Dean Ward Candidate for council 2013

Below is the information I handed out at the Ratepayers meeting Wednesday night about where I stand heading into this election and some of the issues that I feel are important to this community and it's residents.

                             Election 2013         -       Dean Ward

My name is Dean Ward  and I am very pleased to have this opportunity to ask for your vote in the upcoming election.

I am very proud to be the husband of Debbie, father of three and proud grandfather of two beautiful girls. I have been living in the Crowsnest Pass for 31 years.

I sat on the Historical society board for three years; currently I am a member of the Crowsnest Pass Health Foundation. In addition, I have six years experience sitting on council, which makes me very familiar with municipal budgets and all the other duties expected of a Councilor.

Crowsnest Pass is a great place to live and we are surrounded by nothing but pure natural beauty. We have great schools, a hospital and many other amenities.  But the most important, we have great people.

We do have challenges: a declining population, the oldest population in Alberta, high percentage of residents on a fixed income, and one of the lowest commercial/industrial tax bases in the province 

 In 2010 this community voted for change, but how much and how fast should have been the question.

Strategic Plan was put together in 2011 by mostly people that do not live here. It has many good recommendations, but it was always Council’s plan and it was never “our plan.” The Mayor tells the media “now that a lot of hard work has been done, they can move on to more sophisticated work” when, where and what he is hoping to do to us sometime later.

My positions moving forward 2013-2017

Taxes : Government’s job should be to minimize costs, not maximize revenues. Many of our residents live on a fixed income that never increases by more than the cost of living. I will work very hard to ensure that all municipal taxes, franchise fees, utility costs, permits, fines etc do not increase by more than the cost of living at the most.

Smaller Government: We cannot afford to have an administration that costs us well in excess of $1 million dollars a year. One out of every five homes pays taxes each year just to finance Council’s “Dream Team”.

Seniors-York Creek Lodge is a valuable asset for this community that is in dire need of up grading. Previous council had passed a motion putting aside $100,000 a year to prepare for that future opportunity. This year six months into the budget process administration realized that they had totally miscalculated the tax base, scrambling council agreed to balance the budget by dropping the $100,000 to the Lodge.

Seniors-Town Rounder is one of the unique services the municipality provides to its seniors. After the last driver retired, his position as only been filled by a temporary employee and this concerns me. I will commit to support and maintain this service if elected.  

Frivolous Spending: Our municipal brand/logo, sadly at the same time council cut the $100,000 contribution to the lodge, they approved an expenditure of over $300,000 to hire an expensive consultant to throw together numerous triangles, to build entrance signs, to put up banners and to put this mess on every piece of municipal equipment and stationary. Can anybody explain to me how the logo relates to the Crowsnest Pass?

Consultants: Will we ever really know how much money we have spent on consultants over the last three years? Now we have another one conducting a Recreation study. Our recreation board could have designed a survey, made it available to our residents and gathered the results at the municipal office?    

Peace Officer Program: We were originally told that the project would pay for itself because the municipality anticipated an Automatic Traffic Enforcement program would be put into place. They were wrong. Do we really need two peace officers to enforce bylaws and educate the local residents? We need a full disclosure on what this program is really costing us. As our reputation grows as a speed trap, the revenues will only decrease, but the costs will remain.

Employee Morale: The level of the relationship between the municipal staff and management as sunk to an all time low, so low, that a consultant was brought in to look at the situation. This did not come about over the last two weeks, the next council needs to direct and demand that administration sit down with CUPE and resolve this quickly.

Communications: Newsletters are good until we have our representatives insulting us. Town hall meeting are great until they are used as a tool to attack and embarrass the people that pay the bills. Next council should communicate both professionally and in town hall meeting where council “listens” to the public’s input. Some how in the last year over 2500 residents felt that council was not listening?

Hotels: I will demand that next council not spend $50,000 or any amount to purchase a franchise for a private company, and let’s get the first hotel built before we start fantasizing about a second one.

Housing Affordability: Most elections, we hear candidates speaking about affordable housing. So many of our residents are seniors on a fixed income we need to keep our housing “affordable”. Municipal government cannot control the costs of everything in society; but there are some things they can. To vote to keep tax increases down while at the same time taking substantially more money from our residents in the form of Franchise Fees, Utility bills and every other dollar we can take out of your pocket achieves nothing for the average taxpayer.  

