With staff tending to our parks and gardens, campgrounds, cemeteries and swimming pool, Steven Johnston has his work cut out in his new role as Parks and Reserves Manager. Lucky then, that he comes with a wealth of leadership experience having managed teams for the Army, Police, Department of Conservation (on the Chatham Islands), Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health (in aged care).
Steve, as he likes to be called, is new to the area of Parks and Reserves. “I’ve learnt over the years that the first thing to do is to learn the job,” he says, adding that his supervisor Grant Martin has been at Council for 30 years. “You couldn’t ask for a better way into a manager’s role.”
Steve and his wife (who he met on the Chathams) have lived in the district for three years having moved from Hokitika where they lived off-grid and Steve managed a team of more than 100 support workers and nurses for Te Whatu Ora West Coast. When he is not at work, Steve has two passions which he describes as yin and yang. One is the peaceful pastime of fly fishing – he has fished all our rivers and streams. The other is the adrenalin-infused sport of motocross – he even has a training course at home.
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