Saguenay: $620,000 for three new city executives

More than half a million dollars will be invested to create new locations and open additional offices in the city of Saguenay.

Elected officials will ensure that this is a way to better meet the needs of citizens and modernize its structure.

A General Manager position will be posted soon to start in September.

Two other office director positions will also be created to oversee the Office of Elected Officials and Community Relations, as well as the Office of Strategic Performance, which is part of the new proposed structure.

“In particular, we want to increase our level of coordination in the city between city services and community partners. We want to improve all the processes so that the city can do things well and do the right things,” explained Gabriel Rioux, Director General of the City of Saguenay.

Resources are devoted exclusively to seeking grants, which, according to elected officials, result in greater profits.

“The city of Laval, for example, received 65 million in climate resilience grants with my colleague Mr. Boyer’s office,” said Mayor Julie Dufour.

“We have set a more modest target for next year, we will not have time to file 10 to 15 million in new grants, where we will not see grants. At one million, I will tell you that we are already invested,” she added.

The reorganization will cost just over $170,000 the first year and about $450,000 the next year.

“In a city like Saguenay with a population of 150,000 and a budget of $400 million. Obviously, every improvement has a significant impact on all operations and creates savings,” says Mr Rioux.

The aim is also to improve services to citizens, particularly in relation to processing of requests. The City of Saguenay processes approximately 75,000 requests annually.

“At 148,000 residents, we can say that almost one in two people between the ages of 0 and 100 are in need. It’s only fair if our people have the capacity,” Ms. Dufour said.

“Revising our structure and bringing it into today’s era, in the end, the winner is the citizen,” said Martin Harvey, president of the Saguenay Human Resources Commission.

On Tuesday afternoon, the City of Saguenay council meeting unanimously approved the proposal.

“The director told us that it improves all the request rules. When we talk about 75,000 requests. Helping citizens is pretty much the core of our job. As long as the construction starts I will support and respect the decision that will be taken,” said municipal councilor Jean-Marc Crevier at the council meeting.

“We need to project ourselves into the future and get up to speed with today,” Mr Harvey concluded.

This new structure will be implemented gradually over the next few months. Other announcements regarding this new administrative structure will also be made soon.