City Manager Allan Seabrooke discusses job cuts at The City of Red Deer (rdnewsNOW/Troy Gillard)

By Troy Gillard

Economic hardship hits local government

City of Red Deer trims staff as it seeks $7M in cost savings

Sep 22, 2020 | 6:23 PM

The City of Red Deer is trimming its staff as it works to find $7 million in cost savings.

City Manager Allan Seabrook said Tuesday that the City’s workforce of about 1,200 full-time equivalents is being reduced by approximately 75.

Some of the job cuts have already occurred while others are still to come.

Mayor Tara Veer described these as being “highly difficult” decisions to make.

“Like you, local government is being forced to acknowledge this new economic normal,” she said. “It is imperative for The City of Red Deer to be increasingly innovative in how we deliver quality municipal services to the citizens that it is our privilege to serve while still finding a way to reduce the overall financial impacts for our citizens and businesses as we head into the 2021 and 2022 multi-year budgets.”

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As the city prepares to do a multi-year budget for the first time, city council has directed administration to keep property and service charge increases to a minimum.

Fifty-two managers and employees, many of whom have been working with The City for several decades, have accepted voluntary corporate retirement packages and will be gone at the end of the month. Some of those positions have been combined with others and some positions won’t be refilled.

The job cuts include some in senior management as the city has restructured its organization down to three departments – Community Services, Corporate and Employee Services and Development and Protective Services.

“We’re still working out some of the details on exactly which of the various sections fall within those departments, but those are the three divisions that The City will now proceed with for the future,” Seabrooke shared.

“I want to ensure the residents here in Red Deer that despite some of the challenges we face, you will continue to receive the services that you’ve come to know and that are very important for you and your family – that you can be assured of.”

Seabrooke said The City is taking a “business-focused approach” and is doing what it can to minimize any further job cuts moving forward.

“While these decisions are never easy, I believe these reductions will stabilize the organization for the next two years and beyond,” he surmised.

Veer said, “Matters like this are never easy, but these changes are unfortunately necessary as we work to ensure a financially stable future for the organization we’ve been entrusted with, and above all for the community that we serve.”