Oct. 24 marks two years since council in North Bay was elected and one of the issues borne out of the campaign is coming to fruition.
During that time a third-party organizational review was conducted by KPMG and now an implementation plan has been approved by a council committee.
It was the focus of a special committee meeting on Monday.
Officials say priorities are aligned with the city’s strategic plan, with estimated timelines, costs, and related projects that support the broader objectives of the review.
Six priorities include:
- Develop Departmental Master Plans & Business Plans
- Implement a Corporate-Wide Customer Service Strategy
- Centralize/Streamline Back-Office Roles
- Adopt a Corporate Performance Management Framework
- Clarify the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan
- Develop A Workforce Plan
Estimated timelines, which cover the next two to three years, were a specific focus for some councillor questions Monday night.
CAO John Severino says with a lot of the technology-based tools that they’re looking to add, they’re seeing trends in other projects or communities emerge.
“Complexity and resource requirements, resource intensity and timelines are often underestimated,” he says. “It’s our feeling and objective to put proper emphasis and resources up front to ensure optimum outcomes when programs go live.”
Strategic Initiatives director Shannon Saucier says it would be ideal if they could do all of the initiatives sooner than what’s being presented.
“But, we’re trying to be realistic with what’s achievable,” she says. “If we start to embark on some of these and we’re making progress quicker or find opportunities to do it faster we’re going to look for those.”
As for cost, funding of $250,000 is earmarked for 2024, another $150,000 next year and $155,000 in 2026.
Full council still needs to approve the implementation plan.
