Board of Directors

Robert Long
Mr. Long is the shareholder's representative on the Board, as a result of his appointment as Chief Administrative Officer of the City of Prince Rupert.

Rhoda Witherly
A long time resident of Prince Rupert, Rhoda brings to the Board of City West community knowledge, business expertise and board experience. She was a member of the Prince Rupert City Council for 8 years and also served on the Skeena Queen Charlotte Regional district. As a community volunteer she was on the building committee for the Lester Centre for the Performing Arts, has been a director of the Museum of Northern British Columbia, served on several health organizations and chairs the city heritage committee.

Rhoda is a past chairperson of the Prince Rupert Port Authority and past director of Ridley Terminals Inc. She also was a panel member on the Urban Transportation Showcase program, a national program highlighting green transportation initiatives and is a public member on the College of Midwives of British Columbia, the regulatory college governing the practice of midwifery in British Columbia.

Professionally, Rhoda is a Notary Public and manages a registry and document service agency.

Rory Mandryk
Rory has had a diverse career, ranging from working within large national corporate environments to smaller, more regionalized, entrepreneurial endeavours. Recently, Rory assumed the role of Corporate Administrator with the City of Prince Rupert. Prior to this role, he held a position as Chief Administrative Officer with a small municipality within the Greater Vancouver Regional District, and as a National Manager with one of Canada's largest telecommunications organizations.

Rory has always sought to follow his father's words of advice that "whatever you find in life, it's your duty to leave it in a better condition than the way you found it, and not to seek to take credit but rather perform the task anonymously so that all might share in its success."

Bob Thompson
Born in Montreal, Bob has lived in Prince Rupert for the best part of 40 years. Apart from 33 years spent serving in local government, his organizational and community experience includes being a Charter Member of the Board of Directors of the North Coast Assessment and Referral Service, 10 years as Chairman of the Regional District's Solid Waste Management Committee, a member of the Ministry of Transportation's Contractor Assessment Team, Deputy Area Co-ordinator of the Provincial Emergency Program, advisor to a number of public boards and committees, and facilitator of the local Shorekeepers program.

Bob's formal training is in psychology, conflict resolution & negotiation, surveying, contract administration, and infrastructure management. His further interests include inter-tidal marine biology, organizational improvement, and economic development. He currently runs his own business, serving the needs of local government and industrial construction clients, as well as other organizations in need of assistance with technical or human resources issues.

Don Holkestad
An employee of CityWest for 37 years, Don retired from the company in December 2016 after serving as CEO for four years. Armed with a great deal of technical and operational knowledge of the industry and the company, he was officially appointed to the CityWest board in December 2017. Don also enjoys kayaking, sailing, and relaxing at his cabin at Lakelse Lake.

Robert Buchan