MOOSE JAW — City hall’s department of operations plans to hire an operations analyst in 2025 to act as a supportive link between the engineering branch and finance department during projects.
City council approved the position during a recent executive committee meeting and authorized the operations department to fund 75 per cent of the position using existing capital project money and 25 per cent from administration budgets.
The salary is expected to be $3,868 per month or $46,416 annually.
City manager Maryse Carmichael explained that the operations analyst will work with the two managers in engineering, although the position will also act as a bridge between that sub-branch and finance.
“So when they’re looking at a project or a program and looking at the finance of a project, this person will be able to do a lot of the legwork for the managers and for our specialists … ,” she said.
Most of the work the operations analyst will do will be administrative or clerical, with a heavy focus on financial matters, while that person will be expected to have a significant understanding of the projects and their completion timelines, Carmichael added.
Computer policy
During the same executive committee meeting, council adopted an updated personal computer purchase program policy.
The amended policy expands the list of eligible items that staff can purchase to include office furniture, as several employees work from home occasionally or regularly depending on their responsibilities, city hall explained by email.
Some eligible items include computers, laptops and tablets; accessory devices and hardware like monitors, printers, scanners, keyboards, mice, headsets and webcams; software programs that have a work or productivity purpose; and home office furniture like desks and chairs.
Other changes include further clarification to the existing policy, such as listing ineligible items and moving the authority for program exceptions to the director of human resources from the city manager, the email continued.
Some ineligible items include cell phones, digital cameras, telescopes, TVs and other hardware without work or productivity purposes; monitors larger than 32 inches; and software programs that do not serve a work-related purpose.
City hall added that council discussed the amended policy in-camera — behind closed doors — because the issue was considered an employee-related matter.
City council meeting times
During a recent regular meeting, council gave three unanimous readings to change the start time of its regular meetings to 4:30 p.m. from 4 p.m., effective Monday, Jan. 13, 2025.
The proposed time change will not affect the executive and personnel committees that follow afterward since both committees are usually held when the chairpersons call for them, while they must give at least 24 hours’ notice in writing about the time and place for the meetings, council report said.
Committee appointments
During the same regular meeting, council voted to appoint Coun. Patrick Boyle as deputy mayor, Coun. Chris Warren, as chairman of the executive committee and Coun. Heather Eby as chairwoman of the personnel committee for terms starting Jan. 1, 2025 and ending Feb. 28, 2025, and/or until a successor is appointed.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Jan. 13, 2025.
