The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Question: The city is taking applications for a "Works and Operations administrator." Does this represent an expansion of the city bureaucracy? If so, how can this be justified given our shrinking population/tax base? Also, under what circumstances does the city add employees, and does this/should this require a majority vote of the council? Mayor Therien: The position we are advertising for is a current position within the make-up of the city workforce. The last person to occupy this position went on maternity leave and when that ended, her husband was transferred and she did not come back. During her absence, we managed to pass off SOME of her workload to others. Some of the workload was not taken up by anyone on a regular basis, such as bylaw enforcement. It is now time to fill this position, permanently, once again. I believe it is in the best interests of the city and, specifically, the Works and Operations, to have this position filled. Other than summer, the City of Flin Flon workforce, in terms of numbers, does not change that dramatically. All staffing levels are reviewed by management and, if required, adjustments are made. Council is aware of staffing requirements and participates in the discussion of the needs assessment. It should be noted that there is not a direct correlation between our shrinking tax base/population and the number of employees required to perform the jobs/duties we require to run this city in an efficient manner. * * * Question: Do you feel that David Collins, founder of the Flin Flon ore body, should be honoured in the city? If so, what might council be prepared to do? Mayor Therien: This is an interesting question, one that may spark some debate about what constitutes recognition. Mr. Collins does have a prominent street named after him in Creighton, but is this enough? Have we honoured those who helped found this great area we live in enough? We certainly have a statue of a science fiction character featured at our tourist bureau, but then we got our name from this character and, of course, Flinty is the essence of who we are. At this point in time, I cannot tell what, if anything, council would be prepared to do for Mr. Collins, or Mr. Creighton for that matter, in terms of recognition. Are there others who played a prominent role in our past that we should be looking at also? * * * Send your questions for Mayor Therien to The Reminder by phone at 687-3454, fax at 687-4473, e-mail at [email protected] or standard delivery at Ask the Mayor, C/O The Reminder, 14 North Avenue, Flin Flon, R8A 0T2. No names are required.
