Like cycling? Fancy a €43k-a-year job as Dublin’s Cycling Czar?

RunRoryRun

From The Journal

Surely there's someone here that this would interest?!

CramCycle

How do I apply

LFC Murphy

"Thank you for your application, this position has been filled internally"

tunney

LFC Murphy wrote: »

"Thank you for your application, this position has been filled internally"

"The fact the candidate is a relative of Mr Kenny had no bearing on his application"

magicbastarder

there's a difference between €43k being allocated to the role and it being a '€43k a year job'...

Cookie_Monster

that's a lot of money to be ignored by every road engineer and planner in the CC, should be a pretty handy role if you don't mind being not listened to constantly.

CramCycle

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

that's a lot of money to be ignored by every road engineer and planner in the CC, should be a pretty handy role if you don't mind being not listened to constantly.

Should be just like posting here then, I am perfect for the job, no one ever listens to me.

WillyFXP

CramCycle wrote: »

Should be just like posting here then, I am perfect for the job, no one ever listens to me.

What?

LFC Murphy

CramCycle wrote: »

Should be just like posting here then, I am perfect for the job, no one ever listens to me.

Yep, if an outsider were to get the role, then the engineer would not listen to him/her.

Ivory Tower Syndrome....

godtabh

Has this job been advertised?

Chips Lovell

The budget was only approved last night, so I doubt it.

Tenzor07

€43k a year before tax?

What real powers will this person have, or just act as a liaison/adviser between the council who make decisions and the road engineers who appear to have skipped the Bicycle planning section of there college degree?

magicbastarder

Tenzor07 wrote: »

€43k a year before tax?

it remains to be seen if the €43k is the cost to the council of creating the role, or the actual salary paid.

Brian?

RunRoryRun wrote: »

From The Journal

Surely there's someone here that this would interest?!

€43k a year is buttons for that level of responsibility. They'll struggle to find anyone competent to work for that.

bwalsh1983

It might be the Journal which is a not to be taken to seriously at the best of times but the way it is worded and given the light hearted treatment speaks for how serious cycling is taken as a transport mode in the City/Ireland.

'Like Cycling? Fancy A job?' kind of subconciously suggests that it is not that serious a role and 'sure any old fella with a bike' could competently do it, lobby for infrastructure, consult with engineers etc.

Beasty

CramCycle wrote: »

Should be just like posting here then.

You're getting €43k a year here I should be due a bleedin' pay rise then

Doctor Bob

Brian? wrote: »

€43k a year is buttons for that level of responsibility. They'll struggle to find anyone competent to work for that.

Or maybe 43k a year is an indicator of the level of responsibility that the Council will prescribe for the role?

If memory serves, the previous Cycling Officer (NB not Cycle Liaison Officer, as in this case, which makes me think the new role won't be identical to the last one) was at Senior Executive Engineer grade - as recommended in the 2006 report that proposed the establishment of a Cycling Officer position - but from the pay level indicated, the new one would seem to be at Assistant Grade. Given how hierarchical local authorities are, you'd have to think the scope for influence would be somewhat limited.

Hats off to Cllr Cuffe et al for getting this back on the agenda, but I fear it won't go far enough. It's the institutionalised 'traffic capacity at all costs' mindset at the top level of the Council Executive that really needs to be addressed (City Manager sorry, 'Chief Executive' notwithstanding).

CramCycle

Beasty wrote: »

You're getting €43k a year here I should be due a bleedin' pay rise then

Unfortunately the cake is not tax deductible so after expenses it's not that much.

Doctor Bob wrote: »

Or maybe 43k a year is an indicator of the level of responsibility that the Council will prescribe for the role?

As alluded to before, if this is just the money for the role and its administration, it will really just be an auxillary payment for a councillor to sit in on meetings. If it turns out to be the gross pay for the position, hopefully it will be taken up by someone who wants to make their mark and show what they can do, in this light I presume it won't be someone well established in such roles but maybe thats not a bad thing.

