CIVIC ADMINISTRATION

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 16 August 1924, Page 5

CIVIC ADMINISTRATION

REPORT'ON STAFF ORGANISATION,

The following report on administration and organisation of the Council’s staff, brought down by resolution of the Council, was submitted by the City Engineer at last night’s meeting:— The staff consists at present of 52 employees, distributed at follows : —General Streets: Foreman of works 1, permanent hands 9, casual hands 6—16; drainage, permanent hands 4, casual hands 6—10; reserves, head gardener 1, permanent- hands 3, casual hands 9—13; quarry, head quarryman 1, permanent hand 1, casual hands 3-—5 ; health and rubbish service;' inspector 1, permanent hands 2—3; Cemetery, 2; carpenter, blacksmith and ranger, 3; office, bookkeeper 1, draughtsman I—2 ; transport, head stableman 1, drivers 4—5; gas, gasworks, foreman 1, yard hands 4, stokers 6—11; gas and water reticulation, foreman 1, permanent hands 8, casual hands 3—12. Total, 82. The gasworks staff is fixed and cannot be altered. The gas and water reticulation staff are interchangeable under the one foreman and th 6 permanent hands are the least number that will suffice. The Casual hands are employed on the extension of the mains. I have no suggestions to make for any alteration in these departments until the salesman assumes his office. It is proposed that the meter readers should then he transferred to my staff and be under the immediate control of the salesman. The general department, ns will he noted, comprises a number of sub-de-partments which with the exception of the reserves come under the supervision of the Foreman of Works. All the other departments are dependent on the general department for materials, transport and sometimes for labour. There is a want of co-ordination between the departments which makes things very difficult for the Foreman of Works and which frequently results in bad if not actually dangerous conditions on the streets. The gas and water department and private drainlayers, are continually opening up the streets and as they have neither the materials or the facilities for reinstatement- they look to the Foreman of Works to do it for them. These openings frequently happen when no material is available and there are other works in progress for which it is required and which have to be suspended. This leaves a lot of work unfinished for considerable periods and cannot do otherwise than give a had. impression. It is impossible to lay down any hard and fast programme of work or to'plan far ahead by reason of the foregoing difficulty and* the great number of small but comparatively urgent works that are constantly being authorised. It is possible, however, to overcome these difficulties to, a very large extent by accumulating a- reserve stock of quarry materials and some effort has been 'made in this direction, but without much success.

I am of opinion that the work of the city ig getting too great for the efficient supervision of one foreman unless he should happen to be a particularly competent organiser with a working knowledge of every branch of the work. Such a combination is not readily found and it is more than doubtful if such an one would accept service at the wages offered. As an alternative I would suggest that the work should be divided and an additional foreman appointed. I have not gone into the question whether it would be better to, have the foreman of equal

standing or whether each should have separate defined duties, but my first im- , pression is they sliould each be available for whatever, work corner along. - There is probably no period in history during which so many new ideas and methods have been introduced into the work of local authorities as in the past fifteen years. The Government, by its legislation, shows that it is alive to the necessity for the adoption of efficient and up-to-date methods and a more permanent character of work to be done by local bodies. The coming into general rise of the motor vehicle has revolutionised all preconceived ideas of distance and what a road should be. Narrow roads, steep gradients and uneven surfaces are no longer safe and so important is this matter that the Government has found it expedient to assume a supervisory control ovet all the main highways of the country. Similarly all matters pertaining to the health and safety of the public and every other duty and activity of local authorities have been brought under statutory regulations, requiring the Council to maintain certain standards of efficiency. Fifteen years ago there was none of this restraint- and the Council will readily realise that the whole character of the work has changed and its volume and diversity has increased enormously. The Council has hut to consider the constant applications for works to Bo done to realise that conditions have altered and that What was good enough , ten yeai'3 ago will not now suffice to meet the altered views and needs of the community. To give effect to these requirements it is necessary that the staff should he up-to-date in knowledge and capable of assimilating new ideas and methods and of putting them into practice. The report was referred to Committee.