Human resources a hot topic at county council

By Fred Groves

The Mayor of Amherstburg wants a little more information in regards to why 139 Essex County employees are no longer working for the county.

At last Wednesday night’s Essex County regular council session held in Essex, county council received the annual human services report in which 139 of the 900 employees vacated their positions.

“I accept people change jobs but it wasn’t clear about the number of people who were terminated or laid off,” said Amherstburg Mayor Michael Prue.

The report, presented by the county’s human resources department, indicated that there were a total of 70 resignations during 2022 and the 8.95 percent total loss of employees is slightly higher than the provincial average in the work force.

“Do we ever compare it to other upper-tier municipalities?” asked Kingsville Mayor Dennis Rogers.

The payroll in 2022 for the 900 employees was $63.4 million and the annual report indicated there were 37 grievances and two collective bargaining agreements.

“Do we do exit interviews with the staff that resign?” questioned Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara.

Gary Filiatrault of the county’s human services department that presented the report said that yes, interviews are conducted in some instances, mostly with EMS workers and the usual response for leaving the county is to seek other opportunities.

County council agreed to have a report, which could be dealt with in-camera, to answer Prue’s query in regards to terminations and layoffs.

In another issue regarding human services on Wednesday, Essex County Council reviewed a resolution to support Bill 5 which is currently before the Ontario

Legislative and brought forward by MPP Stephen Blais. Chatham-Kent has asked Essex County to support the Bill which is called Stopping Harassment and Abuse by Local Leaders Act. Members of Essex County council seemed opposed to the new bill and several councillors feel that current safeguards already in place are sufficient.

“I wonder where this is coming from. We have our Code of Conducts and Integrity Commissioner. What is the need for this?” asked Lakeshore Deputy Mayor Kirk Walstedt.

Interim CAO Mary Birch said she is not familiar with the Bill but said, “I believe what they are looking for is the penalties being changed.” fly.” That runs April 9-16 with a reception planned for April 16.

McNamara said that there has been a lot of discussion at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario whether or not the legal system should be involved.

“If we don’t support the Bill, maybe we should review our Code of Conduct,” said Kingsville Deputy Mayor Kim DeYoung.

It was decided that more information about the Bill would be brought to county council at a later date.

Diana Roy – A Lifetime Retrospection runs from April 27-May 21 with an opening reception April 30. “Student Pix,” photography from Greater Essex County District School Board students, runs May 25-June 4 with a closing reception June 4. Toan Khoan’s “It’s Personal/ The Journey” runs June 6-25 with a reception June 11.

“The Colour of Art” from the Artists of Colour are featured from June 27-July 9 with a closing reception on the last day. J. David Green presents “Ladies of Glass” from July 10-Aug.6 with a July 16 reception.

The Association of Representational Artists will present “Brush Strokes” Aug. 7-Sept. 3 with a reception Aug. 13 with “Sacred Spirals and Teardrops as Prisms” by Denise Calzavara runs Sept. 7-Oct. 1 with a recepetion Sept. 10.

“Fibre Optix” runs Oct. 5-Nov. 5 with a reception Nov. 5. The Gibson Gallery invites fibre artists to be part of this juried exhibit celebrating the various forms of fibre art as well promoting and selling their work Submission fee is $12. Cash prizes range from $200 to $25.

For more information, call the Gibson Gallery at 519-736-2826 or visit www.gibsonartgallery.com. The Gibson Gallery is located at 140 Richmond St. in Amherstburg.

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