The City of Merritt has filled its economic development and financial services manager positions, but will soon say goodbye to its chief administrative officer.
The city announced Matt Noble’s resignation this week as he moves on to a similar position with the City of Moose Jaw in Saskatchewan.
“I never in my life expected that I’d be going back to that province,” Noble said, referencing his time spent at the City of Swift Current. “It just works out that way, and the opportunity was something I could not say no to. I see it as being a tremendous move, especially at this stage in my career, to practice at the highest level and I’m pretty excited to experience management at that level.”
Noble said the new position will use many of the skills and experience he’s acquired acting as both chief administrative officer and corporate services manager for the City of Merritt.
This will be the biggest city he’s managed, Noble said.
“It’s definitely an upwardly-mobile thing to do,” he said. “It’s a large number of employees and a much, much larger budget. It’s the same position, only much bigger.”
Noble said he expects the move to benefit his family as well as his professional goals.
Before he moves, Noble said all there’s left to do before his last day at the City of Merritt on Sept. 13 is tie up loose ends.
“Now there’s really nothing left to do except tend to affairs here, conduct an orderly transition, and prepare to accept the new responsibilities. In my absence, I’ll be splitting up some of the files while they wait on an interim until competitions are held,” he said, adding that he feels confident leaving the files to other managers.
“We still have a pretty strong management team here.”
Noble said it will be hard to leave the Merritt team, of which he has been a part for the last three years.
“I feel fortunate, from an administration perspective, that I’ve had an opportunity to work with these guys. They’re a small crew but they handle a lot on behalf of the citizens,” he said.
Merritt Mayor Susan Roline said the sentiment is mutual.
“He’s been a big asset to our community,” Roline said. “He’s done a lot for this city. The community he’s going to is very fortunate to be getting a person like that, with that knowledge base that he has and just his commitment. He will be missed, that’s for sure.”
