Vaughan: New city strategic plan focuses on service delivery

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 30, 2015
By Adam Martin-Robbins

The city is embarking on a new strategic plan aimed at getting key initiatives rolling while also improving service delivery, says Vaughan’s top staffer.

The plan, unanimously endorsed by city council, will put the focus on 16 priorities - including improving the road network, supporting development of the new hospital, tree replacement, attracting investment and job creation, affordable housing and establishing a lobbyist registry - over the remainder of this term.

“I’m going to be driving the organization, with my leadership team, to make sure we’re moving on this. So what I think the public is going to see is a lot of projects are on the move right now for this city,” City Manager Steve Kanellakos said. “And I think we’re going to be able to show some real demonstrative progress on improving a number of our business processes from a customer experience point of view.”

But, he points out, it isn’t going to be a “quick fix.”

“This is about giving people responsibility to deliver these things, giving them a three-year period to do it and to start transforming the organization over that three-year period in the direction of service excellence,” Kanellakos said.

Traffic congestion has consistently ranked at the top among residents’ complaints.

Kanellakos said improving the local road network will involve ensuring the more than 50 projects under the city’s jurisdiction get off the ground quickly and projects the Region of York is responsible for keep rolling.

“Part of it is the recognition by council, and senior staff, that this is also about the advocacy and support at regional council by our mayor and regional councillors to ensure Vaughan’s projects move forward and that we’re on top of it,” he said.  “As far as our projects go, we want to make sure we get those tendered and that we’re moving on it.”

As for creating a lobbyist registry, which would provide a public record of the people who meet with bureaucrats and councillors to influence decision-making, Kanellakos said recommendations will be brought to council by the end of this year.

The last time city officials considered a lobbyist registry, some councillors balked at the cost, but Kanellakos doesn’t think that will be an issue this time around.

“The plan we’re going to bring forward is not going to have a big additional cost,” he said.

“There are a lot of models out there and I think we’re going to bring something back that is a fit for the City of Vaughan and that recognizes the fast growth and the nimbleness of the city in terms of being able to get things done. ... I think we need to balance that with the transparency of it.”

A key part of implementing the strategic plan and improving customer service was to reorganize the city’s administration.

To that end, Kanellakos restructured the senior management team with a central focus on three key portfolios - community services, planning and growth management, and public works.

“It’s a much-flatter organization,” he said, “I only have three, they’re called deputy city managers now, who were formerly commissioners compared to six before. And I consolidated a number of units.”

In total, 13 full-time positions were eliminated including three commissioner positions, several director positions and support staff, he said.

Six of those posts were already vacant, while seven resulted in staff parting ways with the city, he said.

That move, he said, saved the city about $2.2 million.

Implementing the plan will also entail a review of the city’s internal processes as well as investing in technology and equipment.

Kanellakos said he’s asking council to spend money on those things upfront in return for projected savings of $750,000 in 2017 and $1.5 million in 2018.

That’s necessary given the city’s challenging fiscal position and council’s mandated tax increase cap of 3 per cent through 2018.

Accountability is also crucial to ensure the plan is successful, he said.

Kanellakos plans to report back to council regularly on the progress being made on each of the priorities.

At the end of the day, Kanellakos said, the goal is straightforward:

“I really want to make this place standout as the city of choice in the GTA.”