ONTARIO — Ontario officials are preparing for potential retirements by planning ahead.
The city’s personnel committee met Wednesday, March 21 to discuss how to transition through several potential retirements in the next few years.
“We know whether it’s in 2018 or 2019, it will come quicker than we can shake a stick at. We’ve got quite a few people who are projected or at least talking about retirement, so I thought it would be a good idea for the mayor to talk about what the progression plans are,” At-large councilman Larry Arnold said.
Mayor Randy Hutchinson explained intentions to hire and train people in some areas like the sewer department.
“The goal is to put that (laborer) position in the sewer department and start that person on a training program over the next three years,” he said.
Hutchinson explained that the current department head could possibly retire, and the hope is that the new laborer could take that role.
“We need to make sure whoever we hire knows they’re going to be doing this… I think they need to know coming in exactly what’s going to happen, where they are going to be, what they’re going to be learning,” Hutchinson said.
“We need to have the right person for the job because we know what we want them to do in the coming years.”
At-large councilman Ken Earhart added that he’d like to see a transition period for leadership positions, especially if someone was externally hired.
“For us to be efficient without an ‘Oh God’ moment or an ‘Oops,’ I think you need that transition period,” Earhart said.
Hutchinson also suggested adding a line item on next year’s budget to specifically address retirements. Previously, retirements have been accounted for in the salary portion of the budget.
