Why Is Owen Sound Still Hiring?           

Do you ever have the feeling that City Hall exists in a completely different world than the rest of us?

In my Service Review Report that I delivered to members of council last November, I showed that in 2021 Owen Sound spent $3.9 million more on Salaries and Benefits than the average of the top three municipal comparators in my study group. As well, Owen Sound spent $1.5 million more on Salaries and Benefits than the municipality with next highest expense.

I also pointed out in my report that, not including Protective Services, Owen Sound had eight (8) more employees earning more than $100,000 than the nearest municipality in my study group. These additional eight (8) employees cost taxpayers $1.49 million in 2021.

As well, I drew their attention to the fact that Owen Sound employs three (3) managers in the Clerk’s Office while all other municipalities in my study group employed only two (2).

I also drew council’s attention to the fact that 50% of Owen Sound’s households do not bring home a living wage and can no longer afford the impact of high taxes.

You would think that given this information and given the concern that residents have already shown about the tax increases in the draft 2024 budget, that a reasonable city council would put a complete FREEZE on Hiring.

However, Owen Sound city council has chosen to ignore these facts and is continuing to hire new employees as if nothing has changed. If you go to www.owensound.ca/employment you will see that there are six job postings, including one for a Deputy Clerk. This one is completely not necessary given that other municipalities function quite well with only two (2) managers in the Clerk’s Office.

This is just wrong. The world will not come to an end if council imposes a hiring freeze. They just need to redistribute the workload among the remaining employees like any business would do during these difficult times. Council is clearly not listening to residents and not paying attention to the facts.

The Municipal Act para 225(a) states that the mayor is to act as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the municipality and 225(c) states that the mayor is to provide leadership to the council.

I expect the CEO of any corporation, public or private, to listen to the shareholders (residents) and demonstrate effective leadership sufficient to push back on staff demands to ensure that the corporation is running as efficiently as possible.

I am not seeing the type of leadership normally demonstrated by a CEO leading $63 million corporation. Perhaps Ian will surprise us and start listening to the shareholders and putting the needs of shareholders ahead of the needs of municipal staff.