Two senior municipal professionals will be joining the City of Guelph soon: Colleen Bell becomes executive director of community and social services, starting December 15, and Blair Labelle has been hired to fill the position of city clerk, effective January 3.
“Colleen brings extensive experience in community engagement, stakeholder relationships, customer service and social services,” says Ann Pappert, chief administrative officer. “Colleen is highly skilled in leading complex community and corporate projects, and I look forward to her contribution to the City of Guelph.”
Ms. Bell was most recently employed with Metrolinx, an Ontario government agency charged with co-ordinating and integrating all transportation modes in the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton. At Metrolinx, Ms. Bell was the general manager of Community Relations & Initiatives with responsibility for community relations, communications and grants administration. Previously, Ms. Bell worked for the City of Toronto as manager of community relations, manager of customer service improvement initiative and director of the 3-1-1 project management office.
Blair Labelle will be joining the City of Guelph from the Town of Ajax, where he has been manager of legislative services and deputy clerk since 2007.
“Blair brings extensive experience in all aspects of the city clerk’s function, ranging from Council and committee meeting processes, records and information management, access and privacy and municipal elections,” says Pappert. “I look forward to Blair’s contribution and to draw on his experience as we continue to build on work done to date on municipal governance processes and accountability and transparency of local government.”