A new leadership team has solidified at the City of Winkler.

After briefly serving the city as Director of Community Services, Jody Penner will now take on the City Manager Position effective June 1.

Mayor Martin Harder says Penner greatly impressed council during the interview at Penner's initial hiring.

"After we finished that interview we said, "we're interviewing for the wrong position with this guy." We recognized his leadership capacity as well as his business experience."

After conducting interviews for the City Manager, Harder says Penner was the obvious choice.

"We said, "this is truly the individual we believe can lead our city as the City Manager." He's already established himself as a good people person within our staff and within the community," Harder says. "I think the transition will be relatively easy."

Penner says it was an honour to be chosen. "The timing was interesting, but I think it has been very good for me to spend time in recreation... it was a unique opportunity to see how the city works."

"It's bittersweet because I've really come to appreciate the team here and enjoy working with them," Penner adds.

At the same time, Recreation Programmer Jordan Driedger will be moving into Penner's position of Director of Community Services.

"It's an exciting time for recreation in our community," Driedger says, after serving as Recreation Programmer for five years. "Winkler is a great place to live and recreation plays an important role in that. We have a great team of staff in our department and a great community to work with."

Driedger will also take on the new role June 1. In the mean time, council has begun the search for a new Recreation Programmer.

Driedger will soon take on the position of Director of Community Services in Winkler.