Guess I will have to wait for the applications procedure to open up/remit is published before I could comment further on it.

galwaycyclist

Doctor Bob wrote: »

Or maybe 43k a year is an indicator of the level of responsibility that the Council will prescribe for the role?

If memory serves, the previous Cycling Officer (NB not Cycle Liaison Officer, as in this case, which makes me think the new role won't be identical to the last one) was at Senior Executive Engineer grade - as recommended in the 2006 report that proposed the establishment of a Cycling Officer position - but from the pay level indicated, the new one would seem to be at Assistant Grade. Given how hierarchical local authorities are, you'd have to think the scope for influence would be somewhat limited.

Hats off to Cllr Cuffe et al for getting this back on the agenda, but I fear it won't go far enough. It's the institutionalised 'traffic capacity at all costs' mindset at the top level of the Council Executive that really needs to be addressed (City Manager sorry, 'Chief Executive' notwithstanding).

The issue of hierarchy is key. Aside from the poor remuneration for a position of that type who will the person report to?

If they report to Community and Enterprise (or the equivalent in DCC) then maybe ok.

If they report to the Chief Executive then maybe ok.

If they report to the Director of Services for Transport or to a Senior Roads engineer then the concept of the position is arguably flawed.

The person would be working directly for executives whose work they are supposed to criticise in detail - not likely to have a happy ending.

Doctor Bob

CramCycle wrote: »

As alluded to before, if this is just the money for the role and its administration, it will really just be an auxillary payment for a councillor to sit in on meetings. If it turns out to be the gross pay for the position, hopefully it will be taken up by someone who wants to make their mark and show what they can do, in this light I presume it won't be someone well established in such roles but maybe thats not a bad thing.

Guess I will have to wait for the applications procedure to open up/remit is published before I could comment further on it.

The 43k was described as a 'salary' in the Metro, but I'm likewise waiting to hear more detail (Metro vs The Journal? - decisions decisions...).

I can't see it being an auxiliary payment to a Councillor. There's already a Transport SPC (the group now chaired by Ciaran Cuffe, afaik), where interested Councillors can air their views, and a DCC Cycle Forum with wider membership including campaigners. Furthermore, it would probably be a conflict of interest for a City Councillor to be paid for an Executive role.

I'm not sure I agree with your hopes for the successful candidate, though. For her/his sake, I hope they don't want to make their mark and show what they can do, because I fear they'd quickly become frustrated with the existing - and unlikely to change - institutional arrangements in the Council.

CramCycle

Doctor Bob wrote: »

I'm not sure I agree with your hopes for the successful candidate, though. For her/his sake, I hope they don't want to make their mark and show what they can do, because I fear they'd quickly become frustrated with the existing - and unlikely to change - institutional arrangements in the Council.

I meant from the perspective of if the salary turned out to be 25k a year after all the admin stuff was taken out, you are unlikely to get anyone but a recent college graduate or someone with a real passion for cycling.

I certainly don't want someone complacent with how things are, I respect that you need someone who will work within the system but I don't want someone who will just say "fair enough" and not try and do anything of any benefit for the cycling community. Although to be fair, much like any other road using "community" (irony brackets) they are about as fractious as they come.

Make their mark, was simply the idea that they would do something beneficial for cyclists, I don't want them to re invent the wheel, just stand up and say, I know you guys are road engineers with years of experience but the idea of placating cyclists by putting a cycle lane that intersects with pedestrians and cars more than is necessary eg on footpath cycle tracks is ludicrous or have the cycle path on the left of a left turn only lane.

monument

http://irishcycle.com/2014/11/11/funding-for-cycling-officer-secured-in-dublin-city-council-budget/

Funding has been set aside for the position by councillors, that is all -- it's up to the city manager to agree to have the position filled or not. The funding does not cover a full year, it covers from the expected recruitment month up to the next budget.

The successful GP/SF/Lab/independents amendment to the Dublin City Council budget mentions "Cycling Officer", the ​"Cycle Liaison Officer" only seems to be in the Green Party press release. Even the National Cycle Policy uses the shorter term.