Although Lac La Biche County councillors and their senior administrator have explained a few more details about the recent dismissal of more than a dozen municipal staff, little else is being disclosed.
The mid-August announcement that 13 staff – including several in senior management positions – would be losing their jobs following the findings of a year-long performance review of all County departments, has raised questions in the community.
At the recent Lac La Biche County council meeting, municipal CAO Manny Doel and council addressed those questions with prepared statements about the matter. Deol said the decision to remove staff was not an easy one. He understands the concerns from the community and the uncertainty such changes can create for remaining staff.
“Understandably this comes with painful emotions, like frustration anger anxiety, the fear of not knowing what happens next is obvious during any process of change,” he explained, saying staff and the community will move forward. "We have to use this emotional energy to work for us as opposed to working against us.”
The job cuts included three associate CAOs responsible for recreation and community, corporate services, and infrastructure, along with the manager of the equipment services department, staff in the planning and development department and one of the community peace officers. The names of all 13 staff were included in an inter-office memo sent to all municipal staff from senior administration.
At the recent meeting, almost three weeks after the memo was released, Deol explained the decisions as a necessary balance that had to be found.
“Careful consideration was given on how we could have a minimum effect overall in terms of human resource costs and service levels, and at the same time create a more responsive, action-oriented and customer focused organization,” he said.
Costs
After the meeting, the Lac La Biche Post newsroom sent follow-up questions by email to the CAO and Lac La Biche County’s communications manager Jihad Moghrabi, asking if there are severance payment costs associated with the dismissals.
In an email response, Moghrabi said it is “confidential information that cannot be disclosed by the County.”
When asked if staff who were let go have signed non-disclosure agreements relating to their dismissals, Moghrabi said those details were also “confidential… that cannot be disclosed by the County.”
When the POST newsroom asked to see a blank template of a typical non-disclosure agreement that might be used by the municipality, the same answer was received.
Listed names
When asked why the names of specific staff being let go were listed in correspondence to all other staff, Moghrabi said municipal staff were informed of the specific individuals “so that new reporting and organizational structures could be adequately and appropriately communicated to staff. “
The method, he said is standard practice for workplaces.
“No other information regarding the individuals’ departures was communicated to staff,” he added.
Moghrabi also confirmed that one more job cut was made after the initial 13 were listed.
At the same time as the year-long efficiency review that was conducted by a consulting firm hired by the municipality, a hiring freeze was also in place for all municipal departments. Moghrabi says the hiring freeze is no longer in effect.
When asked if any new hires have been made since the dismissals, Moghrabi said there had been none.
The 14 recent departures account for approximately seven percent of the county’s current roster of about 200 staff.
Service not disrupted
Included in the results of the efficiency review – which also helped to build the framework of Lac La Biche County’s newest Strategic Plan – it was determined that despite the hiring freeze that had been in place since last November – service levels continued to be met and exceeded by staff.
Deol said he appreciates the continuing work done by municipal employees.
“I am proud of our staff for pulling together to move forward in an effort to provide council and residents what they need and expect. I’m confident the changes we made, and are working through in this process, will benefit us all in the long term,” he said, emphasizing the significance of the service level standards, and assuring residents that the job losses will not affect those levels. "Recent structural changes will not affect present programs or services which we rely upon. In fact, these services will continue to improve without interruption.”
Lac La Biche County Mayor Paul Reutov said the recent changes, the efficiency review and the new strategic plan are all parts of a mandate his council received when they were elected three years ago.
“When this council was elected, the message from our residents was very clear; status quo was not good enough,” said Reutov. “The message was clear from our residents, but it’s easier said than done. Everything needed to be looked at and considered.”
The third-party efficiency review and many “ambitious” discussions over the last year were all part of those considerations, said Reutov. The specific decisions, however, said the mayor, were made administratively and not by council. He said the mayor and council only approved the decision.
“Council only has one employee the Chief Administrative Officer … the CAO is in charge of the rest of administration... hiring of staff and deciding what organization structure will best enact council’s direction,” said Reutov. “Council empowered the CAO to follow the recommendations of the efficiency review as he interpreted them.”
The mayor said he understands that the recent dismissals have had an effect within the community but emphasized that service levels and programming won’t be affected.
“The excellent service and programs that we all expect and rely upon from day to day have been, and will continue to be, offered at the same level, or improved without interruption,” said Reutov. “We know that these decisions are difficult, however, I’m confident that the CAO has taken the time to carefully consider the costs and benefits of his decision.”
The mayor said the CAO continues to have the support of council in its aim of “efficient and excellent service delivery” for Lac La Biche County.
