Regina City Council has appointed six individuals to the REAL Board of Directors on an interim basis following the resignation of the board earlier in the week.
All newly appointed directors are also employees of the City of Regina and are:
- Niki Anderson, City Manager
- Ly Pham, Chief of Staff
- Barry Lacey, Executive Director, Financial Strategy and Sustainability
- Jennifer Johnson, Executive Director, Corporate Services
- Jeff May, Manager, Sport Facilities & Special Events
- Maria Burns, Manager, Client Service & Labour Relations
The interim directors have each been appointed to a term ending July 31, 2024.
Anderson said she picked members of the administration because the interim board will be doing work similar to what the administration does day to day, which is working closely with council.
“I did stick solely with administration, and I did that because this board will have a mandate that’s very different from the past board,” she said. “They were a strategic board that really worked closely with the CEO and did a lot of the visioning and strategic planning, and our interim board’s main outputs are getting back to council with the questions that they asked related to the MDP report.”
As for the work the board will be doing, Anderson said that the board will be looking into the MNP report, which outlined the financial sustainability of REAL as well as the Cuff report, which looked into the Experience Regina failed rebrand.
REAL will remain an independent municipal corporation, and REAL’s leadership and operations will remain separate from the City of Regina administration.
The vote comes after Wednesday’s city council meeting, where the council voted 6-5 in favour of an amendment proposed by Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Stevens saw the previous voting members of the board be replaced by new members appointed by the city administration.
That admitted came forward after REAL faced heightened scrutiny throughout the year, with a controversial rebrand of the city’s tourism organization leading to an international backlash.
Questions have also arisen regarding a potential conflict of interest related to CEO Tim Reid’s private consulting firm. However, financial concerns and complaints about oversight played a pivotal role in Wednesday’s council decision.