2004-11-17_Minutes--Procès-verbal
November 17,2004
Minutes of the Portion of the Committee of the Whole Meeting Open to the Public
Wednesday, November 17, 2004, 7:00 o'clock a.m.
8th Floor Boardroom, City Hall
Present:
Mayor McFarlane,
Deputy Mayor Hooton and Councillors Chang, Chase, Court, Ferguson, Tait and
Titus
- and -
1. Totten, City Manager; J. Nugent, City Solicitor; A. Beckett, Commissioner of
Finance and Corporate Services; P. Groody, Commissioner of Municipal
Operations; W. Edwards, Commissioner of Buildings and Inspection Services; B.
Todd, Director of Information Systems and Support; R. Simonds, Fire Chief; A.
Bodechon, Chief of Police; J. Mcintyre, Director of Human Resources; P. Woods,
Common Clerk and Deputy City Manager and E. Gormley, Assistant Common
Clerk.
1. MeetinQ Called To Order
The Mayor called the Committee of the Whole meeting to order.
2. 2005 OperatinQ BudQet - Corporate Services
Referring to an electronic slide presentation, Mr. Beckett reported that Corporate
Services is made up of 4 divisions with 114 employees - Finance, Human Resources,
Information Systems and Support and Materials and Fleet Management and proceeded
to review each division. He advised that, in addition to regular duties, staff in Corporate
Services offer support to various boards and commissions.
The Commissioner advised the Committee that a future focus in Corporate Services will
be on training and development and revamping the City's human resource performance
management system which will be tied to results.
Commenting on the success of the mutual interest approach used in recent years with
collective bargaining Mr. Beckett advised that this method has reduced the number of
grievances, noting the need for a great investment of time devoted to this endeavor.
Mr. Beckett spoke about the complex system of the communication network used in the
City, particularly because of the various locations of City offices and the uniqueness of
the Police Department's information technology needs. He updated the Committee on
the Public Service Communication Services Centre (PSSC) advising that it is difficult to
recruit staff because of the bilingual requirement and the shift work involved.
The proposed 2005 budget presented for Corporate Services was $6,866,077.
The Mayor questioned the hiring practices of the Fire Department particularly asking
about the interview process, to which Mr. Beckett explained that the process is a fair
one. He added that there may be a perception that barriers exist to getting hired, but
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Public Committee of the Whole
November 17,2004
noted the difficulties experienced is more likely related to the large number of
applications received.
In response to Councillors' questions regarding absenteeism, Mr. Beckett advised that
this issue is similar to the problems experienced by other employers and commented
that it is caused more by health related problems because of the age of the workforce
and stressors outside of the workplace than by work related stress.
Mr. Beckett explained how the fleet of 357 vehicles is maintained and replaced with the
Mayor suggesting that we look into a tire management program which could result in
savings for the City.
Councillors requested the reporting period for financial updates be changed to either
quarterly or monthly.
The meeting adjourned at 9:00 a.m.
Common Clerk