The River Town Times reported, Town approves $50,000 to fund implementation of staff accommodation review.
Councillor Leo Meloche questioned why the study was not a budget item during 2018 deliberations with CAO John Miceli admitting it had been missed. He said “for full transparency, we came to council” regarding the matter.
Not everyone is happy about council’s decision to have Windsor Police provide policing duties in the community.
Residents are still adding their names to an online petition to stop the unique proposal.
Commentary by Linda Saxon
Council’s motivation to compare policing costs was the level of municipal debt and it was committed to obtaining an OPP costing; it carried two motions to do so.
There were also other cost-saving options to reduce the police budget’s share of municipal taxes.
Council could have established the police budget and maybe taxpayers wouldn’t have been burdened with items like body worn cameras that large police services couldn’t afford because of data storage.
Despite claims over the years that the board was autonomous, according to the Police Services Act: Upon reviewing the estimates, the council shall establish an overall budget for the board for the purposes described in clauses (1) (a) and (b) and, in doing so, the council is not bound to adopt the estimates submitted by the board.
Council could have decided the taxpayers should only pay for a three member Police Services Board instead of the five recommended for a large police service.
Had council elected the OPP in 1998, when the OPP communication system was province wide, taxpayers might have realized $1 million savings annually, or $20 million by now, that could have been put toward infrastructure.
Instead, Amherstburg depended on others for dispatching and switched services a number of times from LaSalle, to Leamington, back to LaSalle, then to Windsor.
The proposed benefits of the 1998 amalgamation were identified as follows:
Amherstburg had access to the OPP specialized units and did require them on occasion, but will taxpayers now pay for specialized Windsor units 365 days a year whether they are needed or not?
The OPP’s mandate is to patrol the waterways so how necessary was an Amherstburg Police marine unit? Will a Windsor Police marine unit continue to be an unnecessary municipal expenditure?
The Police Services Board could have put an end to the OPP ‘poison pill’ clause in the police contract that seemed to inhibit the town obtaining an OPP costing.
The Windsor Star reported that Taxpayers in Windsor pay more per capita for policing than all other parts of Essex county, sometimes double that of its county neighbours policed by the OPP.
Given those verified figures, and because Amherstburg did not obtain an OPP costing as it was committed to doing, twice, Amherstburg taxpayers lost an opportunity to know if a better cost saving option was possible.
Consequently, no one can claim we got the best bang for our buck, despite that being the goal.
For the past twenty years I have maintained the Amherstburg Police hierarchical structure was costly and unnecessary; after all these years Windsor Police’s proposal to save money will see the hierarchy change.
The Ontario Civilian Police Commission’s Decision on St. Mary’s request to contract policing from Stratford Police Service.
Commentary by Linda Saxon
I inquired if any Police Service Advisors were involved in the police costing process because Advisors are readily available: see page 3 of the OACP (Ontario Association Chiefs of Police), A Process Guidebook for the Review of Policing Options 2012, the guide referred to by CAO Miceli:
“During any consideration of policing options, the initial responsibility of the advisor is to outline for the Board and Council their options and responsibilities under the Act and the potential implications of each. During a review of Policing Options, the advisor is available upon request to provide information and advice to participants in the process. Their advice is based on the legislation contained in the PSA, its regulations, and Ministry guidelines, as well as best practices that arise from other similar restructuring experiences.”
Requesting Ministry Advisors might have been productive and might have saved ratepayers from paying for a private firm like MPM Consulting.
Nomination Period: commences on May 1, 2018 at the Clerk’s Office during regular office hours.
Amherstburg’s website contains more information about the process and qualifications.
Commentary by Linda Saxon
On February 27, 2018, I requested CAO John Miceli answer three questions for me to post to theburgwatch.
On March 1, I emailed Miceli, cc council, that if he was unavailable to respond to my media questions, if he would please forward them to someone who can.
Eight minutes later, Miceli responded:
“All of the questions that you are asking are in relation to an OPP costing process. As you may or may not know the Town did not request an OPP costing instead the Town developed an RFP dictating the minimum level of service requested from proponents. Council approved this method of procurement of services and the OPP was invited to participate in the process. The OPP elected not to respond to the Town’s RFP. All of this was disclosed in public reports. With that being the case I do not believe I can offer you any further information.”
Unsure that there had been any investigation into obtaining the requested documentation, I emailed Miceli back:
“If you review my questions, the first involves Ministry Advisors, as mentioned in the OACP Guidebook you relied on and i’m merely asking if any were involved in the police costing process, in other words, the costing process the town undertook.
i conclude from your response that Berthiaume never did complete the form for the OPP; did he complete an equivalent form for Windsor?
A Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario hearing was held in Windsor to decide the allegations of Staff Sgt. Christine Bissonnette, who filed a human rights complaint after not being promoted to Inspector.
The Windsor Star reported, Bissonnette argued she was just as qualified as the men who got promotions. But, she said, there is “systemic discrimination” at the force that keeps her down.
“You have to understand the culture of this organization,” she told the hearing adjudicator after the police service’s lawyer repeatedly objected to Bissonnette’s examples.
The hearing is set to resume on dates yet to be selected in April or May.
As reported on Windsorite.ca, Town Council decided in favour of a 20 year contract with Windsor Police.
Election day is October 22, 2018.
Commentary by Linda Saxon
I emailed members of council the following:
As happy as I would be to be rid of Berthiaume, the Amherstburg police service and board, I fail to see how a contract with Windsor police will benefit the ratepayers, never mind entrenching a 20 year contract.
I wonder what all of you would say about such a contract if you were campaigning against a current council right now.
In my opinion, this costing process has not been transparent and it lacked accountability and responsibility.
Shortly after being elected, council was committed to obtaining all police costing comparisons.
The media reported that a committee was established to discuss costings.
The JPAC recommended that administration be directed to hire MPM Consulting and the media reported in January 2017 a consultant was hired to “weigh the benefits of keeping its own police force, amalgamating with another force or hiring the OPP.”
At the same time, the JPAC recommended that administration be directed to, in part, develop an RFP for Windsor and LaSalle to respond to and work with the OPP on the OPP costing.
It appeared the OPP would still be an option and that council was committed to its two motions to obtain an OPP costing despite the committee determining earlier the OPP costing was not feasible.
Council should have held administration and the JPAC accountable for not implementing council’s motions.
The River Town Times reported Town council wants to make the decision once and doesn’t want to accept or reject any proposal without knowing all the details, DiCarlo said. “It was always council’s position to look at all of the options at the same time,” he said. “The goal is to have all of the information in front of us.” (emphasis added).
In the end, taxpayers were denied an opportunity to provide input on a comparison of all policing costs and options and instead were reduced to submitting subjective and emotional responses to a limited choice.
the burg watch 