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The Canadian Champion, Friday, May 18, 2007 - A3 Town operatinq 'too lean and mean to staff:' Schau By Melanie Hennessey CANADIAN CHAMPION STAFF Townî staff is puitiiîg ini long hotîrs - including tînpaid overtine - to kecp up witb the demands of a rapidly gro'.s ing coinmuniitx The faci was pieseiîîed by Kathy Davies oh KPM(, C hartered Accounitanîs anîd tn a staff repotrt to tbe lw administration and planning committee Monday evening. Wbile KPMG was enlisted to con- cluci the annual financial staiement audit -wbich gave the Town a dlean bill of beaih for 2006 - the compa- ny also observed municipal staff put- ting in some very long days. volume oh transactions increase," Davies saîd. "1 think you need to take a look at your buman resources." \Vard 4 (ounicillor Wendy Schatî expressed concerni xvith the unpaid overtime hours staff bas been work- Wendy Schau îng to get the job done, relemrng to a report hrom the Corpurate Services department that says ils staff worked 772 hours of overtime i the [îrst quarter of 2007, but 66 per cent of those hours were unpatd. "We're running a lean and mean operation thats a lîtîle too lean and mean to staff,' she said. l1 think that's taking a bad advantage of people." Town Director of Corporate Services and Treasurer Linda Leeds explaîned the munictpality bas pohicies that provide time-in-hîeu [or those wbo work unpaîd overtime. The commîttee also dealt witb a report that recommends bringing on several new staff members in îwo-year contract positions togel the 'Town up to speed on processing devel- opment applications. The positions, wbîcb would cost $228,300 for the rest of 2007 and $456.600 next year, would be funded tbîougb development [cs, capital projects and building permit appli- cation fees. The document raised the ire oh Ward 3 Councillor ]an Mowbray, who questioned why the staff positions weren't included in tbe budget process last year. "1 truly believe our staff bas been under a lot of pressure for quite somte time. Wc sbouldn't be bavîng lu reaci lîke this," she said. "We were irresponsîble in not hiring more people hast year." Town CAO Mario Belvedere told ber it's very bard te pre- diet bousing market demands. "\Ae have an unustial situation of dealîng with a whole htînch (of applications) ai one lime," he said. "Our numhers -ire beyond our expectalions.- ln an interv'iew wiîh îhe Champion, he also said staff is tonstious every year of the budget guidelinies it must stay \vîthin. C ouncil directs staff io prepare the budget to refleci what il would look ike wîth zero, three per cent and five per cent iix increases. 'Because oh' budget constraints over the past couple oh years, we havenît beeîî ahîr to staff lor the bicavy workload we r e getting.' he saîd. Schau urged staff to take a thorough look at how much ,l ii' , i , d u I i it los\ iStt ItII î w, '~ Olî process. B3elvedere saîd the Town wilI be underiaking a tompre- hiensive analysis of staffîng needs ibis year. Meanwhile, Mayor Gord Krantz expressed concern for the long-term implications of hiring people on two-year con- tracts. -When was the last urnie a govemmnit laid off contratt people? ht doesnit happen, or very rarely,- hie said, noting the positions could result in almost $500,000 in expenses every ycar [rom now on. He also iold council inembers that they "ai sen noth- ing yeî" when it cornes tb requesis for addttittnal staffing, referring bo the report ibat xvill resuli froin coinprehensive analysis Belvedere mentioned. - ee TOWN on page Al18 TOYOTA RED TAS DAYS C ENDS MAY 31ST! RED TAG DAYS ENOS MAY 31 ST A FUI TankIl 01 Ga Ward 4 Councillor Wendy Schau responcis to repotjinding that Town staff are putting in long hours, unpaid overtime to keep up with workload 400Stles Avenue _-U -8400-61-7-4025 vuv'v.m uItoftyO".04fl LT ON -9viale 1 (0é 1 -1rc»rc>yÀAý i ;OD 7Working # ramum Harder cum o Stayto Stay MM