Town of Olds CAO Norm McInnis will please forgive those of us that don't share his enthusiasm for the creation of the new “strategy and development officer” position for Larry Wright.
Mr. Wright is the former director of operational services, a position soon to be occupied by Craig Teal.
Mr. McInnis, in a Sept. 17, 2013, Olds Albertan article entitled “Town hires new director of operations,” announced with much aplomb the creation of the new position for Mr. Wright to “work with all departments and staff in more of a mentorship role” and later in the article “to be involved in community economic development.”
Mr. McInnis failed to tell us how much this new position is going to cost us.
There are several things wrong with this picture. Why would we be expanding the staff and payroll at the senior bureaucrat level when the value of permitted work in 2013 as of mid-September was $14 million (according to Mr. Wright in a different forum), way down from the $58-million worth of projects in 2012?
Second, I don't see a bunch of new, young employees that need mentoring occupying chairs around the town office and if there are, I submit that it is far better for those people to bring their fresh and new ideas forward than for them to be mentored in some past practice. The fact of Craig Teal's arrival, presumably with his wealth of experience, new approaches and ideas, is in fact what makes him attractive. Steeping him in bygone practice and subjecting him to the watchful eye of his predecessor will do him or us no favours. Far better as well for those who have been slogging away in the trenches to now, with someone new at the helm, to grow and bring their thoughts forward rather than perpetuate a past and perhaps worn-out “party line.”
Third, I don't see any shortage of businesses and agencies on the “economic development” file. Every business is master of its own “economic development” and economic development in general, as I understand it, is the reason for the existence of the Olds Institute for Community and Regional Development. The chamber of commerce is active on that front as well, so again I'll ask Mr. McInnis to forgive those of us who don't want to pay for a new position that plunks us into a field that is already occupied and that is likely better and more appropriately pursued by others.
Fourth, many will have a great deal of trouble with creating jobs for “retirees” that don't retire because of his or her “…much experience that the town could still benefit from.” While Mr. McInnis expounds Mr. Wright's virtues, rewarding anyone even further after serving their working lives on the public purse is fundamentally wrong. Create a job for someone else if you must, but in so doing add another family to the town. We all have a “due date”; no one is irreplaceable and those due for retirement likely do us all a favour by spending their time volunteering, consulting, fishing or whatever. Getting out of the way gives others a chance to make their contribution.
Growing the numbers is all too easy when someone else is paying—paying lots and probably paying forever.
K. B. Hunt
Olds
Member of the Town of Olds' Municipal Planning Commission