  On October 21, vote for Dean Ward

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact Dean at 563-4128 or deanward4@msn.com

Looking for a career in the Crowsnest Pass

The jobs just keep coming, the municipality is now looking for a Community peace Officer amongst many other available positions. I hope this means one of our present officers is leaving,  not that the municipality is increasing to three peace officers.
Any way there sure are a  lot of opportunities with the municipality check it out at the following address:

http://www.crowsnestpass.com/finance-a-administration/employment

Everything is wonderful, we just have not realized it yet

Well the Mayor's newsletter was just released and it sounds like somebody is "telling a story" is it just me or has the tone of the newsletters changed since December.

 I had heard rumblings from some of the municipal staff that there was some morale and labour relations issues plus only somebody that been trapped in the jungle for the last year would have missed Councilor Saje's letter. Obviously in the last few week's those issues must have been addressed, according to the latest newsletter the appearance is given that all the team are pulling together. Check out the newsletter @ http://www.crowsnestpass.com/

Just a short quote "Our restructured administrative staff is working has a team with our inside (office) and outside (public works). Differences of opinion abound but this is normal in a healthy organization and when something needs to be accomplished all come together".

The Mayor goes on to talk about a future economic opportunity  in the same newsletter. At the end of May, he is of to Vancouver to meet some individuals (experts, consultants) who have a great deal of expertise in creating destination resorts.
Lets hope these experts, consultants what ever you care to call them don't cost us anywhere near what it cost us to put in place our peace officer program.

Remember when everybody was shocked that we the residents of the Crowsnest Pass were paying $1,000 a day plus $2,400 a month for accommodation and mileage to an expert.  Check out the following address at the web site that just keeps on giving and giving I admire the job this person has done gathering information.

http://transparencycnp.shawwebspace.ca/blog/post/ts_peace_officer_proposal/

Next we have the annexation issue hopefully with a little bit of "common sense and good will by all those involved" (Ranchlands) the linear taxation will be flowing in by Budget year 2014 just in time to pay for all these positions that we have created because soon or later we are going to have a workforce with all positions filled for a full year. Making the numbers work by dragging your feet for two months to fill every position is only a short term answer to balancing the books. It's like buying furniture at the Brick on the "Do not pay for three year plan"

One of these days running four operators short in public works will catch up to us, when your snow removal plan becomes having a mild winter every year with much "less than anticipated precipitation" it will catch up to us.

Community Peace Officers how the public sees it.

I received the following comment today at 10:11:

“Change of subject - I see the Peace officers wrote tickets to the tune of 13,442 in the month of November. All traffic violations. They did some bylaw work but I do not see any major clean up going on. 2 things come to mind. I think that they would have to write tickets to the tune of about 17,000/month to break even and probably even more. So I think we are losing money and not getting any major clean up done. Secondly, I think it will only get harder to continue to generate these revenues. The locals already know where the speed traps are and it is only a matter of time before almost everyone else knows too.”

This appears to be a reflection of what I am hearing around town, first unless somebody can prove otherwise I see no evidence of any major or for that matter minor clean up.

The second comment regarding revenue of $13,442 in November and the remark that it will take about $17,000 a month to break even and probably even more? It will be more much more let me throw some numbers at you.

First CP Officer Rate of pay Jan 1/2013 $31.68 per hour x 2080 hours a year (40hrs 52 wks)   $65,894.

Second Peace Officer rate of pay is not in the collective agreement but being a sergeant he is probably making at least $4 a hour more so $35.68 x 2080 hours a year $74,214.    

Wages alone come to $140,108 then factor in an additional 5% for overtime that number becomes $147,113.

Now let us talk about benefits the municipality allows 25% on top of wages to cover the cost of benefits provided to the employees in the collective agreement. $147,113 x 25% = $36,778.

Already we are at $183,899

Let’s talk about the trucks $130,000 to buy them and rig them all out if you amortize that over four years, you know by then most of the equipment they have in their trucks will need replacing at it will be obsolete. Another $32,500 a year.

Fuel they have to be spending a $1000 a month on each vehicle, $24,000 a year.

