THE TOWN OF NEWMARKET SUSTAINABILITY CASE STUDY Cindy Wackett: Office of Continuous Improvement, CAO s Office, Newmarket

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "THE TOWN OF NEWMARKET SUSTAINABILITY CASE STUDY Cindy Wackett: Office of Continuous Improvement, CAO s Office, Newmarket"

Lorena Green
6 years ago
Views:

THE TOWN OF NEWMARKET SUSTAINABILITY CASE STUDY Cindy Wackett: Office of Continuous Improvement, CAO s Office, Newmarket The Town of Newmarket offers some valuable and distinctive sustainability

1 THE TOWN OF NEWMARKET SUSTAINABILITY CASE STUDY Cindy Wackett: Office of Continuous Improvement, CAO s Office, Newmarket The Town of Newmarket offers some valuable and distinctive sustainability approaches, underscoring findings within AMO s A Sustainability Planning Toolkit for Municipalities in Ontario and relating, among others, to: Its phased adaptive management approach to sustainability (see Tool #8: An Option to ICSPs: Adopting an Adaptive Management Approach); Its recognition of the need to redefine/ rebrand the Town by pursuing sustainability in a holistic way, in order to remain competitive in the future (see Tool #1: Making the Case for Sustainability); Its emphasis on responsible economic and financial planning as a platform for undertaking environmental and social aspects of sustainability (see Tool #13: Making the Links and Creating Value: CIPs, PSAB and Sustainable Municipal Planning); The overcoming of silos and institutionalizing of sustainability, and the associated motivations for doing so (see Tool #1: Making the Case for Sustainability, Tool #8: An Option to ICSPs, and Three Steps to Using This Toolkit Effectively Step #1); Internal capacity building to strengthen staff s approach to sustainability (See Tool #4: Capacity Building). The Challenges and Opportunities of the Future That Newmarket is Addressing Located in the heart of York Region, midway between downtown Toronto and Barrie, Newmarket has a population of roughly 80,000 people, having grown by 24.7 % since However, since it is approaching build-out defined by its political boundaries and the provincial Places to Grow and smart growth policies, we need to become redevelopment-ready, as the Newmarket representative from the CAO s Office noted: All currently developable land has been accounted for. Future growth will focus along the Yonge Street and Davis Drive node. This densification will mean a total new look for the Town The planned growth is complimentary to the expansion of the rapid transit systems (York Region Transit, VIVA and GO) that will improve our connectivity with places to our north and south Targets call for intensive population growth of almost 25% to almost 100,000 by In order to sustain Newmarket s tax base, this magnitude of growth (largely upward with some infill), will be required. Even as intensified urbanization continues, large tracts of land in the Town will remain as natural, open space or public parkland, most significantly the lands in the southwest (Oak Ridges Moraine lands) and northwest quadrants of the Town.

2 Achievement of Growth in a Sustainable Way As described by Newmarket s representative, Newmarket faces the same challenges as many other municipalities, among them, its aging population. However, it is taking a bold, holistic approach to achieve long-term sustainability: The proposed intensification means that it makes sense for us to re-position and rebrand the Town so that we can attract and retain urban professionals to drive our densification process successfully. We realize that we need to attract the creative class 1. We want to retain our young people because too often, you grow up in a wonderful town but affordability-wise you have to relocate. So we re taking a holistic, planning and economic development approach to retain those whom we have, and to attract new professionals Yes, university education as well as other post secondary education opportunities are on the horizon in Newmarket, particularly in the health services sector complimenting and supporting the expansion of the South Lake Regional Health Centre This focus on the creative class parallels the discussions in Tool #1: Making the Case for Sustainability in AMO s A Sustainability Planning Toolkit for Municipalities in Ontario, which describes how the most successful urban and rural communities found in North America are those that are focusing on providing quality-of-life attributes that increase a place s competitiveness to attract the creative class. These attributes would include good rapid transit, affordable housing, energy efficient homes, good green space, high-quality schools, etc. All of these attributes are consistent with the holistic pursuit of longterm sustainability, and demonstrate the convergence of sustainability and long-term economic and social stability and vibrancy. A Phased, Adaptive Management Approach to Sustainability The Town s representative indicated that Newmarket has, in a very deliberate way, decided to take a phased approach to sustainability. As she explained: Knowing and understanding our resources, we have chosen not to take a reactive approach to the sustainability frenzy. Our corporate leaders understand the long-term essence of sustainability and all of its components. Some municipalities start along the sustainability continuum with big intentions, utilizing the financial resources available through grant funding to create pretentious plans, only to be unable to financially support the implementation of the plan s recommendations. Big bang projects are not always financially sustainable and depend on a municipality s tax structure and its revenue sources to sustain such big projects. Newmarket intends to create a circular sustainability continuum. We are determined to connect individual linear paths towards economic, environmental and social sustainability. The outcome of this upfront planning approach is to operationalize our plans and to circumvent negative, long-term budget impacts arising from short-sighted decisions. A phased, adaptive management approach to project implementation maximizes employee output, while minimizing the stress on human 1 The creative class is a term highlighted in the work of Richard Florida, a leading public intellectual whose The Rise of the Creative Class makes the link between successful urban centres and their ability to compete for and attract this high value-added segment of the global labour market.

