by Wayne Moore - Story: 27670March 14, 2007 / 7:00 am Castanet
They were low-balled and the city had no choice but to accept the lowest bid. That's the feeling of the local head of the B.C. Commissionaires after the City of Kelowna accepted the bid by Imperial Parking to take over street level ticketing in the city. The bid by IMPARK came in $800,000 lower than the Commissionaires' over the five-year life of the contract. Southern Interior Regional Operations Manager, Pat Patterson, says the discrepancy in the bids is a direct result of wages and level of service. "All of our Commissionaires have their level one and two Basic Security Training. It's a requirement to become a Commissionaire, but not for the contract. All of our Commissionaires also have Government of Canada security clearances. Again, it's not a requirement of the contract, says Patterson." He says the Commissionaires are also a non-profit society, meaning all monies go back to the Commissionaires. "We cannot afford to lower the wage to where we can't keep a Commissionaire and still maintain our high level of service."
Patterson says about 14 Commissionaires, including ticket writers, office staff and supervisory staff will be laid off once the contract expires at the end of April. "That represents about 10% of our work force in Kelowna. We still have city contracts at the airport, hospital and the jail cells along with other private contracts." Patterson says it boils down to money and IMPARK came in with a number the Commissionaires simply couldn't match. "In a sense, I can understand the decision by the city, but on the other hand, it's losing a bunch of good ambassadors downtown. I was out on the streets for a year and a half, writing tickets or not writing tickets, but mostly giving directions and posing for pictures with tourists." Patterson says the city got a bargain, but adds they'll be back to bid on the contract when it comes up again in 2012.
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