Registration/Insurance $3,000 a year.

Cell phones $200 a month $2,400 a year.

Clerical support even allowing 5 hours a week at $30 per hour $7,800 per year.

Up grading, training, certifications have to be at least $5,000 per year.    

Summary

Wages + Benefits $183,899

Trucks + up keep   $32,500

Fuel                      $24,000

Reg/Insurance        $3,000

Phones                  $2,400

Clerical support      $7,800

Training                  $5,000

Total      $258,599 divided by 12 months $21,550 per month.

I am sure I have not captured all the costs here, what will it cost to fight these tickets in court? I am sure not everybody is going to just right a check.

Then to the reader’s last comment about getting harder to generate that level of revenue, your right the locals have figured out where the speed traps are. In addition, keep in mind these Peace Officers are CUPE members which means they will be taking an average of 4 weeks off next year, which will mean less revenue again. 

Change in the Crowsnest Pass

I sat on council for six years during that time I learnt that this town has a lot of problems, declining and ageing population, lack of industry and development, duplication of services and facilities that most taxpayers can not afford to support.

Do we need change? Absolutely, change that involves attracting people here, bringing development and industry, looking at where our community could be ran more efficiently. Knowing all of these issues our local government needs to be ran as if it’s on a tight budget, because it should be.

Let’s talk about the change we can not and do not want, over spending the municipality will next year in the final year of this council’s term, take in $1.4 million more dollars out of  the taxpayers pockets than it did in 2010 that’s $400 per home.

They are building an empire that we can not afford, look at the number of staff in the municipal office do we really need more administration.

Municipal peace officers do we want two peace officers? Was that a good change? they wrote 2 bylaw tickets in the month of September, they are being looked at has a cash cow not a tool to clean up our community.

Once again we have consultants in our community talking about “branding” what was so wrong with “Mountain Freedom”? Thunder in the Valley brought this community way more attention than any new brand will. We all know there were problems go talk to the RCMP get the stats for the number of arrests over the last five years, we saw a tremendous decline the event was being ran better every year.

Fire Departments, we spent $300,000 in 2010 operating the Fire Departments how many full time Firemen are we going to get for that figure? Could Fire departments be ran better? Of course every branch of government could be run better, we have to find ways to operate our community on the present dollars not more.

It’s really hard to convince taxpayers of this when you see almost $300,000 spent on a piece of equipment that spends 98% of it’s time sitting in the back of the Blairmore Shop, all the new pickups running around and consultant after consultant.

The termination of a municipal employee should that have happened? We do not know all the details.

Personally, I have no problem terminating an employee with just cause, but there must be a fair process, if you believe you have grounds to terminate an employee you suspend them. You do a complete investigation then you let them go (it’s called due process) you don’t terminate them. Then seek the justification by releasing a press release every second day with a new revelation.

This situation with better communication and due process would have been handled so much better.

Back to the start do we need change? We all know the answer, of course, but I am having a tough time thinking of a good, positive change in the last two years. We need change that involves the people of the Crowsnest Pass.

And for those that disagree with me step up to the plate and point out the positive changes for us all to read.  

Gopher Hunting in the Crowsnest Pass

Anybody else remember the attitude that was taken at the town hall meeting regarding stupid rumours? Remember that little speech?

How the idea of a gopher hunter being paid $850 a day was laughed off?

Well read the front page of today's Promoter.
Next thing you know somebody will try and tell us that the Peace Officers will pay for themselves.

Community Peace Officer Program (paying for itself?)

Community Peace Officer Program

Interesting I was reading last weeks council package and came across the following:

"The Community Peace Officer Program or any Municipal Enforcement if structured properly can be self sufficient and provide a needed service that the community rate payers expect at an affordable price.

For Example:

The City of Cold Lake AB with a population 12,000 has an enforcement division whom work collectively with the local RCMP detachment. They have three CPO's and since the inception of the CPO program three years ago they are now in 2012 experiencing additional revenue generation that will lead to self sufficiency.

The Town of Morinville AB with a population of 8,000 has two CPO's who work collectivity with the local RCMP detachment which are also experiencing the same outcome.

