Message from the Council Table
This note from Mayor and Council is meant to provide updates and insight into the Town staffing situation for you- the citizens of our community. There is much talk around the community about the numerous changes in staff and much public speculation as to how council and management is dealing with getting all the positions filled , as well as training and education of a large number of people in positions that are new to them. Hopefully this answers some of your questions.
It is often said that only constant thing in our lives is ‘change”…well , to say that our town has seen a little change in our municipal staffing situation in the last year plus a few months would be an understatement.
Our community has always been very proud of the way our managers and staff have delivered maintenance and services to us as citizens and taxpayers; and we have had the enviable situation of dedicated long serving staff over the past 50 plus years that certainly helps with a broad base of detailed knowledge and training regarding our community services and operations.
We value our employees and provide…..
- a very competitive salary and benefit package,
- a safe inclusive work environment
- up to date technology ,tools and equipment to get the work done,
- education and ongoing training and more
Council’s role as stewards of the community is to set the policy /rules/bylaws/budgets and then allow staff to manage the resources towards the service and amenities we offer. We run with a system of Policy Governance , with the ultimate guide being the Municipalities Act of the province of Saskatchewan. It is a system that requires everyone understanding their role and expectations -both staff and council as a team.
Council realized that we were going to be seeing staff turnovers in the near future- but probably did not expect this amount of change in such a short time. Over the past 24 months we have seen turnover in senior staff retirements (2 Public Works Foremen, 1 Assistant Public Works Foreman, our Chief Administrative Officer, and Office Assistant Position) AND as of yesterday – our Council Administration Committee accepted (with regret) the resignation of our current Chief Administrative Officer-Joleen Tuchscherer-who has been with our community approx. 2 years . We are regretful to see Joleen leave- but are happy for her at the same time as she is moving on to the City Manager for the City of Melville, a great career advancement for this highly skilled administrator.
So – where are we now?
- Recent hirings include:
- New foreman of Public Works- Greg Beaudoin
- New Assistant Foreman of Public Works- Alyshia Neuman
- Full-Time addition to Public Works Crew- Zaynn Tkachyk
- Seasonal Public Works addition- Orren Oshynko
- Public Works Summer Student – Tylan Henrikson
- New Office Assistant-Kristian Beatty
- Finally-the search and process for hiring a new Town CAO begins immediately.
We are very confident in all the recent hirings for the positions with the town, and the dedication that each individual brings to the team working for all of us. There are huge amounts of training (in house and external) that has been planned for and has already begun with some positions…but this takes time, so we all need to be patient and allow our people to be trained and learn our systems and polices and, in some cases, aid in developing policies and guidelines to better our levels of service. We feel we have a great team of people, who are doing good things and will simply continue to get better.
All our work continues, and challenges are dealt with and overcome on a daily basis to be as good as we can for THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD TO LIVE.
Thank you!
On behalf of council
Mayor STC