Regina: The City of Regina recorded significant growth over the last eight years, but a new report released today shows the growth is most pronounced in one area: management positions at City Hall.
The CUPE Research report, Top Heavy: How many managers does it take to run a city? finds the number of management positions at City Hall nearly doubled over the last seven years, from 60 positions in 2001 to 112 in 2008 – an increase of 86.7 per cent.
The new top heavy structure at City Hall is costing taxpayers dearly without any improvement in city services, the report states.
“The extra 52 management positions at City Hall likely carries a price tag of more than $5 million annually,” says Tim Anderson, President of CUPE 21, which represents about 1,200 outside city workers. “We could repair a lot of roads and sidewalks with that money.”
The meteoric rise in the number of managers does not correspond with any increase in front line staff. In fact, the report shows the total number of civic staff, excluding the police department, actually decreased by 6.9 per cent over the same period. (Staffing levels in the police department increased by 13.1 per cent.)
Ironically, the drop in front line staff is most pronounced in Public Works, the division responsible for the majority of the city’s infrastructure. The report shows the total number of full-time equivalents in Public Works dropped by 35 per cent from 2001 to 2009, even though city workers are maintaining more roadways, sewer lines and sidewalks than ever before.
Public Works management not only escaped cuts, it saw a nearly three-fold increase, ballooning from nine managers and directors in 2001 to 25 in 2009.
The report notes the City of Regina’s vision is to increase the city’s population to 300,000 and be the “best run municipality” in Canada.
“That won’t happen if the city continues to erode its permanent workforce,” the report states.
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For more information contact Tim Anderson at 352-8282 (w) or 527-5181 (cell).
The report and recommendations are available at: www.cupe.ca and www.21.cupe.ca
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