HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-06-26, Page 1A season begins
There was a festive feeling in the air as Blyth Festival opened its 34th season on Friday with
the premiere of Carolyn Hay’s Against the Grain. The gala evening began with the dinner at
Memorial Hall. Guests were piped in by the Festival’s associate artistic director Gil Garratt.
Attendees were treated to music in the courtyard by the Blyth Festival Singers before the
performance. Many perused the art on exhibit in the Gallery as well. (Vicky Bremner photo)
With cuts mainly to programs that
top administrators describe as “one-
time-only initiatives,” a 2008-09
budget of slightly more than $166
million was presented last night
(Tuesday, June 24) to trustees of the
Avon Maitland District School
Board.
“I feel pretty good about it . . .
We’ve managed to balance (the
budget) without having to go into
reserves, which is a good thing
because . . . we know we may need
to go into some of that for St.
Marys,” commented education
director Geoff Williams, following
the presentation of the budget to the
board’s finance committee Tuesday,
June 17.
Trustees recently approved the
construction of a new kindergarten-
to-Grade 6 school in St. Marys, at a
projected cost of $7.5 million. The
staff report recommending that
decision described a $65,000 draw-
down of board reserves to complete
the project, but that’s a best-case
scenario that will only become
reality if the board successfully
lobbies the provincial government to
provide a further $1.5 million under
its “prohibitive to repair” (PTR)
program. If PTR support remains the
same or is increased only slightly, a
further reserve fund draw-down will
likely be necessary.
According to Williams, the main
cuts compared to last year’s $161.5
million budget are in items that were
funded on a one-time basis by the
provincial Education Ministry.
Examples include a series of
professional education opportunities
that saw teaching staff brought
together for centralized sessions.
“We still have our usual pressure
points around transportation and
trying to maintain school buildings,”
the education director commented.
But he added some bright spots also
emerged during the board’s
budgetary planning; specifically,
secondary school enrolment is
actually projected to increase
slightly, which will translate into
increased provincial funding.
The big question mark remains the
final cost of the board’s single
County discusses report
After just under a year of
preparation, Huron East council
adopted a new pay scale that
councillors hope will make them
more competitive when attracting
employees.
After several surveys and
comparisons, council realized that
Huron East was at the bottom of
many job categories as far as wages
were concerned.
After its June 17 meeting,
however, the municipality will be
paying out nearly $60,000 more
annually to its employees.
After six months in the making,
this new pay grid brings more of a
balance to the municipality’s
positions, said deputy-mayor Bernie
MacLellan. While some positions
will benefit and some won’t benefit
immediately, the new system means
$58,300 more for the municipality’s
employees.
The recommendation came from
the administration committee and
was brought to council by
MacLellan. He also suggested that
the pay increase be implemented
retroactively to Jan. 1, 2008.
Despite the fact that MacLellan
commended the municipality’s
employees for their patience in
this matter, councillor Larry
McGrath said he felt that between
how late in the year it is and the
large number of projects council has
committed to this year, that the new
pay grid be implemented as of Jan.
1, 2009.
“I feel our employees are treated
quite well and we have a lot of
expenses coming up this year,” he
said.
MacLellan insisted on the
retroactive implementation, saying
that employees have been waiting
since 2007 for this new grid and
council needs to deliver on its
promise.
Huron East’s previous pay grid
calculated salary based on 45
different points. The new system,
however, will work on 15 different
points, which clerk-administrator
Jack McLachlan says is more in line
with the norm of municipalities.
“We’ve been promising [the
employees] this for 10 months,”
MacLellan said. “They have been
understanding and patient. To delay
it now, would be a slap in the face to
them.”
Mayor Joe Seili called for a
recorded vote on the motion to
implement the new pay grid
retroactive to Jan. 1, 2008. All
councillors, with the exception of
McGrath voted in favour.
AMDSB
presents
budget
Huron County council has agreed
in principle with the
recommendations of consultant
Hugh Thomas following a review of
organizational relationships between
the Huron County Board of Health
(BOH) and county administration.
Council held a special committee
of the whole meeting on June 23 to
discuss Thomas’s recommendations,
and passed a motion to forward the
recommendations to appropriate
county staff.
Thomas was hired by the county
to interview a number of councillors,
county staff, and administrators in
the wake of concern about
relationships between staff and
administration.
Thomas’s interviews identified a
few areas of concern but painted an
otherwise positive picture of the
aforementioned relationships.
The areas of concern included
relationships between staff and the
county’s human resources and
treasury departments, and the
relationship between the county’s
medical officer of health (MOH) and
chief administrative officer (CAO).
Thomas’s review was also
conducted shortly after the dismissal
of Penny Nelligan, a former director
of the Huron County Health Unit.
Among the recommendations in a
draft copy of Thomas’s report was
the suggestion that the BOH “be
consulted prior to the hiring or
termination of managers or the
equivalent and above.”
This suggestion was amended to
read that the BOH would
“appreciate” being consulted in such
situations.
It was clarified at the June 23
committee of the whole meeting that
the county CAO has the right to
dismiss employees without council’s
approval.
Thomas’s other recommendations
were passed by council without
significant changes. These included
the suggestion that all managers be
trained on how to conduct
“constructive performance
appraisals” of other employees; that
a template for performance
appraisals be developed; and that
performance appraisals be
undertaken on an annual basis.
It was also suggested that service
contracts be established with the
BOH for the provision of finance,
HR, information technology (IT)
and “Facilities services.”
Huron County MOH, Dr. Beth
Henning, has said she is particularly
pleased with this latter
recommendation, because it
provides a framework for business
between the County of Huron and
the Huron County Health Unit.
She added in an interview last
month that the recommendation for
service agreements was key because
problems existed in regard to
knowledge of roles and
responsibilities and appropriate
communication mechanisms.
“If we can move forward on that,
then it provides a lot of clarity for
how you work together, and it makes
me feel hopeful about working
together in the future,” she said.
Thomas also recommended that
the development of corporate
policies by the county involve the
input of lower-tier staff in the
affected departments.
This recommendation raised
concern from Bluewater councillor.
Dave Johnston, who suggested that
policies should be drafted by
managers, then presented to lower-
tier employees for input, rather than
being created from the bottom-up.
Goderich councillor Deb Shewfelt
voiced his belief that consulting
lower-tier employees is of
considerable importance.
Johnston agreed but stated he
believes lower-tier employees
should not write the policies
themselves.
Council’s public discussion of the
Hugh Thomas report followed an in-
camera session in which “personnel
and legal matters” were discussed.
At least some of these were
unrelated to the Hugh Thomas
report, according to the comments of
council during the public meeting.
A second in-camera session
followed the public discussion of
Thomas’s recommendations.
It was stated before this second in-
camera session that two items would
be discussed, one of which was an
information item, and one of which
related to “health unit recruitment
and retention.”
CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, June 26, 2008
Volume 24 No. 26ATHLETES- Pg. 10Locals win gold atLegion meet THEATRE - Pg. 23Festival premieres‘Against the Grain’MILESTONE - Pg. 2Brussels business marks 50th anniversaryPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 PAP Registration No. 09244 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
HE gets
new
pay grid
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
By Ben Forrest
Clinton News Record
Continued on page 6
It’s time to celebrate Canada as the country’s 141st
birthday arrives on Tuesday.
In recognition of the holiday, The Citizen offices will be closed
July 1. Therefore, the deadline for advertising and editorial copy to
be included in the July 3 paper, will be Friday, June 27.
Information must be in to the Brussels office by 2 p.m. that day and
by 4 p.m. in Blyth.
Offices closed July 1