By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON October 30th, 2012 More changes on the staffing side at city hall. The search for a third general manager doesn`t appear to be going all that well. Could the city manager do the job with just the two general managers? Can Kim Phillips who handles the corporate and administrative side of things and Scott Stewart doing the heavy lifting on the operational side keep the good ship Burlington on an even keel?
Alan Magi, foreground in blue shirt, listens intently during the development of the Strategic Plan last year. Magi wasn’t able to get people to listen during the recent governance review of that Strategic Plan; partly because he didn’t have much to say.
City Manager Jeff Fielding explained to a city council workshop that he was stretched pretty thin on the senior staff side and has a couple of people who aren’t pulling their weight.
Alan Magi certainly didn’t cover himself with glory when he lead council and staff through a governance review and a closer look at the strategic plan now that we are well into our first year with that document.
While Kyle Benham isn’t a city “employee” he too is getting a stern second look by both his board and city council. There are those who think that board is far too large to be effective and many wonder if it can do an effective performance review of their Executive Director.
The mess with the IKEA plans to move from their Aldershot location on Plains Road to a site on the North Service Road just west of Walkers Line threatens the efforts on the part of the city to retain IKEA as a corporate client.
Kyle Benham, Executive Director, Burlington Economic Development Corporation – will he make it past the performance review?
The Economic Development Corporation hasn’t been bringing forward very much in the way of new business to the city. Other than running full page advertisements in the business press telling the commercial world that we are the second best place to live in the country there isn’t much to see for what is being spent on that department. Those who are betting people won’t even need odds to get a return on their money if they bet on major changes over at the Burlington Economic Development Corporation.
There are some really smart people at city hall who think the whole thing should be blown up and re-created as a much smaller board; say seven members rather than the 20 people who populate that board now.
Economic development is far too important a matter to play around with. The Molinaro project next to the GO station is going to result in 1000 housing units; the ADI project on Guelph Line is going to result in 70+ units; the project being worked up for Ghent Street is looking for more than 50 units. Many of the people that move into that housing might want to work in Burlington – but there have to be jobs for them. The city also needs the tax revenue from the ICI (Industrial, Corporate, Institutional) portion of the property base.
Tax revenue from ICI for 2012 looks like it will be less than it was during 2011 – not a good sign and one that is giving the city manager and the treasurer heart burn.
Frank McKeown advised the mayor a few months ago that he wanted to move on from his role as Chief of Staff. Many wonder if Rick Goldring is ready to fly on his own and if Jackie Isada, who is moving from the sinking ship over at economic development and into the Mayor’s office, will be able to fully replace
McKeown. Many think that is a stretch.
Frank McKeown, on the left talks with Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman during the Strategic Plan sessions. McKeough leaves the Mayor’s office at the end of the year – is there a future for him elsewhere at city hall? Many hope so – the talent is needed.
Frank on the other hand still talks about a political role in his future and is on record as saying that if there were a seat open he might go for it. The rumour is that he kind of likes the look of Ward 4 – is Jack Dennison ready to throw the towel in over there?
McKeown doesn’t have to work but his administrative and analytical skills are both in demand and badly needed at city hall. Expect to see him staying on after he finishes the transition out of the Mayor’s office and in some senior role where he would work very closely with the city manager.
City Manager Jeff Fielding is doing everything he can to upgrade the skill sets and the competencies of his staff and will have everyone from Supervisor level up taking courses created for the city by people at the DeGroote campus of Master University on the South Service Road.
