Kamloops City Councillors have approved increases to the contingent of Community Services Officers and firefighters as part of this year’s supplemental budget.
The ask was to take the contingent of CSOs to 30 full time equivalent (FTE) positions and four crew leaders by adding 6.7 FTEs – 4.7 additional Community Services Officers and two additional Crew Leaders – while also converting 5.3 existing part-time FTEs into full-time positions.
“The residual impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and age demographics on RCMP recruitment and retention have created challenges in increasing member staffing levels at the detachment,” a staff report from the City said.
“As such, Community Services Officer support at the street level has and continues to increasingly become a key component of joint resource allocation. To facilitate staffing Community Services Officers on an extended schedule, additional resources are required.”
The expansion will come at a cost to taxpayers at $888,000 this year and $878,000 a year from 2024 through 2027, with money going towards staffing costs, training, uniforms and personal equipment.
“We hear the business community crying out and expressing their struggles. We see that,” Councillor Katie Neustaeter said Tuesday, noting community safety is a big area of focus for City Council.
“It is a top priority item in our strategic plan and we care very much about it. Safety is a conversation amongst us every single day and we are all equally invested in making that happen.”
Councillors voted 6-1 in favour of the proposal, with mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson the only one against it, citing an ongoing arbitration ruling between the city and CUPE 900 over the decision to turn the bylaws department into a community services model.
“I’m just wondering if right now is the time to do that because it’s unfinished business right now,” Hamer-Jackson said. “I don’t believe it rolled out that great.”
CAO David Trawin said while arbitration had been complete, pending the release of its decision, the City will still need more staff in the department.
“We still need more personnel to undertake what council wants us to undertake,” Trawin said.
Councillor Bill Sarai recused himself from the discussion as his son works as a CSO. Councillor Margot Middleton wasn’t present at Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole Meeting.
“When we look at the CSO officers that are actually working with RCMP and actually helping them to be more efficient, to have more effective policing in our community, I think this is a win-win,” Councillor Mike O’Reilly said Tuesday.
“Certainly there have been challenges as this program has been developed and rolled out, but I believe we’re at a point where this program is being looked at by municipalities throughout the entire province as being a leader in B.C. and I think we should stay a leader.”
Speaking on NL Newsday, O’Reilly said he thinks the mayor’s opposition could have been because he wanted more outreach workers – a notice of motion to that effect was defeated at council – but noted outreach is part of a CSO’s job.
“I think if you look at what a CSO is now, they actually now have training in outreach and so they are that hybrid between an outreach worker but at the same time, being able to help these individuals and get them into facilities that they want to go into, get them into housing, into these programs,” O’Reilly said.
“It is a good program and also if you look, they do jail work as well, and so its not just a CSO, its not just a bylaw officer, its not just giving out parking tickets, its all encompassing and all inclusive and that’s what makes this program so successful.”
City staff said last month that recruitment to fill in these positions will begin in spring 2023.
City to add 10 firefighters in Westsyde
Kamloops council was unanimously in favour of hiring 10 more firefighters to fully staff the Westsyde Fire Hall.
Chief Ken Uzeloc says with a full compliment of four firefighters per shift – up from the current two – Kamloops Fire and Rescue will now be able effectively respond to emergencies in the Westsyde area instead of waiting for backup.
“So for example, if there is a fire in Westsyde, that two person crew cannot even enter the structure to perform a rescue or start a fire attack based on the office of the fire commissioner and WorkSafeBC guidelines,” he said. “Therefore they wait for the next in crew.”
“On a medical call that two person crew can start doing patient care. A motor vehicle accident, any other type of call, they need to wait and that other crew primarily comes from Station 2 in Brocklehurst, which is already our busiest station.”
While there is a complement on paid, on-call firefighters in Westsyde that assist the career firefighters, Uzeloc says it takes time to mobilize them when a call comes in, meaning KFR has to send in those resources from Brocklehurst.
“Every time we pull Station 2 out to go cover and assist Station 4 in Westsyde, we create a domino effect which then requires more movement of trucks and people from other stations, or increases our response time and reduces our performance across the board,” Uzeloc added.
The move will cost about $1 million paid through taxation this year, a tax increase of 0.83 per cent. Another $100,000 from the city’s gaming reserve will fund minor renovations to Station 4 to house the additional staff.
Next Steps
Aside from a $50,000 request from Venture Kamloops to complete a real estate data analysis, councillors approved all 10 supplemental budget items – listed below – that were presented this year.
An ask from Venture Kamloops for $50,000 to fund an economic impact study was approved, with councillors noting the real estate sector could produce the real estate study itself.
Also approved was the addition of fleet vehicles for CSOs and the parks department, a fund to be used for boulevard and streetscape beautification, road upgrades at the Pacific Way Exit 367 Ramp at Highway 1 and at Summit Drive and Highway 1, a marquee welcome sign, a North Shore Public Realm Improvement Fund, and an acceleration of cycling infrastructure in Kamloops.
Not all of the items had an impact to the 2023 tax rate, though Kamloops taxpayers are now looking at a 6.81 per cent increase this year, up from the 4.96 per cent increase going into Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting.
Chamber of Commerce tentatively supports budget decisions
The Kamloops Chamber of Commerce is giving a tentative “thumbs up” to the decisions made by Kamloops City Council when it comes to tax increases.
Chamber first vice-President Tim Shoults says while they would have preferred the tax hit to have stayed under five per cent, he says the Chamber does recognize the need for some of the supplemental budget items approved.
“When you look at that list, a bunch of them are things that are supported through capital, through debt, or gaming funds or external funding and while that is real money, its not money that causes your tax bill or your local businesses tax bill to go up directly,” Shoults said.
Saying they support the two main supplemental budget requests – an increase in Firefighters and Community Service Officers – Shoults suggests it could be worse.
“We applauded the city’s work originally because the provisional core tax increase before supplemental items announced back in November was 5.6 per cent, which we found quite concerning and they managed to get that down going into the supplemental process to just under five percent,” he added.
The City has yet to approve the 2023 budget and tax rates with the mayor and councillors set to vote on the financial bylaws in April.
– With files from Bill Cowen and Brett Mineer
