City Council's Hospitality Skills may need a bit of refinement

When the current City Council took their oaths of office back on November 7th, 2022,  Mayor Herb Pond upon returning to the post he held over a decade ago, noted for the public that City Hall was where the People's Business was done.

But as they do that people's business, while there is a welcome mat out for the public to join in on that business, sometimes it seems that the actual welcome and invitation to the Chamber could use a bit of work when it comes to hospitality.

As 2023 started off, Mayor Pond noted of a new addition to the Council meeting process at the end of January, that of an opportunity for members of the public to speak to Council if they find an item on the Agenda for the night that hey have comments or concerns about.

At the January 23rd session, Mr. Pond observed the following on the new feature. 

"What we do want to do, is if a member of the public reads the Agenda and says, Oh, they're going to talk about this tonight, I've got some comments I would like to make about it. 

At every one of our regular council meetings Item Number Five would allow you to come and make that presentation"

It was a welcome addition to the goal of more engagement with the Public, though as we saw most recently as the final February Council session,  it seems that sometimes the Council membership may not always read the agenda themselves before they turn on the microphones. 

That as a delegation to Council looking for some answers on a proposed land sale by the City had to explain how their attendance was not out of Order, but actually related to something from the Agenda.

The use of the new feature has not been frequent of late, but in some past occasions the suggestion that questions are not in order has been made when the public show up.

Though as we saw in February,  Council members were quick to move  to provide opportunity for those speaking to take their concerns on downtown parking to city staff, outside of the public meeting process. 

The need for rules of order is important, though the City might want to make more use of their information options to explain how their newest public speaking opportunity works  for the public.

Another area where the Public has access to their elected officials is through the monthly Committee of the Whole session, it usually takes place ahead of a Regular Council session and is designed to allow members of the public to come forward with any issue of note or concern to relay to the Council membership. 

Though curiously in February, the end of month session didn't take place at all. 

And as we noted in a story related to some current Social media discussion on the state of the downtown core, that was because it was decided that since no one had come forward previous to the session to indicate a desire to speak at the committee of the Whole, then there was no need to actually call one.

Council did announce a hastily called Committee of the Whole session for February 9th, though it appears that was announced mainly to receive a presentation from the city's consultants on Transportation themes.

The video of that Session has yet to be posted to the City's Video archive.

As it is for the Agenda related speaking opportunity, few in the community probably know about the range of civic rules and the City does not really go out of its way to remind the public about the valuable community engagement options.

Both the Agenda focused opportunities and those from the Committee of the Whole option  could use a bit more public exposure from the City to highlight the chance to engage with our elected officials.

Whether anyone has registered prior to the scheduled Committee of the Whole session or not, the Mayor or Chair of the meeting on the night should probably still go through the motions of asking if anyone has any questions for the opportunity, just on the off chance someone in the community has made the effort to attend a Council session.

The Third area of active Public Engagement is through the calling of a Public Hearing, those are specific to zoning themes for the most part and allow the public to make a contribution to the discussion prior to Council approving or turning aside a request for a change.

While the Public Hearing process has been hit and miss on attendance so far in 2023,  the public consultation process has provided for some interesting discussions this year when folks show up. 

Though at times the way the City provides for its Council broadcast, serves to sabotage any best intentions, with poor audio and other glitches leaving anyone viewing from home lost as to what anyone is saying.

Of note to that theme was the most recent Public Hearing on a proposed Height change amendment for new buildings in the downtown core. During that Public hearing, the contribution of former Mayor Jack Mussallem was the thing of a silent movie.

It was a lost opportunity for sure when it comes to an overview from someone who could  call on both his Mayoralty experience and his time as Senior Staffer at City Hall to offer some insight to the issue.

The three elements of engagement available for the public to become active participants and offer guidance for the Council membership are valuable elements. 

As is the use of the Rupert Talks Portal where residents can access more background information on City initiatives.

Hopefully Council will take the initiative to build on them and provide the public with a welcome to participate and to  have some belief that their voice is important.

The get their first chance to reaffirm that dedication towards more community engagement on Monday, when the first of the two monthly Council sessions for March takes place.

More notes on City Council themes can be reviewed from our archive page.

It's the Blue vs the Red come March 18th at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre

The CIHL season may have ended a bit to early for the hometown Prince Rupert Rampage and the hockey season is almost at an end for the energetic youth of the PRMHA.

But there will still be ice in the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre at Mid March,  and still one big date to circle on the calendar when it comes to a little shinny at the Jim.  

