Is the staff compliment climbing just a little too quickly?

Budget 2020 redBy Pepper Parr

December 17th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Is anyone doing a staff compliment count?

How many people have been added to the number of people who are, or will be, on the city payroll ?

There will be eight more bus drivers by the end of next year; three are to be added to the Forestry department – that number could go to five.

The Municipal Accommodation Tax will put dollars into the Tourism budget – that money will have to be spent. The Customer Service unit is being created, which means finding a new city Clerk. Will it also mean additional staff for the Customer Service Unit that the current city Clerk is going to head up?

The Museum is going to need more staff if they are to function effectively.

Burlington has been in this situation before. Sharman, Bentivegna and Galbraith understand what a balance sheet looks like – that’s just three votes. Four are needed to put a stop to anything.

A little too early to be certain but this might turn into a tax and spend council.

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5 comments to Is the staff compliment climbing just a little too quickly?

  • “Save the judgement” are responsible members of the electorate not supposed to evaluate and speak out. No-one gets it all right but we do need our media to warn us of the path our council is taking. There are many in our city who in their later years are without children and grandchildren nearby because they could not afford to live here . They could do with family help to stay in their homes and not clog up hospital beds. 14 million infrastructure monies went on a pier when our below ground infrastructure was screaming disaster.
    We could and have filled a book about self interest decisions that do not attend to the needs of our city and region. Many believe it is too late but we believe there is hope if we all pay attention and don’t worry if speaking truth upsets those who have a lot to lose if our media tells it as it really is. Not that we think the media always gets it right.

  • David

    A month ago I did a quick Google search on city budgets across North America comparing them by population to Burlington….I quickly found that Burlington along with other Canadian city’s have a problem with Bureaucracy creating Bureaucratic positions that will create ever more Bureaucracy….Contrary to popular belief, A city corporation is not a business, tax payers are not customers. People on a budget choose what products and services they purchase, they are not forced….

    • Philip Waggett

      Your observation is highly accurate and supported by Warren Buffett who made the following comment about bureaucratic organizations, both public and private: “Our experience has been that the manager of an already high cost operation frequently is uncannily resourceful in finding new ways to add overhead”. The decision by the City of Burlington to add the tree bylaw enforcement with attendant high cost vehicles is a classic example of fiscal mismanagement by the City; the private tree bylaw in Roseland was intended to run to 2021 but was terminated two years early with no evaluation of its impact. No effective cost-benefit analysis has been done before initiating this rapid expansion of the tree bureaucracy–when will this program been scrutinized as a cost-benefit? Or has it become another giant sinkhole?

  • Perryb

    Anne and Dave, you highlight the dilemma for all politicians….trying to serve people whose list of “what we need” ignores that others view the same things as “what we (I) don’t need”.

  • What do you mean “might be a tax and spend council” the writing has been on the wall for some time now. Tax and spend but not always on what we need. Japan trip vs. Crosswalk maintenance one very small example.