City exploring new mangement structure
The City of St. Catharines won’t be filling two commissioner positions that became vacant this year and is exploring a new management structure instead.
The former model, which saw a commissioner of operations and a commissioner of corporate services report to a CAO, had been in place for just under four years.
“There was a lot of confusion about roles and responsibility,” said Mayor Walter Sendzik.
“I think (the new organizational structure) will create more understanding within the corporation about who’s responsible for what. It’s a good move forward.”
The city introduced the commissioner-based system in March 2014 with the idea the positions would focus on planning three to five years down the road, rather than being directly involved in day-to-day operations.
When both commissioner roles became vacant this summer, the city had the opportunity to review whether the organizational structure was the best fit.
Former CAO Dan Carnegie retired on June 30 and corporate services commissioner Shelley Chemnitz became acting CAO. She was hired to fill the role permanently starting Nov. 1. Meanwhile, commissioner of operations Bryan Shynal retired in July.
Sendzik said there was no cost savings in removing the commissioner positions because the city will be creating some other positions such as associate directors, including having someone focused on asset management.
The goal is to allow managers and those working with front-line staff to work together as a team on planning.
Chemnitz said when the commissioner structure was introduced, it increased collaboration between departments, which were grouped under the commissioners, and provided more chance for future planning and strategic outlook than what was in place before.
The new structure will include a deputy CAO position that will do some basic restructuring to keep those benefits of the commissioner structure.
“We want to keep that momentum going, so it would be the deputy CAO and myself working with departments and teams to continue to achieve that collaborate working together, as well as to focus on long-range planning,” she said.
City council is hiring an organizational effectiveness consultant to evaluate the senior management structure down to the director and deputy director level as well.
In February, councillors approved spending up to $30,000 for the consultant and last week they OK’d the terms of reference for a task force that will approve the RFP for the study.
Couns. Mike Britton of St. George’s, Carlos Garcia of Port Dalhousie and Mat Siscoe of St. Patrick’s, who all sit on the budget standing committee, were appointed to the task force with city staff.
They’ll be in contact with the selected consultant, receive the results of the study and the recommendations.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to help the new CAO and staff,” said Garcia, who moved the motion forward at the Dec. 11 council meeting.
There was some debate about it though.
St. Andrew’s Coun. Joe Kushner said he was against hiring a consultant, explaining when council originally came up with the idea it still had the commissioner system. He said there were councillors who thought the commissioner system was “fairly ineffective” and that’s why they supported hiring a consultant.
“I don’t think there has to be a consultant to introduce change,” Kushner said. “We have a new CAO and with the new CAO she can bring recommended changes to council any time she sees fit, but we’ve already done the big job and that is to remove one level of management and that was the commissioner system.”
He, along with Grantham Coun. Bill Phillips, Merritton Coun. Jennie Stevens and Port Dalhousie Coun. Bruce Williamson voted against it.
But Siscoe said while council has made changes to the way the uppr-tier of senior management is structured, the task force will go a little deeper.
“I think there is a great deal of value in us moving forward with an organizational effectiveness review,” he said. “I think the CAO will be able to use what comes out of that review quite effectively.” kwalter@postmedia.com twitter.com/ karena_standard