That's Saturday, March 18th when the city's Fire and Police services take to the ice with this years competition set to benefit the Kid Sport program in the community.

The return to the ice for the two sides comes after a three year absence owing to the COVID period, the RCMP holding the bragging rights for the moment as the defending champions of this Battle of Badges on the Ice. 

The lineups for both teams could see a few familiar names as we get closer to puck drop on the 18th as well. 

Both sides have some current or former Rampage members to call on for on ice duties and some other members of the CIHL team could show up as ringers for either side come game time at mid month.

You can pick up your tickets for the March 18th showdown at Cook's Jewellers, Rupert Cleaners or at the Door at the Jim prior to the 7 PM puck drop.

Admission is 10 dollars for what should be an energetic and hard fought showcase on the ice.

For more notes on Community Events see our archive page here.

SD52 adds some money to the 2022-23 budget following Amended Budget Session February 28th

The members of the Board of Education currently making plans for their next budget, took a trip back in time to the one they adopted last year, with a Special Board Session called on Tuesday night to provide for an amended budget for 2022-23.

As they took to their work they did so with a new face taking part in the hybrid Zoom and In person session, with the School District bringing in Mr Gerry Slykhuis to serve as what has been described as a Helping Secretary-Treasurer that after the District and former Secretary Treasurer Cameron McIntyre parted ways in early February.

We expanded on the Senior Administration change here.

"Helping Secretary Treasure" -- Gerry Slykhuis took SD52 officials
through their Amended Budget process on Tuesday evening

On Tuesday night, both Mr. Slykhuis and Director of Finance Brittney Verissimo took the Trustees and other senior staff members through the financial themes of the amended budget. 

Highlighting areas of spending, revenue, funding and enrolment that all contributed to the revised financial plan for the rest of the current school year.

The "Helping Secretary Treasurer's" opening remarks providing for the narrative of how the amended budget came together, as well as the work ahead on the next Budget now in development.

"It's been a bit of an expedited approach to budgeting in the last month or so, I really appreciate the work that Andrew and Brittany have put into this.  

And there's few a areas that we probably won't go into as much detail as we might normally do, but we'll be starting on the new budget for next year's pretty soon and that will give us a chance to move to that"

By the end of the 46 minutes of presentation and discussion, the Board of Education had added an additional three million dollars to their finances for this current year, those mostly achieved through a shuffling of money from reserves.

The opening theme from the District's newest recruit on financial guidance, was to look at the timelines of the Amended Current Budget and that which they will develop for approval in June for the year ahead.

From the chart above,  Mr. Slykhuis observed of the current process which had a deadline of the same night of the meeting and the process ahead for the next budget

"Here we are end of February, ideally we would have been here a little bit sooner but better late than never and then having everything in to the Ministry and approved by the Board by February 28th.

And just for reference down below is the preliminary budget process, which normally we would be starting just after Christmas, starting to think about what's going to happen for next year.

This is the more important budget in a lot of ways, because this is where you make there really big decisions. 

The amended budget you're more or less quantifying what's changed since the previous year but it's too late, in February it's too late to make major staffing or program decisions.

You really have to make those in the Spring at the latest in order to really impact those.

You can't make major reorganizations of schools or departments this late in the year, so that process that should be beginning really any day now is really important and be a lot more in touch with the Board about making those major decisions. 

Through to getting the three readings by the end od June"

The enrolment data provided a glimpse into 1.5 million dollars in lost revenue due to declining enrolment in the District. He also observed that there is a growing percentage of Special Needs students currently in the District.

Ms. Verissimo then provided a Comparison of the Preliminary and Amended Budgets for 2022-23 highlighting some of the areas of note related to revenues and expenses.

Trustees offered up a number of questions on the area of expenses including the elements of insurance to benefits.

Towards moving some of their financial resources around the District has taken from the surplus of June 2002 towards areas in five line items. The Board will be taking money in Capital projects related to vehicles and software purchases.

Other areas used included  Planned Projects, Training and the surplus from Indigenous Ed Targeted Funds and School Carry over funding.

It was noted that taking from the surplus areas was utilized so as not to make cuts in other areas.

Mr. Slykhuis expanded a bit more for the Board members on how that process works.

"The Indigenous Ed targeted funds and School Carry Over funds that's normal that the surplus they have carried over in previous years they would plan to spend in the following year. 

The Internally Restricted Funds, the other ones. Those are where the Board last year, or some year previously said: we want to set money aside for something,  for a rainy day, for a project. 