3 resources and recognizing and valuing Newmarket employee contributions. For example, we have implemented our strategic plan in a phased approach to ensure appropriate resource allocation and management in the implementation of our plans. It s a responsible approach and it stems from clarity regarding the long-term financial picture. For political reasons, some municipalities may be forging ahead with big plans, but it s not necessarily a responsible longterm approach. She added that over zealous municipalities may attempt to do it all and all at once, but then things get shelved due to lack of resources or leadership. But, when it s managed appropriately, in a gradual, phased way, the process can be managed purposefully, allowing flexibility. The Starting Point: Defining Sustainability and Setting a Vision for the Future The Town s definition of sustainability comes through its Community Strategic Plan created in The vision articulated was a community Well Beyond the Ordinary. Its five components or key areas of focus are: Living well; Well balanced (integration); Well equipped and managed; Well planned and connected; Well respected. Internally, the Municipality has developed an employee mission, which is to make Newmarket even better as well as some core values that enable employees to be involved in the realization of the Community Strategic Plan. These values are: courage and creativity, accountability and accessibility, respect and integrity, and excellence. Phase 1: Taking an Innovative and Detailed Approach to Long-Term Economic Sustainability The high-level Community Strategic Plan mandated, as a first step, a financial sustainability strategy, for which implementation is nearing completion and which addresses not only financial sustainability, but corporate sustainability, or responsible governance. The representative explained the value of the decision to make it the first phase: Typically, under our current CAO, many strategic initiatives are phased in to maintain sustainability from a corporate perspective, to ensure that we are financially accountable. We don t have a lot of green field or white field development left, so our tax revenue sources are limited. Newmarket has implemented many creative policies and projects to maintain fiscal responsibility in a sustainable way. We continually review service levels for efficiency and effectiveness and seek innovative approaches to continuously improve our fiscal responsibility in being economically sustainable within our current and future operational requirements. By phasing financial, then environmental and then social sustainability strategies, it allows us to manage their implementation better. Initially, we have undertaken an environmental scan of

4 our current development climate and know that we re approaching build-out over the next five to ten years. Based on this, we can prioritize and identify projects for implementation that are more financially sustainable over the long-term. She went on to explain what some of the components of this strategy are: We looked at both programs and one-time projects. Some of the initiatives included the development of a service pricing policy, stemming from a user pay philosophy, which sets cost recovery target levels by service. The Policy provides a better balance between our operating costs and the fees charged for services. For example, we reviewed the recreation department s operating costs based on a user fee philosophy and recognized gaps between program cost recovery levels. A phased in approach was used over a 5-year term to close the gap between cost recovery targets and existing cost recovery levels. We ve also established an asset replacement fund as well. We ve looked at asset management, fees and charges, process reviews (service level reviews and results-based business planning). Other aspects we are looking at are partnerships and opportunities for innovation. We re also evaluating the salary market study to see if we are competitive. We re considering our tax base and tax rate, and overall corporate tax planning. We re developing new policies relating, for example, to risk management. We ve left our strategy open-ended, not closed, to enable us to respond to new opportunities. I really commend the Town for going through process the way it has Phases II and III: Environmental and Cultural Sustainability Plans The second and third steps are now underway, including development of a green sustainability strategy as well as a cultural/social sustainability strategy. The green environmental strategy has three components: a) environment; b) energy; and c) ecology. Under each there will be various projects that, while developed separately, will be integrated. Preventing a Silo Approach to Sustainability One of the potential pitfalls of such a phased approach could be the tendency to silo the environment, socio-cultural and economic aspects of sustainability, thereby losing the critical need for integration of the three into a cohesive approach. According to the representative, Newmarket has responded to this challenge through an interesting institutional structure that, at least corporately, overcomes silos. It has created a series of Commissions within its municipal governance structure: Overcoming silos was one of the major initiatives undertaken in our corporate environment over the past 5 years to embrace a culture of collaboration and sustainability amongst departments and employees. By creating Commissions we are breaking them down. We have three Commissions: (1) Community Services Commission that draws together representatives Engineering, Public Works, Recreation and Culture; (2) Corporate and Financial Services, which includes Finance and Accounting, Clerk s, Customer Service, Information Technology, and Purchasing; and (3) Legal and Development Services, combining Building and Bylaws, Economic Development, Legal and Planning Services. I am part of the Office of Continuous Improvement

5 under the CAO and work on projects that integrate commissions. Since the new Commission structure has been implemented, the CAO meets, once per week with the Commissioners, reviewing our strategic directions and to promote collaboration between commissions in achieving our Corporate goals. Capacity Building and Training The approach taken to capacity building, according to the representative is akin to succession planning giving people the skills to sustain long-term plans. It provides staff with an internal learning centre/corporate library, access to audio books and webinars, support to upgrade skills and to take courses for certification (e.g. AMCTO or Masters of Municipal Management). In order to give new opportunities and skills to staff, the CAO has made one senior position revolving, the Director of Continuous Improvement, reporting directly to the CAO. Each year, a new Director is appointed, providing both career growth goals to staff and fresh new ideas to the department. This opportunity is invaluable to both staff and the organization. This secondment opportunity provides the benefit of cross corporate understanding for the staff member seconded to the Director role, and in the host department, staff step up to new responsibilities until the seconded staff member returns.

POSITION PROFILE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AURORA PUBLIC LIBRARY

POSITION PROFILE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AURORA PUBLIC LIBRARY THE LIBRARY Aurora Public Library (APL) serves a growing population, now at >60,000 with a downtown branch (45,000 sq.ft) strategically located