City of Lethbridge confirms workforce reduction
By Tim Kalinowski on July 17, 2021.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com
The City of Lethbridge is officially confirming it has reduced its workforce by 61 full time equivalent positions to meet city council’s direction to find greater efficiencies and cost savings.
The positions were eliminated in June after the City consolidated its 35 existing departments down to 22 departments, and about half of the positions eliminated were vacant positions which had not been filled, the City confirms.
According to local union officials, who declined to be formally interviewed, many of the other axed positions were eliminated through settlement agreements with the City.
“These types of initiatives are never easy,” said Mayor Chris Spearman in a statement released to the media early this week. “We know it is critical work at this time as we look to be as agile as possible coming out of the pandemic. But we also know this has a very real human element which makes it difficult for everyone involved.”
According to a City communique on these matters, residents should not notice any additional service level changes due to this workforce adjustment.
“As work is distributed across fewer staff,” the statement reads, “it is expected that it may take longer to get some work done. While every effort has been made to mitigate this, the City will monitor implementation and respond as required.”
The reductions are expected to yield savings of $4.28 million annually for the City of Lethbridge.
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Good!!! How were 13 government departments so easily eliminated? Because they were not need and just gave people nice titles and pay and life long benefits. Government!!!
So will residents see a reduction in our taxes?? I was notified my street won’t get any street sweeping this year due to the cost savings, so I would EXPECT a small reduction in my property taxes.
Gee, so we won’t see the annual 12 people sent to plant flowers at 13th and 9th north every year? Etc. The C.O.L. has been a ‘good old boys’ club over-employing for years. It’s about time. Now if we can get them to do work properly the first time, they wouldn’t be ripping up every other street in town!
the shoddy street work sure is a debacle. perhaps we should aim for the bright side: it sure is consistent.
any chance we can a get a traffic lights manager that is worth the salary being given? any chance the city can take advantage at all of the technology of the modern day to make the lights less random and more efficient?
I don’t think it’s possible due to people pressing that damn “walk” button and messing up the timing flow 🙂
Ban pedestrians! lol
right, those pesky critters…what if we changed the icon to “run”? 🙂
lol.
Overpasses every hundred feet! Or catapults that fling you over the street, into a net, then down a slide to the ground. Oh ya, that would be cool!
haha!