And what we're saying is the Board can then say OK, let's put that project on hold for a year and use this money now to balance the budget, rather than try to make cuts this late in  the year.

So we're recommending that you take it out of these reserves for this year to balance and then as we go into the preliminary budget process for next year, the Board can say OK I think we would like to put some of that back or decide maybe we'll  just put that off for now"

Towards those cuts, the District received a recommendation of reductions of 105,868 dollars.

A snap shot of the revenues for the District provided a graphic overview of how the District is dependent on provincial funding and how changes from Victoria can have a big impact on the local schools.

The Slideshow portion of the presentation provided a review of how the School District allocated the funding that it received for 2022-23.

Towards some of the funding received, Board Chair Kate Toye thanked Mr. Slykhuis  praising his work on the overview and noting how it was informative for the Board and served to highlight the guidelines that come with the funding.

" I just want to thank you as well for this. Because speaking for myself as well from before being a trustee, there's a perception that there's money that we're just not spending as a District.

 

But it's because it's very regimented how that can be spent"

To bring it all together, the Board was asked to approve the amended Annual Budge Bylaw, with a near three million dollar difference between the original amount and the amended version adopted on February 28th.

The final amount of the Amended Budget Bylaw from SD52

The trustees followed up with some questions related to elements of the presentation, among the contributions was one from Trustee Kristy Maier towards how the District's increase was realized and where it was allocated.

In response, Mr. Slykhuis outlined where the additional three million dollars was directed towards

"About 800,000 of that is in the Special Purpose funds and that slide we showed with the changes there, the remaining is in the Operating Fund ... about a 1.8 million dollar increase"

Other questions and observations were related to the cuts in Information Technology department and how they would attempt to return money towards that department in the future.

You can view the 46 minute Board session to amend the 2022-23 budget below:

The process of working on the next budget which got underway in January, will continue through March and into April. The most recent schedule has the Board set to approve their Budget for 2023-24 on April 20th.

The School District's information relay on Budget 2023-24 can be reviewed here.

More notes on Education in Prince Rupert can be reviewed here.

With 2023-24 Budget process still underway, SD52 makes Senior Administration change at Secretary-Treasurer post

Described as a "Helping Secretary-Treasurer.", Mr. Gerry Slykhuis who currently
works with the Fraser-Cascade School Board in Hope serve as a financial
guide for SD52 on Tuesday evening.

School District 52 hasn't yet made any public announcement about a senior staffing change from the first week of February.  

But by way of the video of their most recent discussion on budgetary themes, School District  Superintendent Andrew Samoil introduced Gerry Slykhuis for the Board members on hand for the session and those in the community viewing through video.  

The newest face around the Board Zoom screen a fellow who described himself as having a new title for him, that of a "Helping Secretary-Treasurer."

The helper, has some extensive experience in School District finance, including as the former Secretary-Treasurer of Chilliwack School District 33 and currently holds the same post with Fraser-Cascasde School District 78 in Hope.

In total his CV includes over 40 years of financial guidance for a number of School Districts in the province.

The introduction at the start of a special Session called to Amend the 2022-23 Budget would seem to be as close to confirmation as we are going to get, towards an internal correspondence for staff members  at the School District in early February. 

A short advisory that noted that as of Friday, February 3, 2023 Cameron McIntyre was no longer an employee of School District Number 52 Prince Rupert. 

The District at the time noting that it had contracted a temporary Secretary-Treasurer with plans to start the recruitment process for a replacement.

The change somewhat curious in timing, coming as it does just as the District began its public consultation process on the 2023 Budget 

Mr. McIntyre was the host of the January 31st Budget presentation and public engagement session, which seemingly was his last public duty for the Board.

The District of course can make the staffing decisions it believes necessary, but they also have a duty to advise parents, guardians and the public which pays the taxes that keep the schools running as to when those decisions have been made.  

Particularly one would think when it comes to such a high profile area as the Secretary-Treasurer position, which for most would seem rather important towards the creation of a Budget and providing for the District's financials.

When SD52 replaces a principal, or a Superintendent they announce the move and make mention of the replacement,  but in this case, the senior staffing situation has been a topic not noted publicly for a full month.

As we've noted in the past, the School District and elected Board of Education is not particularly strong when it comes to information sharing, the public School Board meetings at times more of a School Spirit session, with much in the way of noting of the achievements of students and staff, which is a positive and welcome thing to hear of.

However, clearly there are other issues that parents and guardians need to know about  when it comes to education and how the District is run and those rarely make for discussion topics, or questions from the Trustees at the Board meetings. 

