Former city municipal CAO Ray Barnard, centre, speaks to during a committee meeting in this October 2012 file Photo. Barnard passed away earlier this fall, council heard Monday.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
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Ray Barnard, who served two different terms as the city’s chief administrative officer in the 1990s and 2000s, has died, city council was informed Monday night.
Coun. Robert Dumanowski, who worked with Barnard, made the announcement to begin the regular council meeting to note that Barnard had passed away in October in Edmonton. He way 72.
A certified management accountant with a masters in business administration, he was first hired by the city in 1989. He later left in 1995 to work in the health-care field, but was rehired in 2008 and served until 2013.
“I remember him fondly as a strong and effective leader who certainly believed in our community,” said Dumanowski. “He was a straight shooter and at times very strong willed, but always had the city’s best interest at heart.”
Major projects during his last term with the city included bringing the Medicine Hat Event Centre project, now known as Co-op Place, to fruition and overseeing city operations during a flood that year, said Dumanowski.
Creating the destination marketing organization and a downtown revitalization plan, and folding the Box Springs Business Park into the city’s plans were other accomplishments, said Dumanowski.
Lobbying for the Dunmore Road highway overpass came to fruition late in his tenure.
In an interview at his retirement in late 2013, Barnard told the News he had undergone bypass surgery that year at age 61.
His immediate plan was to spend the coming Christmas season helping meet the holiday rush at his brother’s liquor store, before embarking on a 10-week tour of Asia.
He said he was proud of demanding professionalism and adherence to policy and rules at city hall.
“We are a bureaucracy and I don’t apologize for it,” he said. “It’s how you run a large organization … I mean it as structure and you need that in the public sector.”
Then mayor Ted Clugston lauded Barnard for his ability to see through “the noise” of issues and focus on root problems.
“It’s a gift,” Clugston told the News in 2013. “His style is not necessarily one the next generation appreciates, but I do.”
An obituary in the Edmonton Journal states Barnard left behind a wife, Dodi, and two adult sons, two grandchildren and two brothers. A memorial service was held Nov. 1.
