Larry O’Brien

Today City Manager Kent Kirkpatrick presented to Council the third phase of restructuring the operations at the City of Ottawa.

The results of this latest round of restructuring streamlines our management structure and citizens will now have a single point of contact to access important City services. The City Manager’s objectives are to clarify accountability for client’s service outcomes, establish a single access point for related services and improve the City’s ability to be more responsive to Council and the community.

I have heard from many people about the difficulties they have experienced dealing with various departments at City Hall. What seems to be a simple request requires multiple phone calls or transfers. We are now implementing a single point of client contact. 

The City staff contact will be responsible for navigating the workings inside City Hall and these changes will make it easier for you to work with your municipal government and that’s just common sense.

After all, it is your money and you want City Hall to run effectively. I believe that these changes will not only save money, but they will improve service to our customers – not an easy task but one that is being accomplished and I congratulate management for a job well done.

These changes are also the end of a process we started last October and now staff can focus on working within the new structure. We have a lot of work to do and we are now positioned to do that work in the most effective way possible.

It is always hard to make changes that result in job loss, but it is our responsibility to do what is in the best interest of the taxpayer. Council’s direction was to achieve $100 million in savings, while improving customer service. This latest phase means that 340 reporting relationships at City Hall have been redefined and management staff levels have been reduced by 45 positions, for an administrative cost savings of 7% and total savings of $3.7 million annually. 

Please let me know what you think.