By Stanley Tromp, Vancouver Courier, 31 July 2013
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One of Vancouver city hall's work yards,
the Evans Yard, needed to clean up its financial act, and the city says that's
being done.
"There is potential for
improved internal control and additional risk mitigation in project management,
work orders and time entry, purchase and vendor management and hiring
practices."
Those are the findings of a
January 2013 report from the city's internal audit branch, which the Courier obtained through the
freedom of information law. The City's Consolidated Facilities Service Project
(CFS) had asked the city's internal audit branch to review the Evans Yard
operation, which is housed at 955 Evans Avenue, near Terminal Avenue and Glen
Drive.
Evans Yard was funded mainly
by the Vancouver Park
Board, but is now under the city's Real Estate and Facilities Management
(REFM). It supports shop and warehousing duties, with some Parks work such as
landscaping and arboriculture.
Management says it is in the
process of fixing all the problems noted. The auditors found that "there
were projects where no overall project plan was provided to enable effective
management oversight of resources, budget, and schedule."
Sandy Swanton, city hall's
communications manager, told the Courier
that better processes were implemented in January to ensure all projects have a
proper plan, budget and schedule before work is started.
"Work orders do not
reflect the true cost of time spent on jobs," auditors wrote. As well,
"without having gone through the bidding process ... there is a lack of
transparency, inability for strategic purchasing decisions, and a potential for
overpayment for goods and services."
Swanton said that work orders
are now being reviewed upon closure, and variances reported to the manager for
further investigation if needed.
There was a lack of
justification for premium pay for Operations Worker II positions (mainly
unskilled labour). "Under the current practice,
there is a risk of incurring unnecessary labour costs
if the pay premiums are not justified ... the lack of criteria for applying
premium pay may lead to a perception of unfairness amongst staff." Swanton
said job descriptions are all under review and standard selection criteria for
premium pay at Evans yard are being developed.
Moreover, the report called
for "increased transparency of the hiring process." Under the
Collective Agreement for CUPE 1004 in place during the audit, Operations Worker
II positions did not have to be publicly posted. Workers with enough hours were
put on a recall list, from which they could be interviewed for new positions
that came up. The review found a lack of documentation to support hiring
decisions, and grievances have been filed on whether the seniority order was
followed. "The current process may lead to a perception of subjectivity or
favouritism in the hiring process, and ultimately,
dissatisfaction among staff," it said.
Swanton said that hiring and
selections processed at Evans Yard are under review and "are being aligned
with standard corporate practice." These are governed by the new CUPE
agreement and a union representative can observe the interviews.
Last May, after months of
infighting, the local leaders of CUPE 1004 were fired by the union's national
administrators. Despite repeated phone calls and emails from the Courier over the past two weeks,
CUPE 1004's nationally assigned administrator Justin Schmid refused to discuss
the audit, as did Vancouver
business agents Karen Kindrid, Glenn Jones and Steve Varty.
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