Clarification: In an effort to establish the identity of the consulting company employed by the St. Thomas Police Service, Chief Marc Roskamp and I spoke this morning. The firm is Consilium Public Sector Services based out of Toronto, which also uses the acronym CP2S. And so any reference to the U.S.-based CP2S (which is not affiliated in any way with the Toronto firm) has been removed.

The St. Thomas Police Service this week released its road map for this year through 2026.
The strategic plan recommends “intentional steps our members will take to ensure the police service is performing in accordance with our community’s values and expectations,” according to police board chairman Dan Reith.
He continues that the priorities of the plan “have been compiled carefully from the concerns and insights offered by St. Thomas citizens, business owners, elected officials, members within the police service and other interested parties.”
Chief Marc Roskamp adds “This plan has been developed with a major emphasis on ensuring all citizens and business owners of St. Thomas, have had an opportunity to share their thoughts about the performance of our police service, and their feelings about crime and safety in our community.
“Through this process, we have identified five major areas to focus our strategic priorities over the next four years. They are; Organizational Service Review, Communications, Technology, Human Resources, and Community Partnerships.”

A consulting firm, Toronto-based Consilium Public Sector Services (CP2S) was hired to undertake the background work for the strategic plan. The work was not taxpayer-funded, instead, it was made possible through a grant. According to the plan, the service review will “examine culture, employee engagement, service quality, community experience, organizational structure, and staffing requirements.”
It will “enhance transparency and awareness, help build trust, and provide the community with the opportunity to be involved.”
Shifting to communications, St. Thomas Police will be relying heavily on social media to get its message out to the public.
The goal through 2026 is to “Strengthen the two-way citizen and staff-centric communications through a dynamic continuum of elements that are researched, tested, measured, and refined frequently for optimal amplification, reach, listening, and engagement of information.”
When it comes to technology, the consulting firm found “that STPS has demonstrated outstanding effort in promoting communication using technologies and distributing transparent information to the community, keeping the public well informed.”
Looking at human resources, one of the objectives of the plan is to “Develop a robust training plan that supports
and develops staff to their full potential, encourages growth for promotions and succession, and equips staff to effectively meet the needs of the growing and diverse community.
“A significant training focus will be on Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) curriculum.”

“the STPS, and in particular, the Chief of Police is well-positioned to be a community champion in building a stronger, safer and even more vibrant St. Thomas by bringing together organizations and diverse interests . . .”

And finally, in the area of community partnerships, a key objective is to “Establish a Chief’s Advisory Council, building on the respect and confidence that the community has in the leadership of the STPS and its Board, to create a forum where the STPS regularly hosts leadership from a diverse range of community organizations and groups.”
The consultants noted, “the St. Thomas Police Service has excellent connections and partnerships with local community organizations. Some of these partnerships may be more symbolic than substantive; however, it emphasizes the STPS’s understanding that the police alone cannot solve the problem of crime and social disorder.”
CP2S concluded, “the STPS, and in particular, the Chief of Police is well-positioned to be a community champion in building a stronger, safer and even more vibrant St. Thomas by bringing together organizations and diverse interests and by providing a forum to discuss shared community concerns, to share information and data related to community wellness, and to identify how they can work together and support each other in the achievement of common goals.”
Built into each one of these five priority areas are a number of objectives the service hopes to achieve by the end of 2026.

BOOTS-ON-THE-GROUND HEALTHCARE 

A positive healthcare development mid-week.
Wednesday saw the launch of a community paramedicine program serving St. Thomas and Elgin county.
Already operating in more than 50 communities across Ontario, the program is fully funded by the province.
In a conversation with Lyndsey Longeway, program manager with Medavie EMS Elgin, she explained who will benefit from the community program.
“The target right now is vulnerable clients who are either waiting for long-term care or could potentially be in long-term care.”
The program is offered through a referral process and complements the existing frontline paramedic service provided by Medavie EMS Elgin.

“For those individuals who can’t get out of their homes easily for various reasons, we’re the boots on the ground in there looking at it and providing that picture of what is going on.”

