Part 3 LSAC "ACTIVITY REPORT" TIME FOR TRANSPARENCY ~ LAC STE. ANNE AND COMMUNITIES RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION (LSARA)... Because We Care!

Friday, August 18, 2017

Part 3 LSAC "ACTIVITY REPORT" TIME FOR TRANSPARENCY

8/18/2017 09:08:00 AM No comments

Here We Go Folks With Our Next Comparison

This time the focus is the County Managers Report. In 2011/2012 it was know as the County Managers Report. Now in 2016 it is reported as "Message from your CAO".

Len Szybunka spent many years as the County Manager not entirely sure why it is that the title had to change for the position. Does this make the position any more important?

Many of you will remember Len Szybunka as during his devoted 37 Years with LSAC Len Szybunka was a People's Manager. This is evident by how Open and Transparent the 2011/2012 Activity Report was in all of the Departmental Reports under his Supervision.

Len Szybunka, who served as the county’s manager since 1996, retired at the end of September, 2012 relinquishing his position to Mike Primeau who had been the assistant county manager. Szybunka began his career with the county in 1975, when he became the junior accountant at age 19.

Soon promoted to senior accountant, he filled that role until 1995 when he was promoted to manager of corporate services before moving on to the top administrative position.

In the days of the County Managers Report, the first discussion reiterates the previous year and identifies how the County fared on 8 key measures.

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Discussion with regards to current initiatives the County was involved in such as communication towers, campgrounds, potable water, seniors transportation and economic development.

Graphs were utilized in order to provide some information on where the County sits compared to other similar sized municipalities. The report was informative, transparent with figures that the Ratepayers could gather information from.

This report would be once again considered Transparent.

An Interesting Fact is that in 2011-2012 We Also Had an Assistant County Manager No Other Than Our Current "CAO" Mike Primeau

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Even the Assistant County Managers report (under the supervision of LSA County Manager Len Szybunka) was full of relevant information expanding the County Managers Report.

This report was also informative, transparent with figures that the Ratepayers could gather information from.

This report would be once again considered Transparent.

On to the current year 2017 and the "Message from your CAO"

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1. In the first paragraph, there is an inference to diversification from exclusively farming and ranching to a far wider range of cultures, pursuits and business activities. What...does that mean?

The entire West end of Lac Ste Anne County remains agriculturally based. Very sparsely populated by families, very little businesses are located on the West End. The Ratepayers are primarily involved in agriculture to some degree whether that be crops, hay or livestock.

The statement "as the County grows and diversifies" What growth? What Diversification? It would be very interesting to know how many NEW businesses located in 2016 in LSAC .

2. The latter portion of the statement , "As our County grows and diversifies, so too does Administration and the goals it is tasked with achieving." By simply adding to the organizational chart and creating positions, that would not be considered diversifying. Alternatively, adding responsibilities and a title to current staff does not ensure the staff are comfortable or trained in their added responsibilities.

3. Continuous improvement - INDUSTRY BUZZWORD!!!! It involves Kaizens - in simple terms, a very systematic approach. Most businesses that utilize the CI approach, have Leaders trained in Lean Six Sigma, 5S, Steven Covey, 4 Disciplines of execution. This is a VERY involved process that requires a great deal of training. To simply infer that Continuous Improvement was "on the agenda" is a very far reaching statement.

4. Talk about a mandate, key goals, successful agenda! WHAT does that mean? Does the County have a mandate, published goals and agendas ? Are these on a personal level?

5. Confidence that the year ahead will be productive and prosperous for the County and the Ratepayers. How does "confidence" ensure productivity and prosperity? Again the reference to growth, change and challenges. SHOW US SOME FACTS!!!!

6. Now that we have hit the MOTHER-LOAD in the segment that discuses the "New Administration Building. The move into the "NEW EFFICIENT BUILDING" has already taken place . Challenges he says.... these were not challenges. These are MAJOR ISSUES.

These issues were brought about by decisions that were absolutely rushed to get the shovels in the ground so you, the Ratepayer felt you had no recourse. This haste immediately cost additional funds as the purchase of the land ( located and purchased without a borrowing bylaw in place) was the highest price paid for farmland in a two year period. Break ground and find a borrow pit that cost $36,000 to remove.

WE ASKED THE COUNTY FOR THE GEO TECHNICAL REPORTS, THEY TOLD US TO GO FOIP IT, WE DID, STILL NO REPORTS, NOW THE COUNTY HAS TAKEN POSSESSION OF THE BUILDING AND STILL NO UPDATE ON THE "ISSUES" NOR ARE THERE ANY NEW STATUS REPORTS ON THE COUNTY WEB SITE OR TO LSARA SINCE MAY 26, 2016. THAT IS 84 DAYS AGO! IS THAT OPEN AND TRANSPARENT????

Project issues continue to mount. No budget for fire suppression systems, not enough water pressure coming all the way from Sangudo. This was not a surprise, they knew there was not enough pressure. That is bad planning and poor Project management. Water issues causing heaving, contractor third party liens, many of these issues have yet to be resolved. There IS a COST to all of this to the Ratepayers. This is NOT what we call being ever cognizant of an 11.7 million dollar budget that the greater majority of the Ratepayers did not want spent. Better than 'What Were the Challenges" IS "What Is The RESOLUTION!!!"

7. Rebranding - This is a colossal waste of Ratepayers funds. How does the Logo that we paid for, actually speak to what the County of Lac Ste Anne has to offer a business, a family? How does this ' visual ' provide any perception on how stakeholders view our County? Better yet, who is the stakeholder? How does the Logo celebrate people, Agriculture and vision for the future? What vision? Economic Development... was that included in the rebranding?

8. Once again the buzz words- hard decisions, lessons learned, milestones achieved. What does this signify? Hard decisions due to lack of planning? Milestones achieved - most Ratepayers wouldn't consider some of the highest debt we have ever taken on as a milestone. What lessons have we learned that haven't got an astronomical price tag associated to them?

9. The closing remarks geared to the Ratepayers of the County - progress and prosperity. We have seen no progression in our County aside from the Administration building ( which they will now use as an asset) an oil and gas facility and not much else.

10. and finally quoted from the "CAO Report" -"Remember we are listening to you"...... Well ratepayers here are some questions for you to ponder.

Are any of the Reports from the 2016-2017 LSAC Activity Report Informative, Transparent or give you an accurate overview of the past years activities?
Do all the petitions that have been presented to Council and Administration tell you that you are being heard?
Did the 11 Mayors who requested an intervention from the Minister of Municipal Affairs feel that they were "listening"?
Show us what did the Ratepayers have to say and what was direction that they took.
LSARA asked for a Open Public Meeting with Council and Administration and they were also invited to attend any of our many Open Public Informational Meetings that have been held across the County. We were told that Council is NOT ALLOWED to meet and discuss issues 'IN PUBLIC' as per the Municipal Government Act.

THAT FOLKS IS JUST NOT TRUE! DID THE COUNCILLORS ATTEND AND HAVE PRIVATE DISCUSSIONS WITH THE THE PUBLIC AT THE LAST LUB OPEN HOUSE! YOU BET THEY DID! WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO HIDE??

We leave you with the same message: