Staff overhaul at City Hall starts at the top

CTVNews.ca
July 13, 2016

A staff overhaul has begun at Ottawa City Hall, and it’s starting from the top.

Two deputy city manager positions were among those eliminated by Steve Kanellakos, who took over as city manager in May.

Since taking over the city’s top job in May, Kanellakos has been meeting with city staff to assess the state of the organization. He presented his findings to city council’s final meeting before breaking for summer on Wednesday.

He said staff told him the current organizational structure was unsustainable, and that there were too many administrative burdens and manual processes.

“I didn’t find any one person who believed the current organizational structure is the one we should remain with and is working best for our residents,” he told councillors on Wednesday.

Kanellakos was meeting with affected employees all of Wednesday.He said the reorganization will cost $1.29 million in severance, but will lead to savings of $2.7 million,

Mayor Jim Watson said residents shouldn’t notice a change in levels of service.

Kanellakos was expected to announce more details about the changes Wednesday evening.

The changes appear similar to those in Kanellakos’s brief time as city manager in Vaughan, Ont. There, he oversaw a restructuring of senior leadership.