THURSDAY
K A M L O O P S
THIS WEEK Thursday, July 4, 2013 X Volume 26 No. 53 www.kamloopsthisweek.com X 30 cents at Newsstands
City managers’ pay rises 15-20 per cent
THE STORY OF ‘EVIL’ By Tim Petruk STAFF REPORTER
tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
As you are reading this, Jack Froese is sitting in a jail cell somewhere. Maybe he is still at Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre, waiting to find out to which federal penitentiary he’ll be shipped off to begin serving his indeterminate sentence behind bars. Maybe he is at the Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon, where he spent time — and received failed sex-offender treatment — following a rape in 2004. Or, maybe he is at one of the dozens of other federal institutions between B.C. and Nova Scotia. What is undeniable is that Froese is an “evil” person — that word was uttered by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Peter Rogers last week when he labelled the 33-year-old a dangerous offender, making it a distinct possibility he will die before ever spending another day outside the walls of a prison. What is also undeniable is that the Nov. 23, 2011, rape of a Kamloops woman — the horrific crime for which the Crown sought Froese’s dangerous-offender designation — could have been prevented. Kamloops This Week was the only media outlet to apply successfully in B.C. Supreme Court for access to the psychiatric and probationary reports on Froese entered as exhibits during his dangerous-offender hearing. The stacks of documents tell the story of an evil — to once again use the judge’s words — and sadistic serial rapist who showed no remorse for any of his victims, and one who deserves to be locked away for good. But, the documents also tell the story of a deeply troubled man who could have easily been behind bars — as he is at this very moment — when the November 2011 rape took place and irrevocably changed the life of an innocent woman.
Number of staffers making $100K nearly doubles from 2011 to 2012
This is the story of Jack Froese, which continues in the Tuesday, July 9 edition of KTW. ‘RAPE FANTASIES’ When Jack Froese was released from a Calgary jail in May of 2011 and decided to take up residence at his mother’s house in Valleyview, Kamloops Mounties went out of their way to make sure everyone knew just who was coming back to town. Police issued a rare public-safety bulletin including Froese’s picture, a brief description of his crimes and a list of strict conditions he was to follow. Froese had served the entirety of his Alberta sentence — eight months, after more than a year in pre-trial custody following a domestic dispute with his live-in girlfriend — so he wasn’t on probation or parole. Instead, authorities told the career criminal he would have to agree to live under conditions if he wanted to be in Kamloops. Froese signed a Section 810.2 peace bond on May 13, 2011, in Abbotsford, after being shipped from the Calgary Correctional Centre to a federal institution in B.C. Short of setting up a 24-hour detail on Froese, Kamloops RCMP did everything in their power to make sure he was following his conditions to the letter of the law, knocking on his door nightly — sometimes more than once — to ensure his 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew was being satisfied. Given that determination on the part of police, the beat cops who were tasked with knocking on the Froese family’s door were likely looking for any excuse to drag him to jail. And they did. More than once. Just two days after moving in with his mom, on May 17, 2011, Froese was picked up by Mounties on suspicion of drug possession and assault. Those charges were later stayed. X See PROBATION A12
THE STORY OF ‘EVIL’, PART 2 — IN JULY 9 EDITION OF KTW
Kelowna • Penticton • Salmon Arm • Valleyview Rutland • West Kelowna • Vernon • North Kamloops • Sahali
By Andrea Klassen STAFF REPORTER andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
Kamloops city councillors aren’t the only ones at city hall having their pay hiked based on provincial averages. Senior managers with the City of Kamloops took home an extra 15 to 20 per cent in pay last year, the result of a multiyear increase meant to bring their salaries in line with counterparts in other municipalities. According to the city’s 2012 statement of financial information, parks, recreation and cultural services director Byron McCorkell received the biggest bump of any top-level manager, going from $151,587 in gross pay — which includes taxable benefits like vehicle and parking allowances and MSP and life-insurance premiums — to $185,803 for 2012, an increase of more than $34,000. David Duckworth, former public works director and current head of corporate services and community safety, made about 15 per cent more in 2012, going from $154,970 to $178,095. Finance director Sally Edwards also got an 18 per cent pay bump. In 2012, she earned
SALARY
SURVEY BYRON RON MCCORKELL: MCCORKELL 2012 salary was $185,803, compared to 2011 salary of $151,587, due in part to cashing in unused vacation days.
SALLY EDWARDS: 2012 salary was $176,587, compared to 2011 salary of $148,624.
DAVID DUCKWORTH: 2012 salary was $178,095, compared to 2011 salary of $154,970.
$176,587, compared to $148,624 the year before. City CAO David Trawin said increases for directors were approved under previous CAO Randy Diehl. “We look at all the management salaries every couple of years and compare them across, just like they’re doing in council right now, comparing them with other communities,” he said. That was done two years ago as Diehl prepared to retire. The resulting survey found most managers with the city were making salaries in line with other communities of similar size — except for directors and the CAO. Trawin said it’s council policy to pay man-
agement a “middle of the pack” salary, noting council of the day agreed to bump up directors’ wages. “What was developed to avoid sticker shock was an increase to move them up over a two- or threeyear period,” Trawin said. The first increase took effect in July of last year. Trawin said not all directors’ salary increases are permanent. McCorkell in particular was paid more because he cashed out much of his vacation time in 2012. Similar payouts bumped up now-retired corporate services director Len Hrycan’s salary by about $40,000 in his final year with the city. Trawin said a corporate restructuring is also responsible for some of the pay increase given to Duckworth and McCorkell. Duckworth’s department now looks after information and technology services for the city, which was formerly a finance-department project. Likewise, the parks department took over facilities management and much of the city’s corporate-sustainability file from the public works department. X See TRAWIN A6