City Hall Roundup

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This article was published 26/09/2013 (4470 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Firefighters’ OT issues addressed

THE president of the Winnipeg firefighters’ union expects the overtime issue to be resolved without eliminating jobs or compromising safety.

Alex Forrest, president of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, issued a news release Wednesday stating he had his first meeting with acting fire chief Bill Clark, and he expects they will come up with realistic options over the next two months to curtail the skyrocketing overtime bill.

“We are pleased to announce that, after extensive discussions, the union and the (fire) department are committed to working together to minimize overtime without compromising public safety, firefighter safety or our ability to serve the public in responding to fire and EMS emergencies,” Forrest said in a prepared statement.

Forrest and Clark had a heated exchange of words last week after word got out Clark was proposing a reduction in staffing at two fire stations to deal with overtime costs that are expected to be 86 per cent over budget.

Forrest said Clark’s proposals would increase response times and compromise firefighter and public safety. Forrest argued increased overtime was the result of too few firefighters on payroll and more should be hired; Clark told councillors the OT bill was caused by too many firefighters calling in sick.

Clark was unavailable for an interview but a civic spokeswoman said the two discussed 20 options to reduce OT costs.

 

Airing their dirty laundry

A motion to instruct civic staff to consider all legitimate claims for compensation to laundry washed in brown water was temporarily sidetracked by a debate from councillors Wednesday who were concerned about uncontrolled costs and worries it would open the floodgates for other claims.

In the end, the motion by Coun. Dan Vandal (St. Boniface) was approved, with only four councillors voting against: Ross Eadie, Paula Havixbeck, John Orlikow and Justin Swandel.

“If we just start paying for people’s damaged laundry as they bring it in, we could create a great deal of expense here,” Swandel (St. Norbert) told reporters following the council meeting, adding those claims will have to be covered by all property owners.

Swandel said it will be hard to justify to homeowners why laundry claims are legitimate and why other claims are not.

“It seems to me we’re just trying to get out there to be seen to be doing something to stop people from being angry about brown water,” Swandel said.

Havixbeck (Charleswood-Tuxedo) tried to get the issue referred back to committee for clarification but her amendment was defeated.

Vandal said he brought the motion because it appeared city staff weren’t being sincere when they advised him and other councillors to tell residents they could make claims for damaged laundry. Vandal said city staff had rejected every claim brought to them, hiding behind the rationale the City of Winnipeg Charter absolved the city of any responsibility for water issues so long as the water is considered safe to drink.

 

Staff to walk through options

A motion to have staff consider options for re-opening Portage and Main to pedestrians sailed through council without debate Wednesday.

Coun. Jenny Gerbasi, who moved the motion, said she wasn’t expecting any debate because all staff are being asked is to consider options to facilitate the movement of pedestrians through the intersection in 2017.

Gerbasi said the agreement with the city that closed the intersection to pedestrians expires in 2017, adding the city should be ready if council wants to take that action.

Mayor Sam Katz wasn’t taking any position on the issue, adding it will be up to the council of the day to decide what to do with the intersection.

Katz said he doesn’t expect city staff to spend a lot of time on the subject, adding a competition on how best to open the intersection was held among planners when Glen Murray was mayor, adding those ideas are still on file.

“The ideas are already there. You don’t have to spend any more (money) on ideas, they exist,” Katz told reporters following council. “You can dust them off and put them in place — if that’s the will of council.”

 

Payroll question still unanswered

COUN. Paula Havixbeck’s quest to learn how many people are on the city’s payroll found no answers on the floor of city council.

Havixbeck asked Mayor Sam Katz Wednesday how many people are on the city’s payroll and what percentage of the budget is consumed by their salaries.

But Katz wouldn’t answer the question and finance chairman Coun. Russ Wyatt would only say how many full-time equivalent staff are supposed to be on the payroll according to the 2013 approved budget.

“I’m sure the mayor can tell us how many people work for the Goldeyes (the baseball team owned by Katz) on a full-time basis but can the mayor tell us how many actual employees work for the City of Winnipeg and what percentage of the budget that is?” Havixbeck (Charleswood-Tuxedo) said.

Habixbeck asked finance officials earlier in the month the same question but was told finding the answer was almost impossible. She was told it would take staff two months of work to pinpoint the exact number of employees on payroll for any given day or week.

Wyatt said council approved in the 2013 budget having 8,770.5 full-time equivalent employees but said he, and the administration, didn’t know if that is the actual number.

— Aldo Santin