Annual Report 2004 - Halifax Regional Municipality

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T HE MUNICIPAL CLERK’s Office in its role of corporate support, supports all of the legislative processes of local government for HRM and provides record keeping services to Regional Council, six Community Councils and numerous boards, committees and commissions. Staff coordinates agenda material, arranges meeting locations, records meeting proceedings, including public hearings, maintains the Clerk’s web site and communicates decision made at meetings to Council, HRM staff and the public. The Municipal Clerk’s Office manages and preserves all Council and Committee records through a records management program. In this function, the Office of the Municipal Clerk serves as the repository for executable documents, by-laws, administrative orders, agendas, minutes, correspondence, and related reports and any matters related to Regional Council, Community Council and all boards, committees and commissions. The Municipal Clerk is solely responsible for the administration of civic and school district elections and for conducting public referenda. During 2004, Municipal and School Board elections were held. In addition, the Provincial Plebiscite on Sunday Shopping was held in concert with the municipal elections. Of the 258,396 citizens eligible to vote for Municipal and School Board candidates, 125,035 cast their votes. The success of the election was due in large measure to the dedication of the employees of the Municipal Clerk’s Office, the hard work of many HRM employees, many community minded citizens who worked the polling stations and the participation of HRM voters. It continues to be the goal of the Municipal Clerk’s Office to meet service standards, to be responsive in support of local government, and to provide quality customer service in all areas. ■ I NTEGRATED City is a vision of HRM, where its customers are able to access government services in a convenient, integrated manner, through a variety of service delivery channels that are unencumbered by organizational structures, information silos, or technological barriers. The objective of the Integrated City Project, over the past 12 months, has been to identify and deliver essential tools to help HRM move forward and achieve the vision of becoming an Integrated City. Notable deliverables of the Integrated City in 2004 include: A Service Delivery Governance Model was created to establish a standard process for the evaluation, approval and prioritization of new strategic initiatives. This process allows anyone within HRM to express their ideas on new projects or initiatives that will enable HRM to improve its operations. Each idea is objectively assessed in detail, with successful proposals included in the business planning process. A corporate project management methodology and suite of document templates was developed, based on best practices from various approaches. This methodology will be the standard for project management within HRM. The project team has worked closely with Human Resources to integrate the content into the corporate Project Management training. A suite of standards and multi-year strategies to address HRM’s technologies and data sources that support the Corporate Scorecard has been coordinated through the project. The set of deliverables is collectively referred to as the Enterprise Architecture, with the first release scheduled for April 2005. The above deliverables are considered to be the essential foundation components for the next steps in moving ahead with the vision of the Integrated City. ■ Photos (from top): West Chezzetcook area, container ship in Halifax Harbour, church in Hubbards area,Halifax International Airpor t, HRM f loat in Ntal Day parade. At a Glance (Municipal Clerk’s Office): 418 meetings of Regional Council, Community Council and their representative boards and committees • 13,878 agendas and supporting documents disseminated • 232 volunteers serving on boards and committees • 287 by-laws and administrative orders maintained • 629 documents executed on behalf of HRM 12 — Halifax Regional Municipality
C ORPORATE Communications provides in-house communications and media relations services to the Mayor and Council, the Executive Management Team (EMT), Senior Management Team (SMT) and all business units of HRM on public relations and public information/education issues. In addition, the team strives to provide effective communication to residents and businesses of HRM to ensure all communication needs of the public are met. A C C O M P L I S H M E N T S Throughout the year, communications support was given to: • Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) — the record-breaking blizzard of February 2004 when more than 92 cm of snow fell on HRM and the sudden pre-winter blizzard of November 2004. • Metro Transit — production of promotional materials, ads, notices and schedule changes and design as well as design and communication planning for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). • Regional Planning — provided marketing and public relations support. • Environmental Management Services — production of numerous television commercials, print and radio advertisements, public service announcements, press releases, as well as promotional materials for initiatives through Solid Waste Resources, Pollution Prevention, Strategic Sustainable Resource Management, Wastewater Treatment and the Halifax Harbour Solutions Project. In addition, Public consultation meetings and presentations to community groups were provided. • Capital District — provided marketing and public relations support. In 2004, a new initiative was undertaken in an effort to deliver information on the many services and environmental programs that HRM provides. The first annual HRM corporate calendar was produced and distributed to residents, with very positive feedback. HRM broadened the scope and responsibility of the Corporate Communications Office to include the Marketing, Design and Print Services team in an effort to provide consistent and effective messaging both internally and externally. Corporate Communications provided comprehensive marketing and public relations support for the reopening of both the Halifax Public Gardens and Point Pleasant Park, which sustained severe damage during Hurricane Juan. The Printing Centre provided fast and efficient in-house printing by using a highspeed black/ white and colour printers. The cost savings were significant for the Municipal Election notices and other related materials printed in-house and distributed during the municipal election. Tax notices and pay notices were also processed, as well as the quarterly HRM newsletter and the environmental newsletter Naturally Green. I N I T I AT I V E S Corporate Communications will further the technology of the equipment used in the Printing Centre to improve and enhance cost-effective printing and distribution services, as well as ensuring the use of environmentally friendly materials. Corporate Communications is committed to reducing the amount and flow of paper messaging to residents of HRM by encouraging more extensive use of the HRM web site and a more integrated approach and bundling of corporate information and public education materials. The team will continue to support all areas within HRM — HRM Business Units, Mayors Office, Council, EMT and SMT — with their initiatives through public education and awareness by effectively communicating their messages internally and externally. At a Glance: 9,000,000 black & white printed copies • 90,000 colour printed copies • 4,000, 000 press copies • 421,927 pieces of mail processed through the mailroom • 419 press releases were distributed • 87,192 tax bills were processed 13 — Halifax Regional Municipality
Page 2 and 3: The Corporate Logo The Halifax Regi
Page 4 and 5: THE MAYOR’S MESSAGE We are please
Page 6 and 7: ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Halifax Re
Page 8 and 9: Excellence in governance public par
Page 10 and 11: T HE Greater Halifax Partnership is
Page 14 and 15: ▲ Safe communities protecting peo
Page 16 and 17: HALIFAX Regional Police named their
Page 18 and 19: and even helping a woman in labour
Page 20 and 21: Healthy, sustainable, vibrant commu
Page 22 and 23: R ECREATION, Tourism and Culture pr
Page 24 and 25: P LANNING & Development Services pr
Page 26 and 27: R EAL PROPERTY & Asset Management (
Page 28 and 29: H ALIFAX Public Libraries had an im
Page 30 and 31: H UMAN RESOURCES Services (HR) meas
Page 32 and 33: A WARDS and Recognition Halifax Reg
Page 34: Luxury liner Queen Mary 2 made her

Annual Report 2004 - Halifax Regional Municipality

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