“Over-worked and Under-staffed”

Letter to CKL City Council requesting the creation of a Watchdog for Government-caused Inflation. Preferred is a dog with a mean growl and fierce fangs.

I recently heard a city councillor claim …

… that the employees of a certain department within the City of Kawartha Lakes are “over-worked and under-staffed”. This statement was offered as an explanation for unpopular delays in the processing of public service requests. I have heard this kind of excuse offered more than once during my 6 years living in the City Of Kawartha Lakes.

A poor excuse.

My own work history traces over 42 years in the private sector businesses and 6 months as a government employee. As a professional recruiter and a computer salesman (with IBM Canada), I served customer requests from a wide variety of private sector businesses as well as government institutions and agencies. The operating models of these enterprises and the degree of “customer satisfaction” motivation displayed by staff differed greatly between private and public work environments.

Business Performance Determinants.

In private sector (for-profit) businesses, the decision to address issues of poor departmental performance was always guided by profit and loss impacts. The reputation of any business is dependent upon how well key people manage the ‘3 Ps’ of their business: pricing, product and positioning. High prices deter purchases and reduce revenues. Likewise for inferior products at each price level. Positioning relates to the selection, availability and accessibility of desirable products to satisfy consumer choices within each store or even within a geographic region.

Business losses spell the potential business closures and bankruptcy for owner(s). Businesses that survive and thrive are usually run by people who those pay close attention to the 3 Ps.

Government Performance Determinants

Poor performance by municipal government service departments is reluctantly tolerated by the public because most citizens are resigned to the fact that there is little they can do to change it. In his day, Benjamin Franklin said “… in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes”. In 2022, we may wish to add to that quote “… and government red tape.”

Red tape comes in many shapes and sizes.

Application forms for permits, licences and the like are the entry point for any citizen who seeks to receive permission from the state for a variety of activities, including having a small campfire for a family marshmallow roast on one’s own property! Are all of these regulations really necessary?!

Fines for exceeding state-defined restrictions (intentionally or unintentionally) also add to personal and business expenses. If you challenge the fines, then you engage a whole new batch of red tape associated with our courts. Of course, there are many more examples of “red tape quicksand” as I am sure you are all well aware.

The growth of the modern ‘regulatory state’ has been unreasonable and seems unstoppable. The massive body of red tape,  and the many people employed to administer and enforce it,  has grown steadily over decades. The ensuing tax and debt burdens placed on our citizens has also grown in lockstep and this has all compounded the rising cost of living we all face.

Government as a source of inflation.

For the majority of working citizens, over half of their annual earnings goes toward making payments to all levels of government. It is important to note that payments made to all levels of government for the average Canadian wage earner were 38% in 1961 and 53% by 2019.   These in aggregate were unwelcome remissions made for taxes (direct and indirect) as well as for what Kathleen Wynne famously referred to as  “revenue tools”: fines, permits, certificates, licenses, etc.

“Where there is a will, there is a way”.

The above idiom and is a truism that should never be ignored where serving the ‘public good’ is concerned. It has been observed often in politics. For example, politicians set national targets for CO2 emissions and mountains of rules, regulations and taxes to meet them. Why, then, can’t they set and achieve targets for reducing the size, cost and scope of government operations? The reduction in taxes and public debt financing would certainly be during these inflationary times, correct?

If government payments contribute the most to our high cost of living, why can’t or won’t our elected representatives address this issue as a top priority? Can the Citizens of the City of Kawartha Lakes count on our Mayor and elected representatives in City Council to place Reducing Government-caused Inflation as its #1 Mandate?

LETTER TO THE CITY OF KAWARTHA LAKES, July 13, 2022

Mayor and Council
c/o Office of the City Clerk
26 Francis Street
P.O. Box 9000, Lindsay, ON K9V 5R8

TOPIC: A Citizen’s Request to the The Mayor and City Council.

Please prepare and execute a plan to reduce the cost of Municipal government operations by 5% per year between and including the fiscal years of 2023 through 2027. The objective of this request to reduce the burden of individual and business taxes and red tape.

Introduction and Purpose.

Elections are scheduled this Fall for the positions of Mayor and Councillors. I have considered running as a Councillor but am reluctant to do so if the prospect of reigning in the size, scope and cost of our municipal government is unattainable.

I am submitting this letter now (maybe too late?) to determine if there exists within the current group of Councillors the will to significantly reduce the cost while improving the serve levels of our municipal government. Since payments to governments constitute the #1 expense in every personal and family budget, I hope that City Council will take aim at reducing this budget item for all CKL residents and businesses. I recognize that the Province of Ontario holds controlling authority over many aspects of municipal operations, but surely some room for local action must exist to achieve the stated objective.

The First Step: an impartial Inflation Watchdog.

I propose that City Council create a Municipal Government Inflation Watchdog (tax force?) Assign it the unambiguous mandate to perform initial and ongoing audits of all departments to identify opportunities to reduce red tape and streamline operations in order to meet reasonable performance criteria (metrics to be defined by department and approved by Watchdog).

Since “red tape” often impedes efficient decision-making and work flows, it will be necessary to streamline and/or repeal offending policies, regulations and associated processes wherever possible and prudent. The elimination of positions is a likely and desirable by-product since wages and benefits generally constitute the lion’s share of costs in administrative government departments across Ontario. Of course, it is expected that existing Council Policies will be scrutinized and culled as part of the cost-cutting mandate.

Watchdog Reporting and Accountability.

The Inflation Watchdog should work closely with the CAO and the City Clerks office while reporting to City Council directly. It should be structured like a corporate Board with 5 or 7 members while City Council functions as the elected representatives of the “shareholders” ( all members of the public who pay taxes). The majority of Watchdog members must represent the local business community. No business representatives can have any ties to any level of government or its affiliates (such as any political party with a sitting MP or MPP, labour unions, registered charities,  religious organizations, or registered lobby groups). This group must be free from the influence of political and/or special interest organizations which may seek to exert partisan influence on its objectives.

Who am I and Why Do I Care?

I am a Canadian citizen who has been concerned about excessive government expansion and ineffective government performance since the late 1970s. I have devoted much of my personal time and effort as a Less Government Advocate since 2007. I possess a strong knowledge of Economics and have worked in progressively responsible roles in the Information Technology and Consulting sectors. I have also been a business owner for 14 years (until February 2022) and one of its Board members for 6 years.

I wish to be considered for a position as a Citizen Representative on the Municipal Government Inflation Watchdog tax force. I am motivated to achieve its stated goals and in so doing, I hope to never again hear the excuse that City “staff are over-worked”  while simultaneously hearing citizens grumble incessantly about the poor performance of CKL municipal services.

Thank you for you attention to this matter.

Gene Balfour, Advocate For Less Government, Resident of Fenelon Falls.

https://www.kawarthalakes.ca/en/municipal-services/departments-and-divisions.aspx?_mid_=20464