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Amalgamation and human nature

The reality is that amalgamation never, ever saves money.
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Amalgamation and human nature

Amalgamation seems to make sense. North Cowichan has an industrial base that Duncan is lacking, and Duncan’s infrastructure is in dire need of upgrades. It makes sense to have consistent services, regulations, and taxation across the combined area. By consolidating services, one should expect some savings in the longer term.

The reality is that amalgamation never, ever saves money. Other than a handful of exempt administrators that will likely receive eye-watering separation packages, nobody loses their job. It would be interesting to know what proportion of North Cowichan taxes were devoted just to pay for two of these packages in the last year. We will be left with clerical, supervisory, and operational personnel that are surplus to what is really needed for the combined jurisdictions. If remaining management is not held in check by a very strong mandate from the new council, there could easily be some serious empire-building and additional layers of management created. With employees feeling apprehensive about the uncertainties during the transition, and adding in some natural aspirations, these are just issues of normal human nature.

Between the redundant personnel and potential extra layers of management, none of the existing facilities will be big enough to house each department.

So what happens then? Will the council embark on a massive building campaign, starting with a brand new administrative centre (Leeds Gold certified, of course), with whole new Operations and Parks yards?

What about the information systems (computers, software, etc.)? Will the new entity go out and buy a whole new system that may or may not work at some point in the future? Will this mean all new computers for each new workstation? We have all seen what has happened at the provincial and federal levels where hundreds of millions were spent on systems that never worked.

How much will operational efficiency be affected for the next couple years? How many consultants will be contracted at $300-plus per hour? What proportion of staff will be seconded to committees that focus on consolidation efforts, possibly with lots of overtime? In light of changing regulations, how much longer will applicants expect to wait for permits during the transition?

These are all questions that are being avoided in presentations in the media to date. It is imperative that there be very strong policies and procedures set in place by both councils prior to any amalgamation.

I think we deserve some pretty solid answers to these questions before the referendum, otherwise we could end up with massive tax increases and a bloated work force.

The alternative is for the two entities to remain separate, consolidating and cooperating as they have in the past. This will save money.

L. White

North Cowichan