LETTER: Consultants are valuable

It is with great interest I have read the various letters to the editor submitted by one Brackendale resident. Over the last two months there have been many letters submitted without the individual fully understanding what is going on in the district as we grow, and as the full-time staff, as well as the mayor and the council members, try to manage under the crush of change. 

Now let’s talk about the use of consultants. Having been a principal consultant with both PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte, I fully understand the use of consultants to add value and to resource projects that staff is not able to fully staff under the restricted time frames proposed to complete the work. 

I have had the good fortune to assist the District of Squamish on two projects as a volunteer, and they are the Zero Waste Management Project, as well as the Official Community Plan Project (OCP) that is drawing near to completion. 

In both cases, the consultants brought into the two projects were correctly managed by the staff and executives of the District. The reason you bring in consultants is to hire the expertise they bring to the table without trying to hire full-time experts when only a specific skill set is required for a specific period of time. Unlike full-time staff, the consultants add value as required, are managed by the project manager assigned by the District, complete the project and move on. 

To be blunt, the District cannot afford to hire the people with the appropriate knowledge to complete certain aspects of certain projects and then let them sit around as full-time staff waiting for the next project that may require their skills, experience and knowledge.

As I mentioned, having been a consultant in two of the largest consulting firms for years, I am very impressed by the skills that the senior staff, as well as the project staff, have at the District and their ability to manage large projects with very little support from outside consultants. I have noticed that the District staff are all very dedicated and driven individuals with a great deal of personal pride in not only their work but the public image that they present when rolling out the completed work for citizen review, and approval by the mayor and council. 

We are very fortunate to have such a group of staff at the District to support all of us in the times ahead of great growth and planning required to manage that growth.

Bill Cavanagh
Squamish