I was going to write a post today about some really good stuff and provide an update on the budget. I'm not going to do that because I want to separate the good from the bad.
The good news; we had a lot of snow on Friday (which obviously wasn't the good news) the good news was the way we reacted to it. The municipal staff did an outstanding job from the plowing of the roads, to handling the shut down of the highway, to the regular updates on the municipal web site everybody should be commended. Public Works, Administration, Protective services, big kudo's to everybody involved.
The other good news we are starting to see volunteers step forward for our various committee's, we are now seeing new people that have never sat on a committee previously taking an interest and a willingness to become involved. There are still some vacancies, if your interested contact the municipal office.
Showing posts with label Municipal staff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Municipal staff. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Politics resume, do not forget June 30
The emergency is over we fared well for the most part. Some common comments I heard during the flood: Our staff was under manned, thank goodness Pincher Creek send a dozen people down here Thursday night. The communications between the municipal staff and the Fire/Rescue departments at times was very lacking. When the glory gets dished out lets make sure the credit goes to the people on the front lines at 5am in the morning and still there 14 hours later.
I am sure mistakes were made, just as there is every time one of these emergencies takes place, that debate will go on for a while. But for the most part a lot of people worked hard long hours and we did far better than most community's in Southern Alberta.
Reminder: Sunday is June 30 the dateline for taxes (July 1 the office is closed) you will not get any sympathy if you go in July 2 and try to pay them what you will get is an extra 20% tacked on to your bill. For the average home owner in the Pass that could be around $400.
Note: Keep in mind one very important number $4325
I am sure mistakes were made, just as there is every time one of these emergencies takes place, that debate will go on for a while. But for the most part a lot of people worked hard long hours and we did far better than most community's in Southern Alberta.
Reminder: Sunday is June 30 the dateline for taxes (July 1 the office is closed) you will not get any sympathy if you go in July 2 and try to pay them what you will get is an extra 20% tacked on to your bill. For the average home owner in the Pass that could be around $400.
Note: Keep in mind one very important number $4325
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Crowsnest Pass Municipal Office Does it need to grow?
Recently a number of people have asked me about the municipal office. There appears to be a controversy brewing about relocating some office staff to a different location. A little background to give the reader a better sense of what is causing the problem.
Right now you have twenty people in the office, the CAO, four department heads a contract assessor, safety officer, bylaw officer, and twelve ladies looking after the various functions covered by those departments.
Again that’s twenty people, this last budget council added a number of full time positions, a Foreman, one person in HR, one person in the recreational department a weed control person, and a half time position in finance.
Anybody that reads my blog understands how I feel about the additional positions, but that was the council’s decision. Validated by an argument that to find more inefficiency and determine where job duties could be changed or combined, it took those additional people to make that happen, briefly short-term growth that will eventually shrink the work force. Well I still do not buy that argument I have never seen at any level (municipal, provincial or federal) where government has shrunk.
Back to the issue at hand, for a while rumors having been floating around the community about the Recreation Department moving to the MDM, due to the shortage of space in the present office.
First is the lack of space has big an issue as it first appears to be? There is a vacant Foreman’s office downstairs so that position is looked after. The weed control person has worked out of the MDM for the last couple of years as a seasonal position, nothing as changed there. The part time position for finance as been accommodated in the finance department for the last three years. Realistically the additional space is required for two people HR and Recreation.
Can the office be reconfigured to cover off those positions? Council believes so at the last G+P they directed administration to come back with a plan that allows for that. From what I have heard administration is coming back to the next G+P meeting still looking at moving to the MDM. Obviously if this is the case communications are breaking down some where I was at that last meeting Council’s direction was very clear.
More arguments for maintaining all the staff in one building;
Costs I do not care what argument you make there will be a cost, to set up at the MDM is it $10,000, $20,000 I have no idea but there will be a cost, so where does that money come from? Is that dollars that could have gone into reserves.
One stop shopping, presently the taxpayer can go into the office pay a utility bill, check on a development permit, talk to the bylaw office and check out a recreation program, basically take care of all your municipal business in one stop.
Redundancy, present council’s position that they are going to reduce the workforce over time by attrition, due to improved efficiency at all levels. If this proves to be true, the office at the MDM would be redundant in a couple of years anyway due to additional space being created in the Coleman office.
