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Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens has terminated the town’s prime engineer and lawyer in his first important use of robust mayor powers.
The town introduced Wednesday afternoon that it has “initiated a strategic realignment of its organizational construction,” one that may “higher serve the wants of its residents and streamline municipal operations.”
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Metropolis engineer Chris Nepszy and metropolis solicitor Shelby Askin Hager had been casualties of the “realignment.” A written assertion from the town mentioned they’re “not with the company.”
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“Their years of service are appreciated and they’re wished effectively of their future endeavours,” the assertion mentioned.
A metropolis webpage devoted to creating robust mayor selections accessible to the general public reveals the selection to dismiss Nepszy and Askin Hager was made by Dilkens and never the council majority, as is traditionally the case for personnel issues.
In an interview with the Star, Dilkens mentioned adjustments to Ontario’s Municipal Act make mayors answerable for figuring out a municipality’s “organizational construction.”
“That change in laws now places the duty for organizational construction and hiring or dismissing heads of departments within the palms of the mayor,” Dilkens mentioned.
The selections had been “not made in a vacuum,” he mentioned. “I’ve been working with (metropolis CAO) Joe Mancina, I met individually with all members of the company management workforce earlier than making this choice. We’ve been engaged on this for months. We’ve mentioned this with all members of council and had conferences with them as effectively.”
Retired metropolis engineer Mark Winterton will return on an interim foundation to fill the function Nepzsy took over from him in 2021.
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Efficient instantly, metropolis’s newly fashioned company management workforce — led by CAO Joe Mancina — will encompass commissioner of group companies Ray Mensour, chief finance officer and treasurer Janice Guthrie, commissioner of human and well being companies Andrew Daher, commissioner of financial improvement Jelena Payne, deputy solicitor Dana Paladino as head of improvement and company companies on an interim foundation, and Winterton as head of infrastructure companies and the town’s engineer.
The recruitment course of for the 2 vacant positions will start instantly, the town mentioned.
“As we regularly evolve and adapt to the altering panorama and challenges we face, we’re proud to unveil a management construction that displays our dedication to managing development and innovation to realize our objectives,” mentioned Dilkens in a written assertion launched with the replace. “This re-alignment is about strengthening metropolis corridor and making certain a simpler choice making course of.”
In his dialog with the Star, Dilkens mentioned that, below the brand new organizational construction, the town solicitor will report back to the commissioner of company companies and won’t have a company management workforce place.
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“Beneath company companies now, you’ll see extra of a pure company companies mannequin, the place you could have HR, IT, communications,” he mentioned. Earlier than the realignment, IT reported to financial improvement and human sources reported to finance.
“Issues didn’t fall correctly the place they should match as a way to ship for the residents,” he mentioned. “That is an effort to streamline the best way we do our enterprise and ensure that there’s a good lens to some actually necessary areas of our inner group.”
That is the primary time Dilkens has used the robust mayor powers, bestowed on him by the Doug Ford Conservatives, to terminate employment. Separate mayoral selections posted to the town’s web site Wednesday afternoon state that each Nepszy and Askin Hager have been “dismissed from employment with the Metropolis of Windsor.”
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Dilkens was granted robust mayor powers on July 1, together with the mayors of 25 different municipalities throughout Ontario. On the time, the provincial authorities linked its choice to a necessity for extra housing.
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The powers granted to mayors embody the power to decide on the town’s chief administrative officer (CAO), rent and hearth sure division heads, reorganize departments, create council committees, and appoint chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of council committees.
Additionally included are the power to suggest municipal budgets (topic to council amendments), veto sure bylaws and produce ahead issues for council consideration if the difficulty ”may doubtlessly advance a provincial precedence.”
Up to now and together with Nepszy and Askin Hager’s terminations, Dilkens has used robust mayor powers 12 occasions. Six of these had been to approve bylaws at council conferences, a brand new formality required any time he opts to not veto any bylaws.
In July, he delegated employment issues regarding staff under the extent of supervisor to the CAO, and he delegated authority for choose recruitments to metropolis administration. In August, he confirmed the hiring of a supervisor of improvement and supervisor of administration for company companies, and in October he confirmed the hiring of a upkeep facility supervisor.
tcampbell@postmedia.com
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