Stouffville amalgamates departments, axes director's job

Stouffville Sun-Tribune
April 28, 2014
By Sandra Bolan

An entire department has been eliminated and there’s a lot of staff shuffling at town hall.

“No, I don’t think so,” responded new Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville CAO Andrew McNeely when asked by the York Region Media Group if he was cleaning house.

Mr. McNeely was named CAO April 16. He held the position on an interim basis since October 2013, following the sudden retirement of Dave Cash.

The municipality’s engineering and capital projects department has been dissolved, as per the recently approved corporate efficiency review, thus eliminating the need for its director, Mike Molinari. He took the now-eliminated position in January 2011.

“That’s not cleaning house,” Mr. McNeely said.

The department’s portfolio has been split in two. The engineering portion is now under planning and building, while the capital projects section moved to public works.

Money saved by the elimination of the department will be distributed throughout the corporation, according to Mr. McNeely.

Mr. Molinari earned $138,536 in 2013, according to the Public Sector Salary Disclosure, aka the Sunshine List.

Prior to taking on the interim CAO role, Mr. McNeely was the director of planning and building services at the town. He held that position since 2008. He joined the town in 1999.

Recruiting for his replacement is underway.

After 26 years as the director of public works for the town, Paul Whitehouse retires in July.

Brian Jones, who has 35 years of experience, most recently as the director of public works for the Town of Newmarket, will fill that position, according to Mr. McNeely,

Mr. Jones has been with Whitchurch-Stouffville since June as interim manager of operations.

Peter Wyllie, who was previously the municipality’s operations technologist with public works, was promoted last June to acting manager of operations. “Acting” will be removed from his title July 2, according to Mr. McNeely.

Two positions that remained vacant for an extended period have finally been filled.

The new manager of human resources is Sheila Schweizer. She’s been on the job for eight weeks, he said.

Shima Rezazadeh is now the manager of capital projects, a position that remained vacant for more than a year, according to Mr. McNeely.

Last year, senior staff informed councillors they were experiencing challenges hiring higher level employees. That no longer seems to be the case, according to Mr. McNeely, who noted, both Ms Schweizer and Ms Rezazadeh came from pools of very strong candidates.

“There are the people out there. It’s a matter of advertising in the right places,” he said.

The town’s spokesperson, Maria Schembri, was terminated at the end of March, according to an e-mail sent to The Sun-Tribune by Mr. McNeely.

She was hired in 2013 as a probationary employee, according to the e-mail.

“The town has decided to move forward in a different direction,” according to the e-mail.

While working for the municipality, Ms Schembri earned two awards - a certificate of service excellence - website team, from the town, as well as a certificate of achievement from the Stanton Associates Communications and Training Consultants.

There is now a short-list of eight candidates, who will be interviewed next week, each with at least eight years of experience, Mr. McNeely told York Region Media Group.

ARTS CENTRE BOSS LEAVES TOWN

Steven Foster, cultural facility and programming co-ordinator for the Lebovic Centre for Arts and Entertainment - Nineteen on the Park, left his post April 19.

“It was a surprise. In hindsight it’s not. In the moment, it was,” said Harry French, chairperson of the facility’s board of directors.

Mr. Foster held the position since December 2008. He is now the regional manager, GTA for the Canadian Liver Foundation, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The Sun-Tribune reached out to Mr. Foster for this story, but he did not return our emails.

Ashley McIntosh takes over on an interim basis. She also filled in for Mr. Foster when he took paternal leave.

Nineteen on the Park’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) expires at the end of 2014 so it is “prudent on our part to have that confirmed with the town before we enter into a hiring process”, Mr. French said.

The MOU is expected to go before council prior to its summer break, he said.

The board is also hiring a part-time marketing assistant. The position is funded via money the facility received from a Trillium Grant, according to Mr. French.

Mr. Foster’s departure will not effect the fall 2014 concert series, as that has already been booked, Mr. French said.