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Telephone (519) 885â€"5090 Looking For a New Hundreds of local residents spent the first day of the new year enjoying the City of Waterloo‘s New Year‘s Day Levee at the Waterloo Recreation Complex. (Pictured clockâ€" wise from top left) Waterloo councillors greeted guests as they arrived, fourâ€"yearâ€"old Katelyn Fehrenbach got some help from her dad Rick at the skating party, entertainment was provided by longâ€"time City of Waterloo volunteer Ralph Carter {right) with help from members of the audiâ€" ence, while visitors enjoyed an assortment of festive treats. {ick here) W â€" eumasme**" 3:A Motors Authorized BW Retailer â€" 527 King St. N. Wt DEBORAH CRANDALL PHOTOS Eâ€"mail info@ kmotors com PAGE 3 City restructures recreation and leisure department in wake of $500,000 budget shortfall shakeup in the City of A:Vaterloo's recreation nd leisure departâ€" ment to mark the new year is part of the continuing fallâ€" out of last year‘s Winshare controversy. The city‘s recreation and leisure services was in the middle of the public maelâ€" strom that led to the scrapâ€" ping of the fourâ€"yearâ€" old Winshare employee bonus program in October. Employees of the business unit received bonuses under the program even though the department had a shortâ€" fall of more than $500,000 in its previous year‘s budget. Managers in the departâ€" ment excluded: themselves from the bonus program, but _ recommended _ that frontâ€"line _ workers _ be included in the bonus proâ€" gram based on employee generated budget surpluses: That served as the death knell for the Winshare proâ€" gram as local taxpayers clamored for the scrapping of the program. City officials admitted the uproar left them with egg on their faces, and promised it wouldn‘t hapâ€" pen again. As a result, the department at the centre of the contentious debate was restructured in time for the new year. The â€" shakeup, which began at the end of November, _ saw _ Brian Detzler replace Bob McFarland as the director of recreation and leisure serâ€" vices. McFarland was shifted to head of programming and community developâ€" ment, a more junior posiâ€" tion. In another move that sigâ€" nalled a changing of the guard in the department, Andrew Friedel moved for Bos VRBANAC Chronicle Staff F \cick hare) ces Bâ€"A Motors Authorized BMW Retoder â€" 527 King St. N. Wot Telephone {519) 885â€"5090 _ Eâ€"mail info@h kmot Looking For a New his secondment in the CAO‘s office to the position of team leader for the Waterloo Recreation Complex. The move was made because of Friedel‘s business skill as the former team leader of finanâ€" cial services and his experiâ€" ence as coâ€"chairperson of the implementation comâ€" mittee of the Millennium Recreation Park. In other corporate reâ€" alignments, parks services, which fell under the manâ€" agement of the recreation and â€" leisure department, joined the public works serâ€" vices core business, effective Jan. 1, to form a new busiâ€" ness unit that will be known as parks and works services. This change will also consolidate horticulture and forestry into a newly created environmental services team. Tom Stockie, the city‘s chief administrative officer, said the changes were made for organizational effectiveâ€" ness purposes, but also admitted the Winshare fallâ€" out had a role to play in the changes. Detzler, in turn, was proâ€" moted to the director of the department because of his experience in the recreation field. Detzler began his career with the city in 1979 as a seasonal employee in parks services. That included what could be called a demotion for McFarland to a programâ€" ming area with less manageâ€" ment responsibilities. McFarland has a lengthy background in programâ€" ming, including in the area of arts and culture. "We had some discusâ€" sions and felt he would be better suited in his career to focus on those areas," said Stockie. We felt that he would be Continued on page 5 Eâ€"mail info@b kmotors.com