Cleaning the Capital Program Wins Tri-Valley Conservation Award

The City of Ottawa has been recognized as an environmental leader for its annual Cleaning the Capital campaigns that attract tens of thousands of volunteers each spring and fall to participate in community projects that help keep Ottawa clean, green, graffiti-free and litter-free.

The Tri-Valley Conservation Awards recognize community environmental excellence in the Mississippi, Rideau and South Nations watersheds and are presented in seven categories for volunteer projects and activities that contribute to the health of our watersheds. Projects can include tree planting, water quality protection, shoreline stewardship and conservation education.

“This is a very special award and recognition of the work of thousands of community volunteers who contribute their time and effort to projects that help keep Ottawa clean and green,” said River Ward Councillor Maria McRae who is chair of the Transportation Committee that is responsible for many City cleaning and greening initiatives. “Ottawa’s Cleaning the Capital campaigns are incredibly successful and continue to be a popular way for families, friends, individuals and groups to work together and really make a difference in our communities. It is truly gratifying to receive this award on behalf of all the participants and especially on behalf of the City staff who work at making the Campaign a success each year”

The Cleaning the Capital campaigns encourage and support community involvement in the City’s seasonal clean-up efforts. The Spring Cleaning the Capital Campaign is in its sixteenth year and the fall campaign has been running for four years. The success of the campaigns rely on volunteers and the many generous sponsors, including the exclusive corporate partner, Tim Hortons, and the many other sponsors that help to promote and support it with advertising, funding, supplies and prizes.

Both campaigns achieved record participations in 2009 with more than 87,000 residents participating in litter pick-up and graffiti-removal projects. Spring Cleaning the Capital had 65,066 participants registered in 1,000 projects, including 67 graffiti-removal projects, and the Fall Cleaning the Capital Campaign had more than 22,000 participants in 445 projects.

The fall campaigns run from September 15 to October 15 each year and the spring campaigns run from April 15 to May 15 with early bird registrations for next season beginning in mid-March 2010.

For more information on the cleaning the capital campaigns, visit ottawa.ca/clean
Source: www.ottawa.ca

Financial Controls Improve Thanks to Senior Operations Clerks

The Performance Measurement and Administrative Support Services sections of Operations Engineering & Technical Services introduced an inventory management enhancement initiative in the fall of 2009 aimed at improving the accuracy of bulk material tracking throughout the Public Works branch. In collaboration with the Financial Services Unit (FSU), six strategies were developed in order to improve the consistency between the recorded SAP balances and the actual physical inventories of materials located throughout the Public Works yards. The first stage of the project was implemented on October 12th, with rollouts planned for the remainder of 2009.

The direct benefits of the initiative are improved financial controls that will let managers in Public Works and FSU make more informed decisions regarding inventory management. The improved accuracy of SAP records will reduce instances of understock, overstock, negative stock, and obsolete inventory situations. Finally, improved reliability of the financial records on both balance sheets and expenditures will meet the City’s financial control framework objectives.

The success of the project would not have been possible without the support of Public Works’ Senior Operations Clerks, Operations Clerks, and Operations Technicians. Their hard work and dedication has been instrumental in the implementation and ongoing effectiveness of the program. The analysts in FSU have also been essential partners who have contributed to the program at every stage of the process. Without their support, the inventory enhancements would not have been possible. Performance Measurement would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff who were involved in the inventory enhancement initiative. Additional thanks goes to Eric Katmarian and Jim Raycroft, as well as Brian Carry and Jason Staniforth for championing the project.

By Jonathan Hamilton and Sam Bowers