The City of Yellowknife NWT with a population of 20,000 who works collectively with the local RCMP detachment has 6 constables, 2 cpl, 1 manager, 1 parking constable, and two support administration personnel. They conduct the same duties and responsibilities as our CPO's. Therefore to operate this city program only $128,000 was funded by the rate payers.

The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass is no different with two CPO's who also work collectively with the Local RCMP detachment (which we do not financially compensate) compared to the other communities mention above. Our CPO program enhancement will be cost effective, efficient and we will strive towards being self sufficient".    

The comments above surprised me for one I see Cold Lake’s program which was put  into place three years ago, “they are now in 2012 experiencing additional revenue generation that will lead toward self sufficiency”. Wow, I thought this program was going to pay for itself? Maybe 5-10 years down the road.

The town of Morinville has two CPO’s (they also have about 40% more people than we do) and they “are also experiencing the same outcome”? Scary

The City of Yellowknife being compared to the Crowsnest Pass is just silly, they have a budget of close to $80 million dollars a year, and is the central hub of activity for the North West Territory.    

So being the inquisitive type of person I am I did a little bit of checking around to see how successful these other programs have been. I could only find financial information on Cold Lake.

 http://www.coldlake.com/municipal/coldlake/webcms.nsf/AllDocSearch/5FA22B2A16A95A0087257A1500736AD0/$File/2012%20op%20budget%20and%20graphs%20(internet).pdf?OpenElement

Under their budget for 2012 you can see for yourself, policing and bylaw services are “far” from paying for themselves under Police services they have a budget of $1,975,494 with revenue of $682,000 coming in. Under Animal Control/Bylaw Enforcement they have a budget of $503,967 and revenue of $60,700 coming in. I think the numbers above show “self sufficiency” being a long way down the road.

Is this what the Crowsnest Pass will face?  

Taxpayers dollars at work ($70,000)

Here is our chance to see what $70,000 of our tax payers dollars gets us.
Just arrived today the first of the Municipality's money makers.

Click on picture to enlarge

Ratepayers Association Meeting

Meeting took place last night at the Hillcrest Miners club. I would estimate that there was close to 100 people there.
People were concerned about the following issues:
Taxes/Utility Bills/Franchise Fees
The large amount of dollars being spent on consultants.
Growth in administration and the associated costs.
Thunder in the Valley
Community policing.
Financing of equipment

It was deter minded that the majority of people there were interested in moving the organization forward. The next meeting will be held at the Blairmore Legion Tuesday June 26th at 7pm, there will be elections held at that time for anybody interested in sitting on the executive.

Bellevue Seniors Centre Mixed messages

After reading the article in the Herald today I am getting a little confused, was the direction of the municipality to get rid of the Bellevue Seniors Centre after they had received the facilities audit report.
Or did it become such a hot political potato that the direction on the facility suddenly changed?

In the Pass herald article titled "Facility Audit encourages demolishion" dated March 13,2012
http://passherald.ca/archives/120313/index3.htm

The following was stated "The Bellevue Seniors' Centre was found to be in very poor and unsafe condition, and Thompson recommended that the building be decommissioned as soon as possible"

In today's paper http://passherald.ca/index2.htm article titled "Bellevue Seniors raise their voice" Mr Thompson stated the following "I do not think that we have made any indication that we are going to demolish the building" additionally he also stated "Overall, the Seniors Centre was deemed as marginal"

Several concerns the statement made at last weeks meeting provides a different much softer tone than the previous statement made back in February. (That potato getting hot?)
Then going back to that same first statement a determination needs to be made very quickly is that building safe or not? because if the municipality has a report in it's hands that says the facility is unsafe and something happens who is liable?


Side note: Can't wait to see those $70,000 Community Peace Officer vehicles our tax dollars are going to be paying for over the next year.
I remember sitting in a meeting listening to a consultant tell council that the peace officer program would pay for itself including start up costs by January of next year ?

Is this the direction we really wanted?

The following was posted has a comment on my recent post http://crowsnestpasshome.blogspot.ca/2012/05/tax-notices-are-in-25-fact-or-fiction.html
It originated on the Municipal Web site under minutes the commenter copied and pasted it to my blog.
I am reposting this to high light the issue. People need to read the minutes below and think about where we has a municipality are really going with this.



