Whitchurch-Stouffville residents 'distressed' amid exodus of town staff

A report from the human resources manager said 30 staffers “exited” in the past 18 months.

Thestar.com
May 12, 2016
By Noor Javed

The Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville is facing a staff exodus after dozens of staff resigned, quit or were fired from their jobs in the past year - including three city managers and three human resources managers.

According to the town, 32 staff members have left since January 2015. A report from the newest human resources manager cited reasons for the departures ranging from a lack of trust, to feeling disrespected, to concerns about conflict between council and staff.

The high turnover has forced the fast-growing York Region municipality to develop an ambitious recruitment plan to bring new people into the organization.

Longtime resident Ian Hilton says the plan may succeed, but does not deal with the root causes of the problem. “(Mayor Justin) Altmann must take responsibility for the loss of staff,” he said.

“In the meantime, we have a very distressed and rather large group of people in the town, and that’s not right.”

A town spokesman said the mayor and human resources manager did not have time for an interview about the loss of staff. A statement from the town said that staff “have left for a variety of reasons from terminations to resignations to sick leaves and maternity leaves.”

“The Mayor is committed to addressing the staffing issues and has been an advocate in terms of finding solutions,” said the statement, adding that it has implemented a five-year plan to deal with the problem.

Before 2014, the municipality was led by Wayne Emmerson, who was mayor for 17 years and is currently the chair of York Region. In October 2014, the town elected the 33-year-old Altmann, previously a poultry farmer. A few months later, chief administrative officer Andrew McNeely, the top bureaucrat sometimes called the city manager, was put on administrative leave and eventually resigned from the job.

The job was filled from within by Marc Pourvahidi, who has worked at the town for 17 years. But earlier this year, he had to take an indefinite “medical leave,” he told the Star.

Since then, the post of city manager has been difficult to fill.

Last month, Altmann asked the town’s fire chief to step into the role. But just one day after accepting, Chief Rob McKenzie sent a resignation letter to Altmann.

“I had made it clear to the manager of Human Resources that I would require support to fulfil this role,” wrote McKenzie in the letter, obtained by the Star. “I am disappointed that this was seemingly dismissed, and as such it is with regret that I tender my two weeks notice that I am resigning from this assignment.”

The fire chief stepped down May 9, and the current direct of leisure services took over as the acting CAO.

The exodus, called “embarrassing” by local councillors, was discussed at a council meeting in April, when the newest human resources manager, Pavlina Thompson, brought forward a hard-hitting report documenting the extent of the turnover, and strategies to turn things around.

“The turnover has been huge,” said Thompson.

“At the time of the writing of the report ... we noticed there were 42 staffing changes,” she said, out of staff of 470.

Thompson said she reached out to 12 people who resigned and found their reasons for leaving included: dissatisfaction with their immediate supervisor or leadership, a lack of trust and feelings of being disrespected and undervalued, vulnerability due to the high number of staff exits, conflict between council and staff, and compensation dissatisfaction.

“The level of trust in this organization is so low, that there is no way that I would even attempt to do something like this internally,” she said referring to a proposed employee engagement survey to determine additional concerns.

Former MP Paul Calandra, a resident of Stouffville, took to Facebook on Thursday to question happenings in the town. “How does this story rate a ‘thumbs up’ from our Mayor?” he said, commenting on an article noting the appointment of the director of leisure services to the role of interim CAO, which had received a “like” from Altmann.

“This is the mayor’s third CAO in less than 18 months on the job ... At what point does the mayor explain to the people of this community just what the heck is going on?” he said.

Pourvahidi, who was awaiting medical clearance, offered little information on the problems plaguing the town, calling them “political.” He said, however, he hopes to return to his job soon.

“I feel like I need to go back and take care of the situation,” said Pourvahidi. “And fulfil my commitment to the town.”

Stouffville stats

37,628 - population in the municipality in 2011, according to Statistics Canada
54.3% - how much the town’s population grew between 2006 and 2011.
42 - staffing changes in the last 18 months
30 - people who resigned or were fired from the town since Jan 1, 2015.
472 - the total number of employees at the town as of April 2016.