Better utilization of MDM space, prior to leaving council we were told that all the space at the MDM was leased out. To maximize cost recovery at the MDM why would you not rent every foot of space you can, that space that is being saved for the administration at the MDM could be rented out to a group which would lessen the burden on the taxpayers to operate that building.
Efficient utilization of staff, during vacation periods there are times where there is very minimal staff in the municipal office which occasionally requires staff to assist in other areas than there own. This would become a bigger issue if staff were spread out over various locations.
Supervision of staff, we all recognize that administration receives vacation during those timeframes being in one building if there is an issue and the department head is away there would be other administrators in the office that could deal with that particular issue.
Smaller issues, maintain two sets of office supplies, extra photocopier, and additional costs for people to run back and forth between the two locations. Co-ordination between departments you can have all the technology in the world but there are going to be times when a person needs to talk face to face with another person in a different department.
Right now you have twenty people in the office, the CAO, four department heads a contract assessor, safety officer, bylaw officer, and twelve ladies looking after the various functions covered by those departments.
Again that’s twenty people, this last budget council added a number of full time positions, a Foreman, one person in HR, one person in the recreational department a weed control person, and a half time position in finance.
Anybody that reads my blog understands how I feel about the additional positions, but that was the council’s decision. Validated by an argument that to find more inefficiency and determine where job duties could be changed or combined, it took those additional people to make that happen, briefly short-term growth that will eventually shrink the work force. Well I still do not buy that argument I have never seen at any level (municipal, provincial or federal) where government has shrunk.
Back to the issue at hand, for a while rumors having been floating around the community about the Recreation Department moving to the MDM, due to the shortage of space in the present office.
First is the lack of space has big an issue as it first appears to be? There is a vacant Foreman’s office downstairs so that position is looked after. The weed control person has worked out of the MDM for the last couple of years as a seasonal position, nothing as changed there. The part time position for finance as been accommodated in the finance department for the last three years. Realistically the additional space is required for two people HR and Recreation.
Can the office be reconfigured to cover off those positions? Council believes so at the last G+P they directed administration to come back with a plan that allows for that. From what I have heard administration is coming back to the next G+P meeting still looking at moving to the MDM. Obviously if this is the case communications are breaking down some where I was at that last meeting Council’s direction was very clear.
More arguments for maintaining all the staff in one building;
Costs I do not care what argument you make there will be a cost, to set up at the MDM is it $10,000, $20,000 I have no idea but there will be a cost, so where does that money come from? Is that dollars that could have gone into reserves.
One stop shopping, presently the taxpayer can go into the office pay a utility bill, check on a development permit, talk to the bylaw office and check out a recreation program, basically take care of all your municipal business in one stop.
Redundancy, present council’s position that they are going to reduce the workforce over time by attrition, due to improved efficiency at all levels. If this proves to be true, the office at the MDM would be redundant in a couple of years anyway due to additional space being created in the Coleman office.
Better utilization of MDM space, prior to leaving council we were told that all the space at the MDM was leased out. To maximize cost recovery at the MDM why would you not rent every foot of space you can, that space that is being saved for the administration at the MDM could be rented out to a group which would lessen the burden on the taxpayers to operate that building.
Efficient utilization of staff, during vacation periods there are times where there is very minimal staff in the municipal office which occasionally requires staff to assist in other areas than there own. This would become a bigger issue if staff were spread out over various locations.
Supervision of staff, we all recognize that administration receives vacation during those timeframes being in one building if there is an issue and the department head is away there would be other administrators in the office that could deal with that particular issue.
Smaller issues, maintain two sets of office supplies, extra photocopier, and additional costs for people to run back and forth between the two locations. Co-ordination between departments you can have all the technology in the world but there are going to be times when a person needs to talk face to face with another person in a different department.
Friday, December 31, 2010
2010, reflecting back and looking ahead to 2011.
Looking back on 2010, I will be the first to admit the election did not go quite the way I expected it to. Certainly in my mind the taxpayers in the Crowsnest Pass made some mistakes, time will prove me right or wrong.
I served the community for the last six years standing up for what I believe to be right, could I have done some things differently that would have hurt less politically? You bet.
