A mission statement and an outline have been approved as the first step in a planned review of municipal services here.
Council has directed township staff to conduct a service review in response to public concerns expressed through the recent Township of Mapleton Council Report Card.
In March, council directed staff to conduct a service review in response to the results of a survey aimed at obtaining feedback on its first year in office.
Asked to rate council’s overall performance, about 13 per cent of respondents indicated they were very satisfied, 26% were satisfied, 34% were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 19% were dissatisfied and 8% were very dissatisfied.
Council approved the statement and outline at the May 3 meeting following a staff report on the project from CAO Brad McRoberts.
The statement indicates the purpose of the review is “To provide council with a comprehensive awareness of the services offered by the township and to identify those services which should remain as they are, (or be) made more efficient, enhanced, reduced or eliminated.”
The report indicates the review is to be completed in time for any resulting recommendations and council directives to be considered as part of 2017 budget discussions. The end of August was set as a target date for a draft service review report.
“Council needs to be aware that this will be a staff-developed product and that this process will take considerable time and effort by all staff to complete,” McRoberts noted in the report.
Staff was directed to consider the following while completing the service review:
– everything is on the table;
– no self or departmental promotions or justifications;
– everyone follows the same structure;- consider common elements and how they fit within the organization;
– look for synergy with other departments or other organizations;
– make time – “we are all busy, so no excuses”; and
– include all staff in the discussions.
The report indicates the next stage in the review process will be identification of three similar municipalities, at least one each from inside and outside Wellington County, to be used in comparisons.
“This is a very time consuming task for all staff, so I thought it was important to bring forward sort of an outline … if there are any concerns, now is the time to identify it,” McRoberts told council. “I want to make sure we’re starting on the right path right form the get go.”
Councillor Michael Martin said, “It looks like a lot of work but it’s exactly what I was looking for.”
