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Letter to the editor
The Peterborough Examiner
Sat Aug 2 2014
Page: A4
Section: Editorial/Opinion
Column: Letters to the Editor
GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF THE SNOW
A report revealed to council sitting as committee of the whole last Monday recommends the city contract out more of its winter control work -at a costly price. If approved, the proposal calls for the contracting out of snow removal for the City’s transit stops, municipal parking lots and 220 km of its 370 km of sidewalk and plans to spend about $160,000 in 2015 to hire a private company to do the work. By 2016, the City will have spent an additional $665,000 of taxpayers’ money on private contractors.
If last winter is any indication of what’s to come, the City of Peterborough needs to get its head out of the snow.
We know that trying to balance budgets is not an easy task. But why did City managers decide to wait until the middle of summer to present their recommendations to councillors -with roughly a week’s notice?
With no time to consider the impacts of their decision or to have any meaningful discussions to explore other viable solutions, City councillors and Peterborough residents are left in the dark about a decision that has the potential to affect residents for years to come.
The continued underfunding to municipalities by the province has forced many to look for short-term solutions -like contracting out to long-term problems. In January of this year alone, the City spent over half a million dollars in contracted out services. Rather than increase the amount spent on contracted out services, why doesn’t the City question the wisdom of so much money being paid to contractors? The high costs and loss of local control associated with contracted out services have become increasingly clear: the Auditor General has launched an investigation into winter road maintenance contracts across Ontario, after it was asserted that provincial winter control contractors were doing a bad job on purpose to extract more money from the province. The final report is due by the end of 2014.
If the province is examining the value of contracting out doesn’t it make sense for Peterborough councillors to do the same? Consulting those who are on the front line would be a start ; public safety in winter is critical and last winter proved to be a test for Ontario drivers and city workers alike.
It would also be a good time to examine growth in the City of Peterborough over the past 10 years, with no increase in the number of workers to keep up with the demand. Or analyze the value of creating seven to nine well paying jobs that contribute greatly to the local economy. The director of utility services himself said the cost of hiring staff and contacting out is roughly the same. I think most Peterborough residents would vote to keep taxpayer dollars where they belong … in this city!
When services are public and well-funded, they deliver a solid, reliable foundation Ontarians can count on. The citizens of Peterborough enjoy a good quality of life thanks to public services and those who deliver them. For them, there has to be a better way.
CANDACE RENNICK, SECRETARY-TREASURER, CUPE ONTARIO, BORN AND RAISED IN PETERBOROUGH.