Over the last six years I had the pleasure to work with many different types of people, on council some of the people I worked with were very good people that cared very much about this community, people that had the “balls” to stand up for change, those people I have much respect for. It would have been easy to just line up behind the Mayor and carry on doing business the way it has always been done in the past.
The municipal staff, I know at times some of the public sees them as a group of pampered, Monday to Friday employees that put in a minimal effort and collect a good pay cheque.
While I’m sure just like any employer there is a few of those, over the last six years I learnt that the vast majority of your municipal staff put in a honest effort day after day and really care about this municipality and their jobs.
The media, looking back over the last six years I will let the reader decide if I was treated fairly.
The positions council took in 2010, we could have done what previous councils have done, “nothing” in an election year but instead we choose to do our job to the end.
In 2010 I was proud that council achieved the following:
We passed a budget with a 3.2% tax increase, with a goal of rebuilding the municipal reserves, a $450,000 surplus was slated to go back into those reserves.
When the year end financials come in I anticipate that 2010 will be the third year in a row that thanks to sound financial management the municipality will show a surplus, compared to the previous six years it was a strong change in direction.
We froze hiring, government does not need to get larger through the recession of the last few years, the private sector became leaner and more efficient to survive, government
needs to learn the same lessons.
We froze overtime with the exception of emergency situations, if the truth was known that saved a lot of dollars. If government employees are working overtime for reasons
other than an emergency, then the administration should be looking at more efficient ways to do things.
We finally resolved the issue of running two half empty community centers, the community now has a center that is full. What’s really interesting, is I have not met a tenant yet at the MDM that does not prefer being there.
The River Run issue, many mistakes were made, one good thing that came out of it was a policy was put in place that development like this will never happen again unless adequate security is in place.
Over the last six years Council was mislead on this issue, at times by foolish dreams and exaggerated promises, at times by people that were strong advocates of this group, and at times by people that should have known better.
Community Standards was in my mind a huge issue, as far as moving this community forward. The days of having “twenty three” old junkers in your drive way and the God given right to live like a slob while everybody around you is trying to make their residence presentable needs to come to an end. This was a first step in that direction.
Administration, council chose to make changes, were they all dealt with perfectly. I recognize a better job could have been done. But what every politician knows at times processes are manipulated to get the outcome certain people desire.
I’m not going to debate the merits of those changes that were made here, but they are done and now history, anybody that would like to debate those changes should take the time to read the Cuff report, it was fairly clear about some of the issues the municipality had to move forward on.
Over all I believe that council achieved a lot in 2010.
Looking forward to 2011, for me personally I’m not going away the Crowsnest Pass as been my home for 27 years and will be for the rest of my life.
I hope to stay involved I have put my name forward for a couple of committee’s (SDA, and the York Creek Seniors) hopefully I will be given fair consideration by council.
If I’m not successful I will attempt to get involved with other areas that need help in the community.
Looking at politics for the next year, what direction will the new council take with the following issues will indeed be very interesting:
2011 Budget-Will spending increase?
Tax Increases-We all hope it stays low!
Water Meters-Conservation yes, cash cow No
Hiring Freeze-Bigger government is it really necessary?
Overtime-Sure a water line freezes, or we get 30cm of snow on a weekend when else?
Duplication of services-Wait until they get into the politics of this issue!
River Run-I remember a member of the previous council telling us “It’s not a big deal just take a cat and push the piles back into the holes”, It will not be any where near that simple.
Crowsnest Centre-This issue will be talked about a long time after I’m gone, if they decide to fire it back up, where does the dollars and tenants come from for this money pit. If they try to sell it, various expectations are going to be way beyond reality that building is a huge liability for any prospective buyer.
Community Standards-will the new council carry on with what was started, will they back off and soften the bylaw?
Affordable Housing-Everybody agrees the need is here, the golden question how do you
achieve it, the last developer that expressed an interest was also building a 5000 seat arena at the lakes.
New Recreation Centre- great idea, where do you put it? How do you pay for it? How do
you carry the future burden.
Infrastructure-this issue will never end, the problem the administration and the politicians
know that there are lots in the ground to be done. However the public wants to see the visible infrastructure see above.
Anyway here’s looking forward to a great year in 2011 for the Crowsnest Pass.
I served the community for the last six years standing up for what I believe to be right, could I have done some things differently that would have hurt less politically? You bet.
