By Pepper Parr
December 21, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Pat Moyle, the interim city manager expects to be able to leave his job at the end of January with a new city manager having been named.
A reliable source has informed the Gazette that there are ten candidates and that “there are some very good people applying for the job”.
Scott Stewart, on the right, is the “last man standing”. Former city manager Jeff Fielding took a better job in Calgary and General Manager Kim Phillips was given an offer she took and slipped into retirement.
One of the ten is current General Manager Scott Stewart who has been keeping the good ship Burlington afloat during the very tough periods of time.
Several Councillors have come to the conclusion that the city will need a serious reorganization and that the seven levels of staffing in place now is not necessary and not effective.
One feels the city doesn’t need any General Managers, there used to be three, and that a reorganization to four levels of staffing would have the current departments grouped differently with each group reporting directly to the city manager.
Another Councillor feels younger talented people are leaving the city because they don’t believe there is the leadership they would like to see in place.
In the past six years Burlington has gone through three city managers. That kind of change in administrative leadership doesn’t inspire much enthusiasm.
There are at least three current senior people that may find themselves having new business cards printed. One of the three has been with the city far too long in the eyes of more than one council member; two others are thought to be ready for something different which would allow a new city manager to recruit fresh talent.
One of the concerns expressed by a number of people is the weak bench strength at the Director level. One a more positive note these same people see very good prospects with a number, close to a dozen, of younger people who can be grown and groomed to take on senior positions.
There are some very bright people in Planning, Parks and Recreation and Finance that many want to see encouraged.
The camera has always been kind to Mayor Goldring. He is photogenic and people take confidence in a person they like the look of and tend not to want to see if there is anything more than a pretty face.
Talent retention seems to be a bit of a problem for Burlington. The Mayor has now gone through two people who served as his Chief of Staff. Tina Depko Denver was recently made manager of communications for the Mayor who apparently has not made a decision on his next chief of staff. A more standard practiced in the developing, or in this case re-developing, of a team is to have the top job filled and have the Chief hire the balance of the team the Mayor wants in place to meet the mandate and the vision the Mayor is working from.
That vision thing is having a tough time getting any traction in the Mayor’s office.
Seen lots of young good people leaving that city – planning, clerks. That councillor is probably right.