Drastic Measures Will Stem City Crisis: BENN

It is official. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has finally acknowledged that Ottawa is facing a financial crisis.

Aside from blaming the failures of others, what should city council do about it?

Here are the very necessary steps to be taken.

First step: Stop the bleeding. In the context of matters municipal, this means that the spend-and-finance-with-debt spree of the last decade and more must come to an immediate halt. So too must the balance-the-budget measures with illusionary reserves.

Here are a few suggestions.

• Lansdowne 2.0: Take the very next off ramp often mentioned by planning committee chairman Jeff Leiper. Just send a brief note to the principals of Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group to the effect of “Gentlemen, we are postponing indefinitely all work related to Lansdowne 2.0. We, or our successors as the case may be, will get back to you whenever.”  Oh, and if there are no easily accessed off ramps? Then Leiper should be publicly censured for willfully misleading his colleagues. Then issue the notice anyway. Provide notice to the planning staff who have been working full time on this half-billion=dollar non-essential capital program that their services are no longer required. Human resources has the paperwork.
• Tewin: Send a notice of termination of the memorandum of understanding to the principals of the Tewin project. Provide layoff notices to the four or five planning personnel who have been assigned to planning this inherent conflict-of-interest project that expands the built perimeter of the city at the cost of about $600 million. Again, HR has the paperwork.
• LRT: Retain the services of a firm that has extensive experience in integrating what are highly complex systems provided by too many organizations. The city was in over its head when it took on that responsibility more than a decade ago. The senior manager in charge of not accomplishing this left for greener pastures. The timing is right now.
• Program managers: Have on the desk of the mayor and every councillor a one-page overview for every program being administered by the city. Key information to be disclosed:
• First paragraph: The objective of the program, the starting date of the program, what problem the program was designed to address, and a reference to the statutory nature of the responsibility of the city to address this problem;
• Second paragraph: The initial size of the problem, the target to be achieved, the manner in which progress is being measured (i.e. the metric) and the progress made to date;
• Third paragraph: What are the future costs of retaining the program versus closing it down in an orderly manner.
• If the program managers cannot find the key elements for these documents within half an hour of searching the data base, it reinforces many people’s conclusions regarding the limited quality of the city’s operating culture.
• Bottom line for this initiative. Program managers must demonstrate that the city is required to continue to address the problem, and that the program has and continues to fix the problem. Oh, and notify HR about the need for more paperwork.
• Finally, every senior manager must present a process to measure the effectiveness of every employee. What does this employee do? How does that relate to the statutory obligations of the city? How effective are they at performing those duties. Metrics matter. Time line? Before the first draft of the 2025 Operating budget, which translates into late October. Again, HR should prepare the paperwork.

Second step: Kill the red herrings. This translates into ignoring those who are attempting to distract the city from getting its financial house in order. Red herrings include blaming everyone or anyone else for what are, for the most part, self-inflicted injuries. Ditto for those who specialize in creating pre-conditions for taking immediate action. All this does is slow down the inevitable.

Third step: Stop the small fry from shouting. This is directed at the endless list of self-interest groups that demand city resources. Note to council, there is little that is special about the interests of these groups. More is not on the menu. Less is.

Fourth step: Define the short- and medium-term priorities. This starts with focusing on what the city is mandated to take care of. Emergency services, infrastructure related to safe water supply and sewage treatment, social services. That sort of thing. What it doesn’t include is meeting the noisy demands from the aforementioned self-interest groups. What it also means is that there is understanding that unless they take care of the short and medium term, there is no long term. That means that the policies and programs whose benefits will not manifest themselves in the next two to three years should be deferred until the short (next six-12 months) and medium (13-36 months) priorities are under control. Translation? Many of the still in development but no where near ready for introduction climate change initiatives need to be put on ice.

Fifth step. Stop the rhetoric. Translation? Virtue signals plus 75 cents buys the city nothing at the dollar store. In short, actions matter. Words are just noise.

Finally, recognize that a note of levity can ease the stress. I recommend that the next 100 high-rise buildings be scheduled for development on each side of the personal residences of every member of council. One at a time. That way they can enjoy the short- and long-term disruption to their peaceful enjoyment of their homes. Just like they are inflicting on the residents of the city.

Ron Benn, a finance executive, has been a member of the Centrepointe Community Association for the better part of three decades.

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