Board of Trustees restructures municipal organization
I’m extremely excited to share with you an update on the restructuring of the municipal organization. At the beginning of the year, the newly elected Board of Trustees met to create the “You Belong Here” Community Strategic Plan. It was clear that a fresh outlook was needed; one that leans into the future while still preserving what is unique and special to Canton.
Our vision is “to be a forward thinking and intentionally inclusive community.” Our goals are: Quality Infrastructure, Welcoming Community, Financial Stability, Healthy Environment, and Organizational Culture and Climate.
To support these goals, we hired an outside company, Raftelis, to complete an organizational assessment and provide recommendations for a reorganization plan that is smart and leads to a strong and stable future for Canton Government.
The first recommendation was to relocate our Facilities Maintenance Division from Leisure Services to Municipal Services, which will improve business operations and streamline the management of important Township projects. And because the Municipal Services Department is so large, one recommendation is to create a Deputy Director position that will help the department work more effectively and efficiently, build continuity and institutional knowledge and ultimately, provide better service to our residents.
The next recommendation was to elevate the IT division to an official department and have a director of Information, Technology and Innovation. Residents often share frustration with the multiple software tools each individual department uses for online payment and account management. These processes must be redesigned with the end user, the resident, in mind.
The Board recently approved the position of Deputy Supervisor, who will be the Chief of Staff assisting in operations management. I walked in to the Supervisor’s Office to discover that Legal Fees in the from 2017 to 2020 were allowed to grow by a staggering 70% ($348,304 annually). Additionally, Raftelis identified that the Supervisor’s office had failed to conduct the required annual performance evaluations of senior staff. These two items, along with the relocation of key Human Resource functions into the Office of the Supervisor help explain why we sought creating this position, and why I chose an individual with a legal and labor background.
All of the proposed initiatives can be implemented inside the 2021 budget with no requirement to raise taxes or impact direct services to residents. As Canton has grown to be the second largest township in Michigan and the ninth largest community, with a State Equalized Value over $5 billion, and a median household income over $93,000, the Township must proactively adapt to create the community and services that our professional residents expect.
This is my goal as your Supervisor. As always, if you have any questions or input, my door is always open.
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