"The Protective & Community Services Summary Worksheet for Enforcement- Peace Officer was
presented.
• Automated Traffic Enforcement (ATE) was researched by Donna Tona, Interim Manager
of Protective Services. The Solicitor General requires a population of 5,000 to begin the
process of obtaining ATE. The Crowsnest Pass does require a policing agreement with
the RCMP as per the Crowsnest Pass Regulation.
• In order to provide proper chain of command within an enforcement unit, one of the
peace officers will be required to have a Sergeant’s Rank which will require a salary
adjustment.
• Peace Officers require updated training including a 40 hour Emergency Vehicle
Operations Course, Animal handling, and Use of Force.
• Formal documents are being prepared for the order of two Peace Officer units and their
equipment. Each vehicle will be equipped with Camera systems, radar, laser, onboard
computers, work consoles, prisoner transport system, rubber flooring system, OnStar,
lighting and siren system, vehicles are equipped for off road and factory tailored for
towing, and one unit will be equipped with a winch system, bumper guards with LED
lighting, shotgun system for wildlife only and a digital evidence work station. Cost of
each vehicle with the associated equipment is approximately $70,000.00."


My comments: 
First of all lets go back to what the municipality is trying to achieve here, I have heard lots of fanfare about cleaning up the community and straightening out the yahoo's driving up and down main street with loud mufflers disturbing the law abiding citizens. 
There is no question that there are people around here that need to clean up their properties. With a crack down on the worst offenders and some hefty tickets the problems above will get resolved. So there will be justification for a bylaw/peace officer until those issues are resolved. 


In the long term what are two Community Peace Officers going to do? they are going to become a cash cow. They are going to tap into the 12000 vehicles a day on highway 3 plus with the  Automated Traffic Enforcement (ATE) that will be set up in high volume areas they will attempt to bring in a lot of money.


A lot of money well think about it they will have to, we see above $140,000 just to set up the first two vehicle's let's give them a life of five years that's $30,000 a year for capital costs.


Now operational costs two community peace officers one of which we now find out will be a Sergeant your looking at 2080 hour a year each. One Officer in the range of $35 per hour and the other around $45 per hour that's $166,400 a year plus a 10% allowance for overtime and 25% for benefits. That number now becomes $228,800, then you are probably going to need another $40,000 a year to pay for all the other stuff required to operate this department (computers, cell phones, fuel, Insurance, uniforms, training, certifications, etc) .


Then it will only be a matter of time if you are writing a ton of tickets before you have to make the decision, do you want your officers sitting in the office doing paperwork or out on the road generating cash. So knowing the way government works after the first year they will be asking for "part time clerical support" which in year two will turn into the support staff is so over whelmed that we need to make this into a full time position. (Another $60,000 per year)


It wouldn't be long before between Capital costs, Officer costs, Clerical support, Other costs that this department will cost us the taxpayers a minimum of $360,000 per year. We have not even began to talk about court appearances, legal costs etc, because yes some people will fight these tickets.


At  an average of $100 per ticket that is 3600 tickets a year divided by 200 days per year that means our officers will have to write 18 tickets per day. 




Lots of questions with a program like this. Is that potential here for that volume of tickets?  Is it sustainable in the long term? How long before it becomes common knowledge that the Crowsnest Pass is a speed trap? How long before all the locals figure out where the enforcement is? Not trying to justify breaking the law but how many tourists will say to hell with the Pass when they receive their photo and bill in the mail?  


Mayor Decoux made a speech in council chambers last year about how famous the Crowsnest Pass has become thanks to Thunder in the Valley. Do we now wish it to become famous for being a speed trap?      
   

