Sunday, May 29, 2016

Nanaimo Core Services Review - All 245 Pages

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!

 Core Servicews Revie
To view/download the 245 page Report click image

The final Core Services Review was presented to city council and the public on Friday afternoon at a meeting at the SARC building (new annex) in the boardroom.

Joyce Tustain of WMC presented the public with some of the highlights of the report which cost nearly $300,000 and was many months in the making, For Nanaimo it has actually been many years in the making given the resistance the last two previous councils had to the process.

The report identified potential ongoing savings of $1.7 million annually which have a compounding saving of nearly $15 million over a ten year period. They also found one time savings of $2.75 million.

They found the city is basically in sound financial condition providing quality services but did warn the city can not afford to maintain current service levels as we continue to grow. The intelligent use of debt is one opportunity the city may be able to put to good use.

There is no corporate structure to control standards which presents opportunity for improvement going forward as does the need to articulate priorities for council and administration in the form of strategic planning.

Preparing for staff replacements is another area needing attention as currently there are 150 employees who can retire in the next 5 years and 100 in a position to retire now.

The NEDC was considered an asset going forward but it should be required to provide a 5 year strategic plan with benchmarks and means of measuring performance. Funding to the DNBIA should not be in the form of matching funds but rather on a project by project basis.

The VICC was decided the best and highest use of that building with several recommendations for improvement performance measurements going forward. Attracting a hotel is a recommended enhancement for this facility.

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - Warning shots already fired!
Over $600,000 in savings identified and already opposed!

There are three very distinct and politically powerful groups in Nanaimo all vying for their piece of YOUR tax dollars.

They are business, unions and arts and culture groups. All of which are well funded, organized and politically savvy. Over the months to come it will be interesting to see if any equally organized group steps into the fray in the interests of the general taxpayer in Nanaimo.

That is supposed to be the job of council, but when you consider where some major funding comes from for election campaigns and groups able to deliver blocks of votes, in my opinion the game is more than slightly skewed with the average taxpayer getting the short end of that stick.

allvoices

5 comments:

  1. All the more reason for increased citizen participation. I've noticed an increase in smaller pockets of interest based on the demographics. If they can generate a better than 38% (? I believe that was the last election turn out) showing at the polls then you can start measuring engagement. With that type of voter turn out Nanaimo is being run by a select few because they can...

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  2. I believe the chaos is actually just a symptom of the changes that are already happening...as the Pendulum Swings. Sadly, there can be no promises that situations will improve, only that they will be different. When history is disregarded, it tends to repeat itself!

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  3. Agreed. Good luck implementing any of the recommendations. It will be interesting to watch if Council will abide by much after spending $300k essentially to be told much of what they have been told many times before.

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  4. I appreciate that NIB will be monitoring and holding Counil members accountable.

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  5. You might want to add church and charity groups to that list. Several hundred thousands of dollars went their way this year.

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