A group of four city councillors is calling on the City of Prince George to engage with the public and communicate a clear plan to address concerns about fires, litter and public safety downtown.
Councillors Terri McConnachie, Brian Skakun, Cori Ramsay and Kyle Sampson raised the issue in an email to their fellow council colleagues, McConnachie said. Council will be holding a special meeting on Monday at noon to discuss the issue with city administration.
“I’ve never seen this many fires in our city. It is a real concern – the increase in crime, the garbage in our streets. (And) The warmer is bringing the (homeless) encampments back to the forefront,” McConnachie said. “We have the fire department, RCMP, bylaw (services) all going flat-out.”
The city’s leaders need to give the public a chance to express their concerns and ask questions about what the city is doing to address the issues in the short-term, over the summer, and the longer-term, she said.
“It’s great to have a plan, but we need to share it,” McConnachie said.
The move comes after a fire on Monday destroyed a commercial building in the 1100 block of Third Avenue, causing an estimated $1 million in damages. During a public hearing about a proposed liquor store on Queensway earlier this month, residents of the Miller Addition neighbourhood raised serious concerns about safety and social issues in their area.
“Residents are really frustrated… people are losing faith in city hall,” Skakun said. “People are emailing us and asking us ‘What the hell are you guys doing?’ and I can’t blame them at all.”
Skakun said members of city council are frustrated about the lack of communication as well. While Mayor Lyn Hall and the city’s senior administration receive updates on the situation, city council isn’t updated regularly on what the city is doing to tackle the crime and social issues downtown, he said.
“We’re so frustrated… there is not a lot of communication coming out of city hall,” Skakun said.
Monday’s special meeting “would not have happened” without the request by the four councillors, he said.
“It’s backwards. It should be administration saying to us, ‘Here is our plan.’”
Sampson said the goal is to be proactive, and hopefully get ahead of some of the issues the city can expect to face as the weather gets warmer.
Sampson said he’s not a police or fire expert, and he is looking forward to hearing their input and thoughts on what is happening in the city. In addition, he said, the city needs to hear from the people directly effected – downtown business owners and area residents.
“It’s about giving people an opportunity to provide that feedback,” Sampson said. “If something is not working, we need to know about it.”
Ramsay said she’s concerned the ongoing fires downtown could drive businesses away.
“I’ve seen so many buildings in the downtown are experiencing fires. That does seem to be increasing,” she said. “If that is the case, what are we doing to ensure the businesses are protected? Businesses are already struggling to get insurance downtown.”
If downtown businesses aren’t able to get insurance, some of those businesses may move to other areas of the city – increasing the number of vacant buildings in the city centre, she said. While some fires downtown appear to be caused by people lighting fires to keep warm, the fire which gutted a commercial building on Third Avenue on Monday has been declared an arson, by RCMP.
“I was personally shocked and horrified by the video of arsonist with the jerry can,” Ramsay said. “I want to make sure our businesses know we are there supporting them.”
Ramsay said if residents or local business owners have concerns, that they should reach out to council to let them know right away, and not wait for a public meeting.
“This isn’t just happening to the city, it’s happening residents and businesses,” Ramsay said. “We need to hear the community.”
