Humboldt City Council debated the merits of a second Community Safety Officer to serve the city and potentially surrounding communities that have been hopeful about purchasing services.
The idea presented to Council by way of a report would see a casual, part-time addition to the service provided by a retired RCMP officer that’s expressed an interest in such a position. Council noted the advantage of having an individual who requires no additional training and who is well qualified to meet the needs of the position.
The mandate would be to function in the same capacity as the current CSO with the ability to cover off vacation days and to supplement services during peak times like the Summer Sizzler.
Some surrounding communities and municipalities are hoping to fill in a gap in those bylaw enforcement, and they've expressed an increased interest in enforcement services through the City of Humboldt.
Because of grants, money has been made available to cover EMO plan renewals. The City’s Protective Services Director Mike Kwasnica said the money previously budgeted for the EMO project would cover the salary of the second officer based on a one-day-a-week trial scenario. Kwasnica stated one of the hopes was that the experienced part-time CSO would lend considerable skills to updating the EMO plan, an exercise that’s much needed to maintain standards.
Some councillors expressed concerns that without a firm commitment from those interested municipalities, it would be hard to know what the budget scenario would be like for a second officer (on a part time basis) beyond 2025.
There was also the hope that a clear job description would be prepared to outline the duties of the officer. Councillor Marilyn Scott relayed the perception that the CSO’s time was largely spent on traffic measures.
“There have been times where traffic has been taking more of a priority,” stated Kwasnica. “I do get a lot of complaints on traffic, so when I get the complaints, I direct our CSO to those complaints. A lot of them are speeding, stop signs and school zones. We do address a lot of messy yards. So, as a complaint comes in, we prioritize it and assign it, and generally it’s put front and center of anything that needs to be done.”
City Manager Joe Day expressed that previous rejections of the notion of a second CSO were based on the position being full time, creating a definite impact on the budget.
As for a CSO contracting services outside of Humboldt, it’s a bit of a chicken and egg scenario, Day explained.
“Nobody (other communities) wants to commit to it (the service) until they know it’s coming, and we don’t know it’s coming until we can have others commit to it,” said Day during the deliberations. “This would provide us an opportunity to run with it in this version from now until the end of the year so Council can see what it’s like by budget time at the end of 2025.”
In the end, Council passed the recommendation (4-2) to go forward with a single day a week trial.