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THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2016
VOL. 27, NO. 93
250.390.1871
Bill from Integrity Group remains unpaid by city BY TAMARA CUNNINGHAM THE NEWS BULLETIN
The City of Nanaimo continues to withhold payment of $28,000 for a facilitator, as officials wait for invoice details about who authorized the expense. The city has not fully paid the Integrity Group, hired by the mayor last year to address an employee complaint and help council get along. Still owed is $28,000. The city announced in February that council agreed to pay the Integrity Group $20,000 instead of the $48,000 total, citing the former was in accordance with a 2015 agreement and “added to this amount” was $28,000 for work with the mayor. Coun. Bill Bestwick, then council spokesman, told the News Bulletin the mayor has been asked to provide information on the addiINTEGRITY GROUP billed tional expenditure City of Nanaimo for and no decision $48,000. Council paid has been made on $20,000 in February but whether the city wants more information will pay the rest of on the remaining the cost. $28,000 bill. M o re t h a n a month later, city officials are still asking questions and the bill is unpaid. There was no contract signed – something city officials agree – but Victor Mema, the city’s director of finance, said that is a moot point because the city engaged the Integrity Group and agreed through its actions. What he’s looking to determine, in a standard process, is who authorized the work. He has found some form of authorization for $20,000 – in a terms of reference – but said he has nothing to go by for $28,000 and has asked the Integrity Group for help on whom he can ask about it internally. City manager Tracy Samra said some invoices pertain to work with human resources for training courses and consultation on respectful workplace policy implementation, unrelated to work with council and she asked for clarification to separate costs into different files.
Quickfacts
CHRIS BUSH/THE NEWS BULLETIN
Erik Christiansen has lived under the Pearson Bridge, near Maffeo Sutton Park, for six months. He wants the city to provide more shelters for the homeless.
Tents pop up under bridge
I
HOMELESS SAY social assistance doesn’t give enough for an apartment. BY NICHOLAS PESCOD THE NEWS BULLETIN
For the last six months, Erik Christiansen has called a patch of dirt under Nanaimo’s Pearson Bridge his home. In recent weeks the number of tents and people living under the Pearson
Bridge has increased. Today, there are three tents that occupy the area under the bridge, which is visible to those who use the Harbourfront Walkway or the Millstone Trailway. “It just grew in the last couple of weeks,” Christiansen said. “Before that it was just me and my girlfriend and one tent.” Christiansen, originally from Seattle, came to the Harbour City from the Lower Mainland back in August. He said he decided to set up a tent under the Pearson Bridge for a number of reasons.
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I checked into the Hokey Pokey Clinic and turned myself around.
“I want people to see me,” he said. “It’s not just going to go away. The homeless issue is not going away. You can’t sweep it under the carpet.” Another reason for setting up under the bridge is due to the fact that the land is provincial and not municipal, which makes evicting Christiansen and the other tent city residents difficult. “I knew that this was going to be a loophole,” Christiansen said. He said the city tried to get him to leave, even giving littering tickets. See ‘CITY’ /6
See ‘MAYOR’ /8
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