For the past three decades Kathleen Waxer, the director of community and family services (CFS), has spent countless hours developing an inclusive, locally managed one-stop shop to help Jasper鈥檚 most vulnerable residents.
But now as she approaches retirement she is genuinely concerned that her successor might not have enough time or energy to sustain the various social services offered by the municipality.
To appease her concerns, she would like council to create a new management position that would be responsible for overseeing social planning and community development to ensure the long-term sustainability of the department.
The new position would replace and augment the work done by the Jasper Community Team鈥檚 (JCT) coordinator, which is a contract position.
鈥淭his new position would address not only the sustainability of critical social planning work, but also succession planning for the directorship,鈥� said Waxer, during a committee-of-the-whole meeting Aug. 8.
鈥淔urthermore, it will provide a new director with clarity and support for providing leadership to the department, as well as more time to oversee all elements of the department.鈥�
According to Waxer, up until now Jasper鈥檚 social planning and community development work has required an unsustainable investment of her time because a lot of the positions in the department are contractual and require writing grant proposals to fund them.
For example, the community currently has six outreach workers. The wages and benefits for each of those positions are funded by government grants, which Waxer applies for each year. The municipality pays for the building and its associated costs.
鈥淚 just want to set up the new person for success,鈥� said Waxer. 鈥淥ver 30 years I鈥檝e made many contacts and I have the ability to invest extra time at this point in my life and I don鈥檛 know if that would be sustainable when I retire.鈥�
According to Waxer, the new management position would have zero impact on the municipality鈥檚 budget, now or in the future, because of a $25,000 annual increase in provincial funding from Family and Community Support Services and a $20,000 reduction in rent. The position would also be financially supported through the elimination of the Jasper Community Team鈥檚 coordinator.
During her presentation, Mayor Richard Ireland questioned how this might impact the Jasper Community Team, which works in collaboration with the CFS department as well as other agencies, organizations and community representatives in town.
鈥淚 can appreciate from the department鈥檚 perspective this alignment or realignment might have benefits, but from the perspective of the community team, if we are now as a municipality funding the contractor and we divert that funding to a staff position, the Jasper Community Team is then left with filling a position on their own with what resources?鈥� asked Ireland.
In response, Waxer said she has had a discussion with the Jasper Community Team and its executive about this very issue and said the team supports creating a new management position within the CFS department.
鈥淚t wouldn鈥檛 be allocating all of the funds they have. They have funds for the administration of the society through a variety of sources so it doesn鈥檛 put them in any jeopardy,鈥� said Waxer.
She also took the time to reassure council that the various streams of funding for the new position would be sustainable and would cover the full costs associated with hiring a new employee, such as the employee鈥檚 benefits.
鈥淭he better job you do applying for these special grants and projects generally begets success in the future so I feel confident there鈥檚 no chance of it becoming a drain on the municipality,鈥� said Waxer, adding for the past 25 years they have always managed to find funding.
Mark Fercho, the town鈥檚 chief administrative officer, said it would be prudent to create the new position so there would be a smooth succession ensuring the long term sustainability of the department when Waxer retires.
Paul Clarke
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