Friday, September 9, 2016 5 Brooklin Town Crier Audit Firm Makes Key Recommendations to Whitby At a special council meeting of the Town of Whitby this past Tuesday, Sept. 6, the auditing firm KPMG filed its final report. The presentation, live streamed from the whit- by.ca web site, was presented by Bruce Peever, KPMG's Management Consulting Senior Manager. The report objectives were: Investigate and understand the Town's current services and service delivery models; Assess alternative service delivery methods, possible changes to the level of service, and organizational structure; and, Determine opportunities to be more efficient and effective in the sustainable delivery of municipal services There were 18 "recommended op- portunities" for the town to consider, divided into three categories: Top 6 Internal Opportunities: 1. Implement lean process re-engineering 2. Develop strategic workforce plan 3. Conduct an organizational design review 4. Review and update Human Resource Policies 5. Develop IT strategy 6. Implement an ERP system and begin process with education session on leading practice consider- ations Top 6 External Opportunities 7. Review future implications of solid waste collection 8. Update and create comprehensive zoning bylaw 9. Establish policy/MOU with alternate providers and strengthen partnerships 10. Implement 311 centralized customer service and begin process with education session on leading practice considerations 11. Develop corporate branding strategy 12. Review tiered response protocols for fire services Top 6 Internal/External Opportunities 13. Develop a corporate strategic plan 14. Develop communications strategy addressing both internal and external parties 15. Streamline development application review and approval process 16. Establish and formalize service levels 17. Develop digital strategy to improve and expand online services 18. Move forward with a new or expanded Town Hall and begin process with education session on leading practice considerations in developing a long term accommodation strategy KPMG further stated, "In today's municipal environment, elected officials are faced with the challenge of attempting to minimize taxation increases while ensuring sufficient funds are available to maintain and support existing operations as well as finance residents' demands for enhanced services. The identification of 18 top opportunities and over 75 other opportunities provides the Town of Whitby with the means to meet this challenge. "These 18 top opportunities offer the Town the prospect of improving its productivity; they are not opportunities that will produce immediate cash savings. This is a reflection of Whitby's current lean and costcompetitive operations relative to its municipal comparators. Given the significant growth facing the Town in the short and medium term, the opportunities identified in this report should be seen as required investments to avoid greater costs and risk associated with an under resourced organization." The work plan had five phases with the report being the fourth phase. Next is for KPMG to conduct focus groups with staff and the community. Kids! Want to be Chief for a Day? The 14th Annual Police Chief for a Day essay contest is now open! Students entering into Grade 5 this fall are invited to pick up their pencils and enter the contest now by submitting a 500-word essay entitled "What I would do if I were Chief for a Day." In the fall, the top Grade 5 finalists from various school boards across Durham Region will be picked up at their schools by police cruisers and escorted to DRPS headquarters. They will then read their win- ning essays to a community panel of judges, including Chief Paul Martin, members of the Police Services Board and members of the Police Appreciation Dinner and Awards Night (PADAN) Committee. The winner will serve as Chief for a Day on Tuesday, October 25, 2016, and will be a guest of honour at the 14th PADAN on October 27, 2016, at Deer Creek in Ajax. The theme for this year's PADAN event is "Building Bridges." All submissions must include: Name of student submitting essay (Grade 5 in September 2016) Name and location of your school School Board the student attends (DDSB, DCDSB, KPR, PVNC etc.) All essays for consideration are due on Tuesday, September 20, 2016 and are to be submitted via email at: chiefforaday@drps.ca To see a promotional video about Chief for a Day, please visit our YouTube channel at: h t t p : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / watch?v=_DAnAEvtFac For more information please con- tact Cst. Heather Wilson at 1-888- 579-1520 ext. 1740.