The City of Nelson continues to navigate an significant wave of staff turnover as retirements, parental leaves and recruitment challenges reshape several departments.
In an update to council Tuesday, chief administrative officer Kevin Cormack said the city has experienced an unusually high number of departures across public works, finance, Nelson Hydro and other departments.
“I think the amount of change that we’re going through right at the moment is actually kind of unprecedented in my career, and I’ve been here a while,” he said.
Cormack first warned council in March that multiple retirements and leaves were expected over the coming months. This week, he said the city has filled several of those vacancies but continues to recruit for others.
In the public works department, Cormack said three employees who are retiring represent more than 100 years of combined service to the city.
The city has promoted a new manager of parks and public works from within the organization and recently hired a manager of project delivery who is expected to begin Aug. 4 after joining from the City of Castlegar.
Council also learned the city is recruiting for a fleet manager to replace retiring manager Jody Koehle, while longtime employee Robin Nystrom is also preparing to retire.
The finance department has also undergone significant changes.
Cormack said the city’s procurement manager, Suzanne Rorick, has retired, although the city has struggled to find a qualified replacement.
“We did advertise that a few times and did not get any candidates that were qualified for that position,” he said, noting the city instead opted to contract a third-party procurement service.
Cormack said the city’s procurement clerk is also expected to retire by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, deputy chief financial officer Aimee Mooney is beginning maternity leave.
Cormack said the city again struggled to fill her role externally and instead promoted internally, creating additional vacancies elsewhere in the finance department.
“Again, that was a position we advertised did not receive any candidates that we felt were capable of filling that role. So we had to promote internally and she’s coming out of the union, so that created a whole change.”
A new IT manager has also been hired, and Nelson Hydro has promoted Dan Geissler to general manager following Scott Spencer’s retirement. Nelson Hydro has also filled its operations manager position with a former BC Hydro employee from the area.
“That seems like a very qualified person for that position,” Cormack said.
He said the city recently modified the title and salary for its occupational health and safety position after two unsuccessful recruitment attempts.
“Though this latest round, it sounds like we have some better candidates for that one,” said Cormack.
Nelson is not alone in facing these recruitment challenges. Cormack said local governments across the province are in similar positions, particularly when recruiting for specialized positions.
“We have not had four or five or even two or three candidates that we think are capable of filling some of these positions. So that’s the reality of our world out there right now.”
Despite the turnover, Cormack said the city is not about to lower its hiring standards.
“We’re not going to compromise and hire people that aren’t going to meet the needs that we have. We’re obviously a busy organization and we need people at that level to be able to fill those positions.”
He asked for patience from both council and residents as new employees are hired and trained.
“We’ve got a lot of people that we’re going to need to bring up to speed, train, and get familiar.”
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