Light rail project gets another temp in charge
Deputy city manager takes ‘interim’ control of implementation office
By Joanne Chianello, OTTAWA CITIZEN October 22, 2013
You’d think that if there were one file the city would be sure to keep on top of, it’d be light rail.
After all, with a $2.1-billion price tag, the much ballyhooed Confederation Line is the largest infrastructure project in Ottawa’s history. So it’s only natural that to think the city would make sure that, if nothing else, the Light Rail Implementation Office is running smoothly.
You’d think that. But you’d be wrong.
After eight months with no permanent leader, deputy city manager Nancy Schepers is taking over the day-to-day responsibilities of the light rail implementation office after the acting director refused to do the job any more.
Schepers, who’s in charge of transportation, infrastructure and planning, doesn’t exactly have a lot of time on her hands. So what’s she doing taking on this huge job?
That explanation is, like so much else at the city, somewhat opaque. But the mismanagement of this key position at the city is undeniable.
Here’s what happened.
Back in February, then-director John Jensen left the city for a job at that well-oiled machine Metrolinx, the provincial agency that brought you the high-performing Presto card. The city then named well-respected city engineer Gary Craig as acting director of the rail office.
It’s uncertain whether Craig ever wanted the top job, but it’s clear that lately he did not. Last week, the Citizen has learned, he demanded to be returned to his former position as chief of light rail design and construction, a position that does not appear to have been filled while Craig was acting director.
Late afternoon Tuesday, Schepers sent a memo to Mayor Jim Watson and members of council informing them of Craig’s decision to return to his old job.
“In the meantime and until such a time as a new Director is hired,” wrote Schepers, “I will be assuming the day to day responsibility of the Office.”
In the meantime? What on earth has the city been doing for the past eight months? Obviously not looking for a permanent, full-time director of the office handling the city’s most important file.
Even if Craig was interested in throwing his hat into the ring for the job on a permanent basis — and all reports are to the contrary — the city should have been conducting a search for a director of the light-rail implementation office since February, whether it included Craig or not. City officials have not indicated whether that’s been the case, but obviously no one is immediately available as Schepers is stepping into the role.
Which is ridiculous.
Schepers has had an exceptionally full plate this fall and, frankly, a number of her files aren’t going so well, first-and-foremost among them the mess that is the much-delayed Airport Parkway pedestrian bridge. Although the delays might have been caused by faulty concrete and alleged issues with the bridge’s design, the city’s management on this file is highly questionable.
Schepers is also the lead city official on the new transportation master plan and the official plan — two key city documents that are up for debate over the next few months at committees and council. And for fun, throw the 2014 budget into the mix for items on this fall’s agenda.
Does she really have time to oversee the daily operations of the light-rail implementation office? And doesn’t this size of project deserve someone who is giving it her full-time attention?
That Craig is going back to the job that he loves — and, by all accounts, is great at — is wonderful. Good for him. But that the city’s management didn’t make finding a permanent director a priority is highly worrying.
If this is how city managers deal with staffing the city’s most expensive, most important infrastructure project in our history, is it any wonder that they can’t get a bridge built on time?
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