The City of Côte Saint-Luc is in mourning following the passing September 8 of our former long-time city manager James G. Butler. He was 74 years old.
As Mayor Anthony Housefather stated: “Jim was involved in the development of Côte Saint-Luc for more than 30 years and he worked closely with former Mayor Bernard Lang and the city council on many major projects that transformed Côte Saint-Luc from a small town into the municipality we know today. He left his mark on Côte Saint-Luc.”
Jim joined Côte Saint-Luc in 1965 as city treasurer. He became the city manager in 1969 and served for 32 years. He retired in 2001 at the time of the forced municipal mergers. Following his retirement, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department offices were named for afer him. During his time as city manager, Butler helped oversee the building of the municipal garage, the Samuel Moskovitch Arena and the city hall/library complex. He was particularly proud of having helped create the city’s public library with former Mayor Lang and librarian Eleanor London. The library is widely-considered the best on the island of Montreal.
When our city demerged from Montreal, Jim wanted to get involved as a volunteer. He sat on our all-important Planning Advisory Committee (PAC) for two years. When his term was up I was happy to add him to my Toponmy and Sponsorship Committee.
I had the good fortune of working with Jim for many years, particularly during my time as a municipal reporter for The Suburban, The Monitor and The Weekly Herald. He and former Mayor Bernard Lang had an extremely close relationship. Jim ran the city like a business. He knew absolutely everything that was going on.
Jim was born in the Saguenay region of Quebec. He graduated from St. Francis Xavier University. At age 25, he moved to Montreal and worked at the accounting firm of Clarkson Gorden (now Ernst and Young). He took night classes and earned his Chartered Accountancy designation. Before joining the City of Côte Saint-Luc, Butler was the city treasurer for the City of Dollard des Ormeaux.
I extend my deepest sympathies to his family.