Such themes also rarely if ever make for any kind of public information release whether through the District website or Social media stream.

The Board Meetings which have continued the COVID era process of a hybrid of in Person and Zoom options, often have such a range of audio and visual troubles that sitting through a full session takes some strong resolve of the viewer. 

Something which could also serve to drive away any interest by those who would like to keep up with what the Board is up to.

As it is, the information flow of those meetings is hit and miss, weeks can go by before the meeting is placed on the video archive, if it ever is. 

For instance while the School District posted the February 28th Amended Budget session to their video portal the day after it took place, the Regular Board meeting from February 21st however has yet to be included among their listings.

Those gaps in the delivery of important elements of their work should be of some concern for parents and guardians that do have an interest in Board operations.

A lot of the work of the Senior Administrators and the elected Board is to provide the parents, guardians and stakeholders in education in the community with confidence in how the District is administered.  

That means providing for frequent communication on all the elements of the District whether they be good news stories, or areas that need to be addressed.

That delivery of information is not exactly the strongest nature of their work that comes through of late from the Board.

As for the work of the new "Helping the Secretary-Treasurer post", the overview of a rather impressive presentation that Mr. Slykhuis made for the Board at the February 28th Amended Budget session can be reviewed here.

More notes on Education in Prince Rupert can be reviewed here.

Ministry of Transportation and Highways takes you into an Avalanche Control Event on Highway 16

 

Ministry of Highways and Transportation Workers at 35 Mile  near Terrace
last night on Avalanche Control work
(From BC Transportation)

As travellers along Highway 16 are more than aware, winter travel means the occasional road closure for Avalanche Control

We made note of one of the most recent control events earlier this week. 

But there have been a few others, with the most recent work done just last night

Ministry of Transportation and Highways personnel conducted three timed explosions on March 1st  to remove dangerous snow debris that could come down to the highway.

Highways Officials had a video crew on hand at 35 Mile located west of Terrace last night to record that work.

You can check it all out from their twitter feed here.

You can learn more about upcoming Avalanche Control work from the Drive BC website and twitter feed.

Follow the BC Transportation twitter feed for more notes on highway work across the province. 

More items of interest on the Northwest highways can be reviewed from our archive page. 

PRMHA Road Trips in February: Under Nines take in a Canucks game, Under 15 Seawolves in Prince George for tourney

The PRMHA Under Nines made it to the Rogers Arena Jumobtron
this past weekend as they took in a Canucks game
(image from PRMHA FB)

This past weekend made for some special travel for a few Prince Rupert Minor Hockey Association players, the PRMHA noting through their social media stream of the travels for the Under 9 Division and those of the Under 15 Rep team.

For the younger set it was a trip to Vancouver to take in a Canucks game against the Boston Bruins, with a cameo appearance on the Rogers Arena Jumbotron for them. 

And the seats to take in the action were pretty impressive,  with a great view of the ice.

For The U15 Seawolves it was trip down Highway 16 to Prince George for a Rep Tourney featuring six Northern teams taking to the ice.

You can check out some photos of the travels here.

This weekend has the Under Nine Teams in action hosting a tournament, while the Under 7 teams are off to Terrace for a tournament there.

The season is quickly winding down for the PRMHA with only a few more weeks until a farewell to the 2022-23 season.

Check out the Arena schedule here, you can follow the latest notes from the PRMHA from their Social media stream.

More notes on Minor Hockey across the Northwest can be found here.

Salvation Army to host Open House Friday to showcase new kitchen facilities

 

Lieutenant Dawn Butt of the Prince Rupert Salvation Army
will be welcoming the public to their Grenville Court home
 as part of the Grand Opening for the refurbished kitchen facility
(Photo from PRPA)

The doors to the Salvation Army's Greenville Court home will swing open tomorrow, as officials offer opportunity for the community to come explore their new kitchen facilities. 

The recently renovated site making for a key element to their local food program which serves many community members who are in need.

As we outlined back in February, with the work now complete, all of the Salvation Army's food programs are now back under one roof that after an extensive renovation program which saw more than 1.15 million dollars in upgrades put in place.

Forty percent of that total came through funding from the Prince Rupert Port Authority's Community investment fund.

Tomorrow's open house is also a luncheon as part of their Soup for the Soul project. 

With all members of the Community invited to stop in from 11AM to 1:30 PM, the Salvation Army is located at 25 Greenville Court just beside the Senior's Centre and adjacent to Coast Mountain College.

More Community Note themes can be reviewed here.