Over the last six years I had the pleasure to work with many different types of people, on council some of the people I worked with were very good people that cared very much about this community, people that had the “balls” to stand up for change, those people I have much respect for. It would have been easy to just line up behind the Mayor and carry on doing business the way it has always been done in the past.
The municipal staff, I know at times some of the public sees them as a group of pampered, Monday to Friday employees that put in a minimal effort and collect a good pay cheque.
While I’m sure just like any employer there is a few of those, over the last six years I learnt that the vast majority of your municipal staff put in a honest effort day after day and really care about this municipality and their jobs.
The media, looking back over the last six years I will let the reader decide if I was treated fairly.
The positions council took in 2010, we could have done what previous councils have done, “nothing” in an election year but instead we choose to do our job to the end.
In 2010 I was proud that council achieved the following:
We passed a budget with a 3.2% tax increase, with a goal of rebuilding the municipal reserves, a $450,000 surplus was slated to go back into those reserves.
When the year end financials come in I anticipate that 2010 will be the third year in a row that thanks to sound financial management the municipality will show a surplus, compared to the previous six years it was a strong change in direction.
We froze hiring, government does not need to get larger through the recession of the last few years, the private sector became leaner and more efficient to survive, government
needs to learn the same lessons.
We froze overtime with the exception of emergency situations, if the truth was known that saved a lot of dollars. If government employees are working overtime for reasons
other than an emergency, then the administration should be looking at more efficient ways to do things.
We finally resolved the issue of running two half empty community centers, the community now has a center that is full. What’s really interesting, is I have not met a tenant yet at the MDM that does not prefer being there.
The River Run issue, many mistakes were made, one good thing that came out of it was a policy was put in place that development like this will never happen again unless adequate security is in place.
Over the last six years Council was mislead on this issue, at times by foolish dreams and exaggerated promises, at times by people that were strong advocates of this group, and at times by people that should have known better.
Community Standards was in my mind a huge issue, as far as moving this community forward. The days of having “twenty three” old junkers in your drive way and the God given right to live like a slob while everybody around you is trying to make their residence presentable needs to come to an end. This was a first step in that direction.
Administration, council chose to make changes, were they all dealt with perfectly. I recognize a better job could have been done. But what every politician knows at times processes are manipulated to get the outcome certain people desire.
I’m not going to debate the merits of those changes that were made here, but they are done and now history, anybody that would like to debate those changes should take the time to read the Cuff report, it was fairly clear about some of the issues the municipality had to move forward on.
Over all I believe that council achieved a lot in 2010.
Looking forward to 2011, for me personally I’m not going away the Crowsnest Pass as been my home for 27 years and will be for the rest of my life.
I hope to stay involved I have put my name forward for a couple of committee’s (SDA, and the York Creek Seniors) hopefully I will be given fair consideration by council.
If I’m not successful I will attempt to get involved with other areas that need help in the community.
Looking at politics for the next year, what direction will the new council take with the following issues will indeed be very interesting:
2011 Budget-Will spending increase?
Tax Increases-We all hope it stays low!
Water Meters-Conservation yes, cash cow No
Hiring Freeze-Bigger government is it really necessary?
Overtime-Sure a water line freezes, or we get 30cm of snow on a weekend when else?
Duplication of services-Wait until they get into the politics of this issue!
River Run-I remember a member of the previous council telling us “It’s not a big deal just take a cat and push the piles back into the holes”, It will not be any where near that simple.
Crowsnest Centre-This issue will be talked about a long time after I’m gone, if they decide to fire it back up, where does the dollars and tenants come from for this money pit. If they try to sell it, various expectations are going to be way beyond reality that building is a huge liability for any prospective buyer.
Community Standards-will the new council carry on with what was started, will they back off and soften the bylaw?
Affordable Housing-Everybody agrees the need is here, the golden question how do you
achieve it, the last developer that expressed an interest was also building a 5000 seat arena at the lakes.
New Recreation Centre- great idea, where do you put it? How do you pay for it? How do
you carry the future burden.
Infrastructure-this issue will never end, the problem the administration and the politicians
know that there are lots in the ground to be done. However the public wants to see the visible infrastructure see above.
Anyway here’s looking forward to a great year in 2011 for the Crowsnest Pass.
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