Council meeting of May 1,2012

• The Municipality now has its own Facebook page.
• The closing date for the hotel development proposals on the Crowsnest Centre site is May 18.
• The tender for the demolition of the Crowsnest Centre calls for a date of August 30 for the completion of the project.
• There was an announcement that a collective agreement containing “numerous changes” was concluded with CUPE last week they are waiting for CUPE to ratify it.
• Administration requested to continue the new meeting schedule until September, and re stated their preference to go to two meetings a month.
• Municipal Off site levies are suspended until the end of January 2013, then to be reviewed at that point.
• Taxes for the Food bank were waived.
• Mayor Decoux asked the rest of council what kind of reaction they received to the budget information letter, most of council stared at each other and gave the impression that they  received little response. Mayor Decoux announced that he had received “146 emails and 15 phone messages” most of them very favorable to the newsletter.
• Administration requested that council approve the release of half the funding for the Museum now and the other half after administration meets with the new Historical Society board. Administration is also looking at ways to assist the museum with their Insurance, Utilities, and Maintenance costs. They were instructed to report back to council on May 15.
• Request to allow the use of quads for the Sinister seven event approved by council, lots of comments around the room about how great it is to have an event that brings thousands of people and lots of money to the community.
• Bylaw 847,2012 Peace Officer/Enforcement Bylaw, Passed first reading
• Bylaw 849,2012 Municipal Emergency Management Committee and Agency Bylaw, Passed first reading.
• Bylaw 846,2012 False Alarm Bylaw, Passed first reading
• Councilor Gail requested that the municipality write a letter to the provincial government supporting the push to twin Highway 63
• Rum Runner Days web site has been updated. 

Crowsnest Pass how to run a community more efficiently using your tax dollars.

It seems almost ironic, just has we the taxpayers of the Crowsnest Pass sit patiently waiting to receive our Assessment Notices. To see how much that overall 2.5% tax increase has affected us as individuals. I finally received the information that I have been asking the municipality for since January 5.

How much have our leaders been spending on Consultants?

Today I picked up this massive two page document at the municipality the first page of which is basically a cover letter that says here is the information you requested.

The second page breaks down consultants that have paid for by the municipality since  Nov 1,2010, separated in to nine specific areas, here are just a few that people have been talking about for months.

Lets look at the first area Planning, Development, and Safety Codes remember the Mayor’s Task Force one of the members was Janet Hyde according to the report I have, she received $5,303 ? I also see on the list a payment of $19,000 made to Abiocon Strategies who could that be? Well very interesting when you google the company, after a couple of clicks on it’s web site who pops up? Janet Hyde.

Next appears a payment of $48,673 to “Friesen Tokar” they are described as a “Architectural, Landscape and Interior design company” with offices in Winnipeg and Calgary.

Then we take a look at the Fire and Enforcement area. We have all heard lots about the integration of the Fire and rescue departments and the upcoming establishment of the Community Peace Officer Program. We have already spent a whooping $140,000 restructing this departments.

Of that amount we spent $43,570 on “All Fire Investigations Inc” which when googled,  pops up has Kenneth Brands of Blairmore Alberta (Fire Chief who recently resigned). Then we see $80,345 spent with Transitional Solutions, finally under this category appears $13,055 paid to “Inn Heaven Bed and Breakfast” which is a bed and breakfast located right here in Coleman I can not imagine why we would incur a cost of over $13,000 to a Bed and Breakfast in Coleman to reinvent our Fire and Enforcement area.   

Lastly I turn to Administration, there we see $123,200 paid to Transitional Solutions. Now within the information an attempt is made to cover off the cost of Transitional Solutions by subtracting the cost of the CAO position and the manager of operations to the tune of $93,425.

The CAO position was vacant from June 15 to Nov 31 five and a half months.

Total on just the numbers listed above $333,146.

What does that mean to us as individuals? From a taxation point of view this year the Municipality is collecting an additional $264,162 from us in General Municipal Taxation an increase of 4% over last year and the largest increase in the last four years. All in a year where the assessment base actually shrunk by 2.5%.

I wish somebody would explain to me how your assessment base can shrink by 2.5% the amount of revenue collected by the municipality can go up 4%, and yet we only have a 2.5% tax increase. There is some very interesting number juggling going on. 

Fireworks To ban them or to ban them

Tuesday night on the agenda is the second and third reading of the Fireworks bylaw.

March 6 first reading passed by a vote of 4-3. With councilors Gail, Gallant and Saje opposed.


There was a presentation made by the Interim Fire Chief about the bylaw he spoke in support of banning the sale and use of fireworks in the Crowsnest Pass. He was questioned about the possibility of allowing fireworks under a regulated process. But made it very clear that where other communities have allowed it the process was so Onerous that in reality Fireworks are allowed but people do not sell them because simply the procees is so complicated that nobody can be bothered.

