The City of Williams Lake announced yesterday that traffic fine amendments to Traffic Control Bylaw #2093 will be subject of public consultation meetings in January of 2011. This is in advance of a Council decision on this matter. As a rule - City Staff are not supposed to anticipate what Council will decide. After all, suppose Council decides to defer putting the purposed increased traffic fines to the public, then Staff would look like fools, given the press release (see below) was published in today's Williams Lake Tribune.
Furthermore, this Council is going to put the small matter of increased traffic fines to the public in January of 2011, yet the more serious matter of what City of Williams Lake residents' as it pertains to the new False Alarm Bylaw (specific fines and fees) will not be put to the public prior to Council adopting this bylaw tonight (Tuesday, Nov 23rd). Some would call this hypocrisy. Another reason why Council needs to expedite the idea of a Public Consultation Policy (Regulatory Bylaws) at City Hall. This on the heels tomorrow (Wednesday, November 24th) that Council promised the community that a Policy on Public Consultation for Regulatory Bylaws would be forthcoming (this after Council passed Bylaw #2093 - Traffic Control Bylaw in 2009 but failed to consult the community prior to adopted it in the summer of 2009)
See the City of Williams Lake Press Release below:
Public consultation will be held in the coming months before City Council considers any changes to the bylaw regulating parking fines to encourage fine payment.
Council, meeting as Committee of the Whole, heard a staff presentation Nov. 16 outlining suggested changes to the bylaw in order to have fines paid, and paid in a prompt manner.
“There will be no changes to the bylaw until public consultation is done, as with any amendment to a bylaw,” says General Manager of Planning and Operations Geoff Goodall. “We always welcome input as we work to make our bylaws more effective, and we will let residents know when public consultation events will be held.” Public consultation will likely take place in January.
Under the suggested changes, there will be a slight increase to the fines for some parking violations, from $20 to $25, if paid within five calendar days. All City parking violations would be levied a $25 fine. If not paid within that time frame, the cost of the ticket rises to $75, the same fine levied in Quesnel.
“We don’t want the $75; we want tickets to be paid promptly,” Goodall says. “Currently, 60 per cent of our parking tickets go unpaid, and it is an unnecessary burden to our bylaw staff to have to go through the time-consuming task of chasing down unpaid tickets.”
When a ticket goes unpaid, the costs associated with processing a ticket largely outweigh the costs of the initial ticket, and this increase for failing to pay a ticket
(within the allotted time) is meant to cover paperwork costs and court time officers spend waiting in court to prosecute these unpaid fines. Residents can still challenge the ticket and proceed with all the previous steps of appeal if they feel the ticket was given in error.
Mayor Kerry Cook reiterated that no changes will be made to the bylaw without public consultation, and that parking fines will increase only slightly for those who pay promptly.
“Council has been apprised of staff’s suggestions, and we want to hear from residents,” she says. “We will be interested in what they have to say during public consultation, and I encourage anyone with ideas, suggestions, or concerns to participate.”
She added: “We want our bylaw staff to be able to work effectively to offer service to our residents, and their time should not be used in trying to recover unpaid parking tickets. Hopefully, with more incentive, residents will pay their fines promptly, and free up staff to address other bylaw matters.”
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