Coun. Mark King is officially pursuing the costing of OPP for the city of North Bay after declaring a motion on Tuesday night—and fellow councillor Chris Mayne said Wednesday he'll second the motion.
This declaration came after a public presentation by Miles Peters, president of the North Bay Taxpayers Association, (see complete presentation below) to members of council that night. In his presentation he said in light of Coun, King’s efforts to explore the OPP option and the cost at which the Police Services have created for the taxpayers, he was pleading to members of council to at least investigate the alternative for the city.
“Our Police Services last year consumed a budget of 16.9 million taxpayer dollars, supporting 129.4 employees averaging $130,600 dollars in annual compensation and benefits,” Peters said. “Meanwhile, the median citizen income in North Bay is $32,063.”
Peters was largely concerned with Police Chief Shawn Devine’s expressed ambitions for a new police headquarters to replace the building that opened in the early 1970’s because such a large investment would effectively remove the option of OPP from the table indefinitely by the obligations to the new facility.
“Now is the time to explore the OPP alternative in a totally unbiased and open manner to ensure that every citizen taxpayers receive the highest levels of affordable, effective, and professional police service in the most competitive manner available,” Peters said. “We need to compare facts rather than assumptions and hype.”
And while there were no questions or comments from councillors at the table, King brought forward his motion. But all said and done, at the time, King’s search for a seconder at the council table was met with silence.
“North Bay is very well served by having our own Municipal police force but the question of potential savings that might be seen through the use of a regional police service like the OPP has always been open to discussion," Mayne told BayToday about his decision to second the motion. "In seconding the motion to request a costing from the OPP I am hoping that as a Council we can make an informed decision about the level of service we want in our community and whether or not there would be any real savings in considering a contracted police force.
"I don’t see this as a cost-free exercise if we do proceed with working towards an OPP costing. There will be real costs to the local police services as they dedicate staff time towards working with the OPP to work out pricing and once that has been done an independent consultant would also need to be hired by the City to evaluate any potential savings," added Mayne.
"Some communities have gone through this exercise and been able to identify real savings, in other communities the comparisons have shown how valued community based policing can be and have actually stepped up their investment in their local force. The first step is to identify whether or not there would be any savings and if so, would the changes to our community-based police services be worthwhile.”
King can now bring the motion to the table for a vote, but he may be more hard-pressed to garner enough support to have the motion passed so that the option of having OPP could be investigated.
Taxpayers presentation to council:
Mayor McDonald, Honourable Members of Council, I thank you for this opportunity to address each of you and the citizens of North Bay on matters of deep concern. My Name is Miles Peters, President of the North Bay Taxpayers Association.
As each of you are aware there is a concerted effort from Councillor King to explore and examine the highly credible potential of substantial cost savings that could possibly be derived from examining the policing alternatives that are available to our citizens.
In light of the fact that our Police Services last year consumed a budget of 16.9 Million Taxpayer Dollars, supporting 129.4 employees averaging $130,600 dollars in annual compensation and benefits you can see the need for fiscal prudence and exploring alternatives is quite obvious.The department has 93.4 Sworn Officers and 36 Administrative Staff… Meanwhile…. the medium citizen income in North Bay is $ 32,063 Dollars.
My plea to each of you this evening is to, respect and carry out the responsibility to represent, protect and act in the best interests of those who carry the financial burdens of this city and explore every opportunity to potentially reduce our taxation and spending levels during these serious economic times, of declining population, private sector business demise and decreasing property values and assessment growth.
Our primary concerns surround prudent fiscal management, and the expressed ambitions to move towards investing millions of citizen dollars into a new facility that would essentially wipe the O.P.P. alternative off of the table indefinitely by the very fact of the obligations that would be inherent within that decision.
Now is the time to explore the O.P.P. alternative in a totally unbiased and open manner to ensure that every citizen taxpayer receives the highest levels of affordable, effective professional police service in the most competitive manner available. We need to compare facts rather than assumptions and hype.. We need to know that our elected representatives are doing everything within their power to manage every dollar according to the realities of our times and in accordance with their position of elected trust that has been bestowed upon them individually by our electorate.
If I may be blunt in closing, this issue calls for respectful examination, debate and a thorough investigation that will establish a decisive and honest conclusion. We respectfully ask each of you to re-examine your obligations and responsibilities towards taxpayers and move this issue of vital importance forward towards proving which alternative truly merits our taxpayer’s support.
Thank You.
