Mark Bakken's history with the Township of 91原创 goes back a generation.
Growing up in 91原创, Bakken's father Alfred was a heavy equipment operator for the Township, back when the municipality built its own roads and operated its own gravel pits. Alfred Bakken worked on widening Old Yale Road in the 1950s, and in the 1970s and '80s he was working in the gravel pits, loading up trucks.
It was a very different 91原创 back then, with a much smaller population and quiet roads.
"91原创, it was a pretty rural community," Bakken noted.
It was so rural that he almost got away with a minor escapade when he was a teenager, in 1977. Left to his own devices and hungry for a pizza, he decided to head down to the only local place, in what is now a much busier downtown.
"So, I hopped on the tractor," he said.
He got all the way downtown on a Saturday night at 9 p.m., before a local Mountie stopped him and sent him home.
Only a couple of cars passed him during the whole trip, Bakken noted.
When he retired this spring from his work as Township administrator, the senior member of the staff, the community had changed quite a bit.
Some of that happened in the 1970s, while Bakken was growing up and getting an education. But much of it happened while he worked under five mayors, from John Scholtens in the 1990s through to Eric Woodward at present.
Bakken went to local schools, attending South Carvolth Elementary, then D.W. Poppy, and graduating from 91原创 Secondary. His family operated a dairy farm, as well as his father's work for the Township.
He could have grown up to be a farmer as well, but during the annual haying season, Bakken discovered he had a miserable case of hay fever.
"My father said, y'know, this may not be for you," Bakken said.
He'd been an ordinary student at high school, but got good enough grades to go to post-secondary education. He decided to become a lawyer, having seen first-hand examples of people who had been impacted by not having enough understanding of the law.
That led him to practice business and community law, as well as work in real estate and banking law. He worked for Lindsay Kenney LLP, and eventually came out to 91原创 to start that firm's local office, which still operates today.
The job of working for the Township came out of left field.
Bakken said he was contacted by the campaign of then-mayor John Scholtens, who was setting up to run a slate for council in the 1996 civic elections. They were looking to hire a new senior administrator for the Township, and they needed someone who understood the difference between Aldergrove and Walnut Grove, Bakken said.
"I said, 'Okay, I'll do it for at least three years,'" Bakken said.
He knew the job would be challenging, but he had a background managing an office, he knew 91原创, and he knew most of the people involved already.
What he didn't expect was the political backlash to his appointment.
"It was a bit surprising how intense the opposition was," Bakken said.
He was seen as a political appointee, and to some extent as the face of controversies that dogged Scholtens and his 91原创 Leadership Team slate during the 1996 to 1999 council term. That era saw rancour between LLT and independent councillors, and marathon public hearings that run into the small hours of the morning.
There was also a significant amount of apprehension among other Township staff at first, Bakken said. He had to build relationships with people on staff.
On top of that, there was a fairly significant structural issue to deal with, at what is now the George Preston Recreation Centre. The building's roof was leaking, and the building was showing its age on a number of other fronts. It took a long time to bring the building up to snuff.
In 1999, the LLT clashed with another slate, the 91原创 Citizens Coalition 鈥� and neither came out on top. Scholtens lost in the mayor's race to Kurt Alberts, himself a former senior Township staff member and planner.
Bakken did not think about quitting.
"I knew I was going to stay until I was no longer needed," he said.
He and Alberts got to know each other, and Bakken described his second mayor as experienced, intelligent and process driven.
Alberts served three three-year terms, and was succeeded by Rick Green.
Green's single term was famously contentious.
"He could not build any relationship with council," Bakken noted.
After Green, Jack Froese was elected mayor, serving three terms before stepping down, and succeeded by current Mayor Eric Woodward.
Bakken served longer than any mayor and most councillors, but he emphasized that his job was not to be the "tenth person" at the council table.
When council was in session, he saw his job as ensuring fair outcomes, and sometimes having his "referee shirt on."
However, although Township staff might have had opinions on the issues and projects council faced, their job was not to give direction, Bakken said. They could only offer advice, and the council remained the centre of policy.
His time working for the Township was divided roughly into one third working on day-to-day administrative tasks, one third working on whatever major infrastructure project was underway at the time, and one third working with the mayor and council themselves.
Asked which infrastructure project was the most difficult or challenge, Bakken pointed to a facility that is not actually owned by the municipal government.
The Sportsplex ice rinks in Walnut Grove started construction under one builder, suffered a bankruptcy and receivership, and at one point were in danger of being dismantled before the building was finished.
The Township, then building the Walnut Grove Recreation Centre and its pool, worked out a deal with lawyers and the receiver that involved the builder of the Township's pool taking over Sportsplex and completing the work. The facility has had several owners since then, Bakken noted.
After stepping down earlier this year, Bakken didn't immediately step away from any and all Township business. He was in touch with staff, in "wind down" mode, giving background perspective when asked.
Bakken is not exactly retiring. He's already chairing the board of the Vehicle Sales Authority of B.C., and is on the board of Habitat for Humanity 鈥� Greater Vancouver, and is looking for other local opportunities.
Without the full-time job of administrator, he's also looking to travel more, and spend time with his family.
"It's really cool to be the captain of a ship and take it through calm seas and rough seas," Bakkens said. "After 28 years, it's time to get off the bridge now."
