2017 Annual Report

39 City of Chilliwack 2017 Annual Report Objectives Measures for 2018/2019 and Progress from 2017 OBJECTIVE STRATEGY MEASURE PROGRESS Work closely with Committees of Council. Committees meet regularly, have Council  representation and provide feedback to  Council. All Committees active during year. Work cooperatively with senior  government elected officials.  Meet regularly with MLA's and MP to review  mutual issues. Individual meetings have occurred as needed to discuss specific issues.  These meetings will continue and joint group meetings will be scheduled.   Ensure timely and accurate  information to the community. Information provided. A social media presence was established on Facebook and Twitter in 2011  and timely updates are provided on a regular basis. A social media policy is in  place and staff regularly answer questions and concerns posted on social  media. The City has 6,249 followers on Facebook and 5,156 followers on  Twitter. Develop and  Maintain a First  Rate Work Force Have recruiting strategies that attract the brightest and the best. Qualified applicants. To date in 2017, there have been 75 job postings for 98 positions. As of  September 21, 2017, 42 new employees have started with our organization. Undertake on‐site training for  employee development, as well as  encourage employee professional  development. Employees taking relevant professional  training, approved by manager prior to  training event. 400 transactions of employer‐sponsored education sessions that provided  employees training and professional development opportunities.  A wide  variety of courses were approved in 2017 from industry‐driven and  certification‐based courses that are required to enhance leadership to soft  skills training to enhance productivity with a variety of other skills and  abilities. Provide opportunity for internal  advancement. Employee movement and turnover. 47 employees have changed positions within the organization to date in  2017. In each move, the employee obtained a new position within the  organization to advance their careers.  Offer a fair compensation package  and employee programs. Periodic reviews of compensation in  consideration of job content and internal  equity. Collective agreements for CUPE and IAFF, which address unionized  employees' compensation packages, are in place until 2019. Exempt staff  packages are reviewed annually as per our Municipal Officers and Employees  Bylaw. Workplace safety. Number of workdays lost per year due to  injury. 16.5 workdays lost due to injury up to September 30th (est.). A comparison  to the number of days lost in previous years is as follows; 81 (2016), 177  (2015), 49 (2014), 41 (2013), 197 (2012) and 267 (2011). Provide Excellent Customer Service Provide customer service training to employees. Training provided. Provided group training for all employees. Seek taxpayer/customer feedback. Customer feedback system in place and followed up on. Concerns and issues followed up on promptly. Provide fast and efficient service. Timeliness of customer service.  Volume of building permit applications for 2017 has been significantly  greater than 2016 and exponentially greater than previous years. In order to  manage turn‐around times, additional plan review/inspection staff have  been hired in 2017. Premium plan reviews remain suspended to allow staff  to work on regular applications during non‐regular work hours. Customer  service by staff at the counter and in the field remains exceptional. Building Inspection report efficiency  improvement. All building inspection reports are now recorded electronically and field  reports are sent directly by email to property owners, applicants and  builders. Provide enhanced and proactive  bylaw enforcement. Expand proactive enforcement to early  mornings, evenings and weekends on a  seasonal and as‐needed basis. Two seasonal Bylaw Enforcement Officers were again employed for the  summer months of 2017. The focus of these officers was to provide bike  patrols in the parks and trails throughout the City and provide support to the  full‐time Bylaw staff as required.  With voluntary compliance and education  as their primary mandate, the seasonal officers had over 930 interactions  with the public in their first five months of employment.     Provide a Safe Community Provide the community with effective  fire and life safety education to  prevent and reduce the loss of life  and property. Provide fire safety and emergency  preparedness education to businesses,  community groups and the public.  Delivered 166 fire safety and emergency preparedness education sessions to  over 4,800 persons, including education for school children, seniors,  community groups, local businesses, First Nations and gated communities.  Fire Department developed and implemented our new Home Safe Fire  Prevention Program. Fire Department staff have delivered fire prevention  materials to 265 homes in the downtown area and replaced 15 smoke  alarms. Increase fire and life safety in multi‐ family residential buildings and gated  communities. Continue to work with building owners to  upgrade their fire and life safety protection  in older apartment buildings. One hundred and eleven (111) multi‐family residential buildings are  currently on our fire and life safety upgrade program with 86 (77%) of the  upgrades completed. Plan for the response and recovery of  the City and community in times of  disaster. Work with First Nations to  integrate emergency plans. Complete individual City department  business continuity plans and attach to City's  response and recovery plan. Staffing change provided an opportunity to review the business continuity  planning work to date. Work continues to re‐focus the business continuity  planning process through increased engagement with City staff. Develop a sustainable and  comprehensive emergency  management training program. Exercise the City's Emergency Preparedness  (EP) Plan. Completed one exercise on emergency operations centre position functions  and a second exercise on wildfire evacuation of the eastern hillsides. Page 5 of 6 Objectives, Measures & Progress