A Edmonton councillor says a new auditor’s report showing soaring levels of middle management in the city is “alarming and frustrating.”.And Coun. Jon Dziadyk said the City of Edmonton has to get its own house in order if it is looking for COVID-19 bail-out money from the federal government..“I am frustrated to see what is in the auditor’s report,” Dziadyk said in an interview with the Western Standard..“I had thought we were making progress and being able to focus on delivering core services for the taxpayers. But this shows we are slipping from the core services.”.Dziadyk said the impression he got from administration was they were tightening their belts whenever possible..“I’ve always been concerned about the taxpayer dollars and when administration has come forward with a proposed tax hike, they have always gone away and come back with a smaller one. I had been under the impression they had been efficient and good with tightening their belts,” he said..“But the auditor’s report shows that isn’t true. It raises alarm bells.”.The auditor’s report – first obtained exclusively this week by the Western Standard – showed a massive increase in middle management positions..Contradicting the official line from the city, the auditor suggests chopping some middle managers as a way to help get the its budget on track..A City Productivity and Performance report shows regular employee hiring by the city is trailing the number of managers currently on the payroll. The current number of city positions is 11,271, an increase of 6 per cent since 2017. At the same time, the report shows middle management increased by a whopping 21 per cent, and front-line supervisor positions increased by 19 per cent..Dziadyk said the report shows a “pathway” for his proposal of a minus one per cent tax hike for next year.. POLL: Many Albertans say they will ignore Christmas COVID lockdown .But he now wants to hear from administration to get their side of the story..And he says Edmonton has to start cutting tens of millions of dollars from the budget before they can ask for billions from the feds..Edmonton’s mayor Don Iveson has said that without help from the Alberta and federal governments, that the city would be forced to cut up to $2.8 billion in infrastructure spending..“The report shows us a pathway on how we can save millions by tightening middle management positions,” Dziadyk said..“If we don’t change now, we won’t have a leg to stand on. If we can’t save millions, we can’t ask for billions.”.“We have to get our priorities straight.”.Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.TWITTER: Twitter.com/nobby7694
