By Spencer Sterritt

Core Review update: Progress made but savings unclear

Nov 6, 2017 | 6:09 PM

NANAIMO — A year-and-a-half after it was submitted to City Council, Nanaimo residents have a clearer picture of how the Core Services Review was utilized.

City departments, led by CAO Tracy Samra, presented a progress report to council during a meeting on Oct. 30.

Of the roughly 70 recommendations given in the Review, 11 were completed, 31 were in progress and 29 are scheduled for 2018 or 2019. Completed initiatives include the cancelling of the gender-specific guarding policy at the Nanaimo jail, with recommendations such as building an artificial turf field at NDSS in progress. Some decisions were made contrary to the recommendations, such as shuttering the Nanaimo Economic Development Corporation. 

Through one-time and annual savings, streamlining and increasing revenue, the Core Review recommended numerous ways to save roughly $1.7 million annually and $2.7 million in one-time savings.

When asked directly by NanaimoNewsNOW at the meeting, Nanaimo council said it was unclear how much the City has or would save by following the Review.

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“We don’t realize exactly what the numbers are until we give it some time to play out,” coun. Gord Fuller said. “Like purchasing, like the guarding…we’ve just started these things so we can’t say exactly how much we’re going to save over the long run.”

The Review specifically stated Council and staff should “design and implement a consultation process” to seek input from the community about actions put into effect based on the Core Review.

Coun. Diane Brennan said while Council hadn’t reached out to the community as extensively as she’d hoped, each Council agenda has a section for Review updates and delegations.

“From the time it was introduced to us and to the community, they’ve been able to come before Council and make comments,” she said.

During the meeting, councillors often said they were looking forward to what would next be tackled in the Review, often calling it part 2.

When asked about a part 2 of the Review, CAO Samra said in an emailed statement “A decision to conduct secondary core reviews/audits rests with Council. We would take our direction from them. Based on (the Review) staff have conducted deeper audits of certain corporate services-capital projects, procurement, business continuity, etc, and will be doing one for facilities.”

According to the presentation to Council, updates on Core Review progress are expected quarterly.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit