, climate change, heritage, urban design, infrastructure and park planning,” Kanellakos wrote.
Stephen Willis took charge of the department’s predecessor Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development Department in 2017. It oversees many activities relevant to the construction industry including the building permit and land development approval process, and the city’s public works operations.
Kanellakos said in an earlier statement that Willis has “made a tremendous impact within the organization and across the city” since he moved to the city from his previous employment at Stantec.
“In the last five years, Stephen successfully led the development of the city’s new Official Plan, advanced the business plan and funding strategy to revitalize Lansdowne Park and supported the Mayor’s Economic Partners Task Force and the city’s economic recovery efforts throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kanellakos wrote.