The Community Paramedicine program allows individuals to receive the care they need while remaining in the comfort of their own homes.
“The referrals can come from various community agencies, a family physician, hospitals and home and community care support services,” added Longeway.
“It’s not something that somebody can just call and try to enrol themselves in.”
The provincially funded program will provide non-emergency home visits, in-home testing procedures and other services.
In essence, the paramedics become the eyes and ears reporting back to their care providers, pointed out Longeway.
“We can go in the home, look at something, make a phone call to the physician and say this is what we see and this is what we think they need.
“For those individuals who can’t get out of their homes easily for various reasons, we’re the boots on the ground in there looking at it and providing that picture of what is going on.”
This program will add two full-time paramedics, who will offer the following accessible mobile support to residents:

• In-person and Remote Patient Monitoring services
• Chronic/complex disease monitoring /surveillance
• Medication safety and reconciliation
• In-home visits and point-of-care testing capabilities; and
• Client and family navigation, coordinated care planning to various services,
agencies and resources.

SALARY DISCLOSURE

When it comes to public sector salary disclosure for last year, it turns out the two highest paid municipal employees in St. Thomas last year did not even work at city hall.
The information is included in Monday’s (March 6) city council agenda in the listing of municipal employees who earned $100,000 or more the previous year as per the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act of 1996.
The top wage earner in 2022 was recently retired St. Thomas Police Chief Chris Herridge at $214,263 as compared to $208,752 in 2021.
Coming in at Number 2 is St. Thomas Fire Department Platoon Chief Steve Donker at $200,697, up from $174,273 in 2021. (See the explanation from Sandra Schulz, director of human resources, at the end of this item).
Other notable salaries with 2021 figures in brackets:
Sandra Datars Bere, city manager, $196,418 (new)
Justin Lawrence, director of environmental services, $164,094 ($159,114)
Dan Sheridan, director of city finances and city treasurer, $160,462 ($149,890)
Dave Gregory, new fire chief, $158,295 ($129,985 as fire prevention officer)
Heather Sheridan, director of social services, $152,956 ($134,887)
Luigi Pompilii, director of planning and building services, $149,144 ($136,856)
Sandra Schulz, director of human resources, $147,333 ($130,147)
Sean Dyke, CEO Economic Development Corp., $141,609 ($139,387)
Maria Konefal, city clerk, $140,178 ($139,387)
Michael Carroll, Valleyview administrator, $139,236 ($137,049)
Heather Robinson, CEO St. Thomas Public Library, $134,579 $132,467.
In her report to the council, Sandra Schulz points out that for 2022, the City of St. Thomas had a total of 132 employees earning greater than $100,000, that’s the same number as in the previous year.
The list includes 53 from the police service (54 in 2021), 46 from the fire department (the same as the year previous) and 33 from other city departments (32 in 2020).
She also reminds us that St. Thomas Professional Firefighters Association members received retroactive pay in 2022 for the period of January 2020 – June 2022 for the retroactive collective agreement settlement. We will have to see the impact on salaries for 2023.

COOPED UP IN ST. THOMAS

Members of city council will be asked Monday night to play chicken.
Well, not quite what it seems.
Members of council are in receipt of a letter from city resident Kay Vaughan requesting they allow the raising of hens in backyards.
It would require an annual permit with a suggested fee of $100 per household.
It would require a fully fenced yard and roosters would not be allowed due to their vocal abilities.
A small chicken coop would be allowed and would not require a permit.
She suggests with high food prices, families need help and being able to provide food courtesy of the chickens and backyard gardens would provide relief.
She notes communities including Kingston, Newmarket, Niagara Falls, Brampton, Kitchener and Guelph already permit this.
She suggests a limit of four or five per household.
One benefit is a steady supply of eggs. Working out the math, Vaughan says with three hens you would have about 91 dozen eggs a year.
A compelling argument.
According to 2018 statistics, there were 23.7 billion chickens in the world.
Will city council allow a few more to reside in St. Thomas?
We know for a fact our MP is an enthusiastic proponent.

Questions and comments may be emailed to City Scope

Visit us on Facebook
And a reminder, I can be heard weekday afternoons as news anchor and reporter on 94.1 myFM in St. Thomas. As always, your comments and input are appreciated.