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KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK THURSDAY
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NOVEMBER 27, 2014 | Volume 27 No. 141
‘AN ABYSMAL FAILURE’
Snow surprise UP TO NINE INCHES FELL IN ABERDEEN CAM FORTEMS
AT A COST OF ABOUT $1,000 PER ATTENDEE, KAMLOOPS COUNCIL PONDERS FEWER PUBLIC BUDGET MEETINGS
ANDREA KLASSEN STAFF REPORTER andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
Several Kamloops councillors want to see a reduction in the number of budget meetings the city hosts annually in light of a report that puts the cost of this year’s sessions at more than $1,000 per in-person attendee. Tammy Robertson, the city’s business and client services manager, told council at its meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 25, that the city spent about $181,000 on public engagement in 2014. Of that amount, about $57,700 went to a pair of public consultation sessions on the 2015 budget, which were held in October. Only 44 members of the public attended the sessions, with another 18 participating online, compared to 32 members of staff who were present at each event. Robertson said the city estimates it spent $51,200 on staffing for the event, with the assumption staffers spent about four hours of regular work time preparing for, or dealing with feedback related to, the meetings. Coun. Ken Christian called spend-
STAFF REPORTER
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ing $57,700 on 44 people “an abysmal failure,” noting he doesn’t think the majority of the public is interested in discussing the city’s core service levels and other broad issues that do not affect them personally. Instead, Christian wants to see the city host the one public budget meeting it is mandated to hold each year, instead of its current schedule of two sessions in fall and one in mid-winter. Coun. Nelly Dever also suggested paring back the meeting schedule by hosting one meeting on core budget service levels per year, alternating between the North and South shores. However, Coun. Arjun Singh said he doesn’t think the city should judge the success of its engagement efforts based on one bad day of meetings, pointing out the city’s consultation came on the day of the attack on Parliament Hill, which made it difficult to get out the message about the event. “I think that if you’re in public service, the job is to keep in touch with the public again and again and again,” Singh said. “So, $180,000 spent, I think that’s a good investment.” See NEW COUNCIL, A7
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Making winter around Berwick on the Park just that much more wonderful are Painless Underground Sprinklers and Landscaping owner Stefan Flanders (left) and crew members Nick Smart and Darren Krecsy. The original plan was to begin a water-feature project, but the team jumped into snow-removal mode after the surprisingly heavy snowfall. To see photos of the massive snowfall taken by KTW readers, go online to kamloopsthisweek.com.
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While city crews deployed every truck, blade and shovel, the intensity of a wet, white storm yesterday smacked commuters right between the wheels. Streets and environmental services manager Glen Farrow said the city saw the storm coming, but struggled with the amount of snow that began falling steadily at about 3 a.m. yesterday (Nov. 26). “We had all our crews in place to attack it as soon as it hit . . . It was a short amount of time for that accumulation.” The city has a fleet of 14 trucks in addition to loaders and graders that can be utilized. Environment Canada predicted only about five centimetres, but as much as five times that much fell in Aberdeen. See QUICK THAW, A7
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