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Nanaimo Councillor wants more information on impact of city hall departures

Aug 26, 2016 | 9:33 AM

NANAIMO — A Nanaimo city Councillor would like to see more information surrounding the well-publicized departure of staff from city hall.

At Monday night’s meeting, Diane Brennan referenced staffing being down and a “low capacity” for getting the work done.

She was pointing to a request council made in December 2015 for a staff report on options for regulating marijuana dispensaries.

While reasons for the delay are unclear, that report isn’t expected to land on the council table until mid-October or mid-November, nearly a full year after it was asked for.

But while Brennan ponders what impact the seemingly mass-departure of staff over the last nearly two years has had, several voices at city hall, including the CAO’s, are saying claims of staffing issues simply aren’t realistic.

Even Councillor Gord Fuller was quick to refute Brennan’s claim during the meeting.

“I know staff have been working on a number of reports. I wouldn’t say that because we are down on staffing that’s the reason we haven’t got the report back. I think it’s because we have something like 30 reports in the works, that would be why, not because we are understaffed,” said Fuller.

CAO Tracy Samra told the meeting she has updated council several times on the progress of the marijuana dispensary report, calling it complex, adding staff are moving forward on it.

The city’s director of human resources, John Van Horne, confirms the number of mid-to-upper level management staff that have left the city in the last 20 months or so now sits at 21.

The latest two being the manager of purchasing and the manager of labour relations, with both leaving to pursue positions with other municipalities.

In June, Samra unveiled major changes to the structure of the city’s organization.

Several lower-level management positions were created and the number of directors was trimmed to just four.

One of those director roles, engineering and public works, still sits vacant after Geoff Goodall took a job in Ladysmith in July. His departure was announced in late May.

Van Horne says they are again reviewing that position, after a candidate they were pursuing withdrew from the job late in the process, citing family reasons.

Brennan says she doesn’t have enough facts or information about why the city has experienced a seemingly high loss of employees and how that might compare to other cities over the same time frame.

“How we think that the structure that is replacing the old one is going to be able to meet the demands. At this point it looks like perhaps it’s not robust enough to meet the demands of council, but we don’t know that,” says Brennan.

While pointing out she recognizes the ridiculousness in requesting a report on a delay in generating reports, Brennan says she wants to be informed with the facts on what the impact of the departures is and the impact on getting the work done council is asking for.

“Ultimately I’m responsible to the people who elected me. If I say to them I’m trying to get this question addressed and get a report on it, but we’re not getting that back in a timely manner, I’m going to be responsible for that.”

In an emailed statement, Samra states staffing levels have nothing to do with getting reports to council.

She states it’s on council to prioritize their list of reports. Without clear direction from council, the email states, the various departments tackle the work as it comes in.

The findings of the Core Services Review do point to a lack of clear direction on council priorities creating unease among staff.

However, the report also says the changes at the management level have contributed to that unease.

The consultant found that workloads are increasing at Nanaimo city hall, without proportionate increase in staffing.

The report notes few, if any, staff positions have increased and some departments have seen reductions.

Furthermore, the report finds Nanaimo has fewer managers relative to staff when compared to other benchmark communities like Kamloops and Kelowna.

Van Horne says they don’t have an accurate measure on the impact to staff morale at city hall when people are constantly being asked to step-up and fill gaps.

He says he doesn’t think there would be a perceptible impact to production when staffing levels dip, even temporarily, noting the “important stuff” gets done.

When asked if the flow of information between staff and council was impacting her ability to make informed decisions in a timely manner, Brennan says if she had reports on the issues on the table right now, she could make some decisions.

“I could probably make better progress on the issues people elected me to deal with. So if we can get those reports kick-started, great. If not, then yes, that is a hindrance for me to be able to do my work.”

Brennan says having council prioritize their list of outstanding reports could be part of a solution, but she doesn’t know if there’s enough staff in place to do that.

“It’s not just a matter of prioritizing, it’s a matter of us being able to set some time frames.”

Ultimately a call from council for any kind of report or review into staffing levels at city hall would require the support of the majority of council.

“It’s hard for me to know what other Councillors are thinking,” says Brennan.

Here is a snapshot of the progress in filling some of the positions created and adjusted as part of the organizational restructure:

Director of engineering and public works – remains unfilled

Senior strategic planning and policy advising (new role) – being shortlisted

Manager of current planning and subdivision (new role) – being shortlisted

Additional employee within Community Development office – still in the works

City Clerk – Jane Armstrong (previously with District of Tofino) begins September 1

Employee to handle FOI requests (new role) – filled internally

IT/Information Management – filled internally

*The above information was provided by director of human resources John Van Horne