So hence the title of my post "To ban them or to ban them"

Now I am sure  some of the councilors have been feeling a little pressure on this issue (especially with Fireworks being such an hot topic right now) so maybe somebody will flip flop on the vote Tuesday night time will tell.

But really if the process is going to be so difficult that nobody will bother, you really are banning them you are just providing the decision makers the opportunity to say "I didn't support banning Fireworks, I voted to allow them" .

But on the other side of the arguement the more laws in place the more potential for the Community Peace Officers to pay there way.

  

Governance and Priorities Meeting Feb 21/2012

Two very interesting delegations at this meeting

First, was a Crowsnest Pass School Presentation led by Wes Wescott Principal of the High School, mostly focused around what is happening in the school? How they are approaching various groups to get the public more involved in where the school system is going. Some disturbing news they discussed the topic of school enrolment even though the mines have been hiring new employees by the hundreds, School enrolment is still dropping, in fact he stated that they anticipate enrolment to continue to drop 3% a year on average between now and 2020.

Second delegation was the Pass Powderkeg, truly one of the unique things about our municipality where else do you have a very affordable, family orientated facility like this in the middle of your community. The group gave a review of their master plan, which has some very ambitious plans for the future of the ski hill; they talked about a chairlift, Tube Park etc. Big dollars involved with this facility the question is always going to be how many taxpayer dollars you put in.

Then came the issue of the Standard Operating Procedures Manual for the Crowsnest Pass Municipal Enforcement Services.

Last item on the agenda sounded about has exciting as watching paint dry. However, I thought what the hell lets hear what they have to say. Especially thinking back to the fall when the Community Peace Officer issue was raised at the Chamber of Commerce Luncheon and how it was not going to cost the taxpayers a penny.

Interim Manager Enforcement Services, Transitional Solutions Inc. Donna Tona started the presentation regarding the manual, I got the feeling very quickly that this is quiet an in depth manual by the time she was finished I recognized it is going to take some highly qualified people to fill these positions.

Councilor Saindon asked when these positions will be filled (June 1) he wanted to know if that was realistic, she said yes lots of young guys coming out of school would love to come here (Strange nowhere in the discussion was there a mention of our present bylaw officer taking one of these positions, maybe we are going to have two peace officers and a bylaw officer, further stream lining of the municipality)

Then the question of cost was asked (did not think there would be any but maybe there’s a plan) council was told that it would be in the range of $35-40,000 per peace officer just to set them up with a truck and equipment, then the question was asked how long would it take for these officers to recoup their start up cost? By February 2013.

So then the discussion began around getting authority from the Solicitor General office to patrol Highway 3 through the municipality, Ms Tona explained that you could not do that until you have the peace officers in place. (Mayor Decoux remarked that is a bit of a catch 22) which she agreed too but stated do not fear if we do not get Highway 3, there are ample opportunities to generate revenue in the rest of the municipality.

This in turn brought up the issue of the unsightly premises bylaw, to which Ms Tona responded that there are 270-280 location in the Pass that are currently in violation of that bylaw. (Wow, I knew we had some horrible looking places in the Pass but 10% of what is here!).

Followed by the issue of OHV’s and how will the officers cash in on that revenue opportunity, Ms Tona advised it would not be difficult to place a peace officer at the various staging areas.

Councilor Gail asked the question wouldn’t all this enforcement push people away from the Pass to which Ms Tona stated there could be a strong reaction for 6-8 months, but people will adjust.

Several things that were not addressed during this meeting:

·   I have never heard of one community where Community Peace Officers recover 100% of there costs. (I could be wrong but if I am why don’t the RCMP follow the same model and make the burden of policing on the taxpayers zero)

·      Are these community Peace Officers going to be CUPE members, if there not I suspect that will be an issue in the bargaining process that just began two weeks ago.

·      If they are going to be CUPE members then there is no classification for Community Peace Officers in the collective agreement that will have to be negotiated.

·        Negotiations I expect could take a while yet. (unless Council’s has given up the drive to find efficiencies, or CUPE in an highly unlikely scenario just decides to roll over)  

·       June 1 is only 14 weeks away.

This machine we call the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass is just getting larger and larger, how long will it be sustainable