Throughout
my career in planning and executing major events and building community I have
recognized the need for operating businesses in a cost effective manner.
Governments are no different. They are in the business of delivering services
to their customers, we the residents. Quality and customer service have to be
key to everything we do.
Governments
at all levels have one major difference from business. Governments have a
‘never ending’ source of funds. They are not ‘bottom line’. Product sales and
revenues don’t direct government course of action and their very existence.
Because governments operate on taxpayers dollars they sometimes remind me of a
snowball rolling down a hill, ever increasing in size.
Sometimes
they lose sight of why they exist. Governments exist to represent and serve the
residents. Tax payers’ dollars need to be used wisely and with foresight. Our
employees need to all buy in to the need to be cost effective in the way we
operate. Our residents are our customers. Do we truly understand that it is our
residents who pay the bills and our salaries?
That
was the thinking behind my initial lobbying of Council back in 2008. I wanted
to go far beyond the existing departmental reviews to look at efficiencies and
working smarter across the entire organization.
The
major concern I have from this report is that it does not focus with razor
precision on organizational efficiencies with the outcome of a high quality of
customer service. Instead, the report released notes: “The review was focused
on organizational effectiveness and employee satisfaction”. Despite this, there
are great potential customer service solutions coming out of their in-depth
analysis of our ineffective resident inquiry and complaint management systems
and greater utilization of communication technology.
It is
no secret that I wanted this report released in May. The summary report
released a week ago falls far short of a comprehensive outline of the steps
necessary to create those potential savings and future efficiencies that I
believe are possible.
The 87 recommendations are being kept ‘under wraps’ until
the new Commissioner, Rob Coon, has an opportunity to acclimatize himself to
our municipal organization, do a detailed analysis of the recommendations, and
work with Council to select and prioritize the recommendations that ‘fit’ with
our community's immediate and long term needs. The recommendations adopted, and
applied will draw on the energies and require professional application on the
part of administration and Council for the next two years.
On the
bright side, several Departments have taken the initiative to implement some of
the obvious recommendations. A budgeting review and financial assessment is
underway. The Emergency Services Department has completed a 20 year visionary master
plan that is a great tool for strategic resource and budget planning. Council
has developed a draft mission and strategic plan that could provide the
platform for the future if prioritized in a manner that responds to the needs
of our specialized municipality.
Roxanne, good comments. We're fortunate the choices we must make are to improve citizen experience and maximize value. We could have been faced with choices about existence!
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