So, we are well into our winter and it seems
our newly developed snow removal plan is not working as well as
expected. This can be gauged by the amount of complaint calls
and the mayor's address this past week.
One must ask themselves quite a few questions
about the logic for this new plan to save money and here are a
few to ponder:
- We live in Northern Ontario where we will
have snow to deal with, some years worse than others. Why would
we cut short on the service?
- Why did we hire an management consulting
firm from Hamilton to do an external audit at a cost of
$40,000?
- Why do we then hire an engineering firm
from Ottawa (at a cost of $98,756) to create an implementation
strategy based on the findings from the
consulting firm from Hamilton?
- We seem to be having a fairly mild winter
than normal, so do we have still have to pay all of these
consulting fees and did this really save us money?
- Why weren't the skills of city employees
drawn upon instead of hiring outside consultants?
- If one of the main cost reductions was
scheduling, did the department managers not have the skills to
manage such a task internally?
In conclusion, it is time for us as taxpayers
to get the best return on our tax dollars, which means the best
performance from our city employees without cutting services
and hiring outside consultants.
Perry Guilbault
New Sudbury