Heavy and Light Towing • 24 Hours 275 1st Avenue, Prince George, B.C. V2L 2Y1 • 250-564-8444

Delivered by hand

August 8, 2011

City of Prince George 1100 Patricia Blvd Prince George, BC V2L 3V9

Attention: Mayor Dan Rogers and City Council

Dear Sirs and Madams:

RECEIVED /1.UG O r 2011

NAGEft'S OFFICE gi~ ~t pr;t\NCE Gt:ORGE

Re: Awarding ofRCMP Towing Requests to Ace Auto Towing Ltd. and Northern Capital Towing Ltd.

We enclose herewith a copy of our letter delivered by hand today to Superintendent Eric Stubbs of the Prince George detachment of the RCMP. Unfortunately, since the date of our last letter to you on November 23, 2010, the RCMP has, contrary to the policy specified by the City of Prince George, continued to award substantially all of the towing requests to Ace Auto Towing Ltd. and/or Northern Capital Towing Ltd. who operate jointly.

We request your assistance in ensuring the City's policy be adhered to.

Yourstr~~

Norm Clarke President

Heavy and Light Towing • 24 Hours 275 1st Avenue, Prince George, B.C. V2L 2Y1 • 250-564-8444

Delivered by hand

August 8, 2011

RCMP 999 Brunswick Street Prince George, BC V2M 7E7

Attention: Superintendent Eric Stubbs

Dear Sir:

Re: Towing services

We have lived and worked in Prince George for most of our lives and respect the work that the RCMP undertakes on a daily basis. We believe it necessary to mention that we also believe that the problems that we are currently experiencing are reflective of the actions of a minority of RCMP members and are in no way reflective of the majority of the members who have devoted themselves to their careers.

For years and in particular since discussions with the RCMP in 2010 and more explicitly since our letter to the City of Prince George ("the City") on November 23, 2010 there has been no accountability on behalf of the City RCMP with respect to ensuring that the City's policy with respect to the awarding of towing services has been followed.

In spite of expressing our concerns to former Superintendent Brenda Butterworth-Carr and Sgt Brad Anderson and whether there may or may not have been internal changes in RCMP policy, there has been no change in the RCMP's awarding of substantially all of the towing requests to the Northern Capital/Ace Towing ("Northern Capital") group.

To date and in spite of the current apparent rotation system, RCMP members and in particular senior RCMP members continue to influence the awarding of towing requests. We are told on the one hand that there are no statistics with respect to the number of calls made to towing companies. We are not requested to assist during traffic checks that occur during our rotation. We are told of officers continuing to forward work to Northern Capital because they have forgotten that it is no longer Northern Capital's rotational week. We are told after being called and upon arriving on scene that our services are no longer required. We have been told by customers that the RCMP has advised them that

the RCMP uses Northern Capital and/or that Northern Capital has the RCMP towing contract. We have been told of one senior member blaming the North District RCMP for

calling Northern Capital during our rotation when the call was clearly made by the City RCMP. In addition, as incredible as it seems, we have been asked by a customer if our towing company is the one that the RCMP owns.

After our meeting with Sgt Anderson in December 2010 he advised us that the RCMP would follow the City towing policy but, although it was unclear to us as to why, that it may take some time to implement the changes. Several months passed through the winter and holiday season while substantially all of the towing requests continued to be funneled to Northern Capital with the usual minimal number of no insurance, etc calls awarded to our company. Eventually it became apparent that there would be no changes to equalize the towing requests and a move was made to a rotation system. Interestingly enough it is our understanding that Ace Towing does not own a deck truck and does not qualify accordingly to the specifications in the agreement; however, it appears that both Northern Capital and Ace Towing work as one company anyway and would not entitled to equal participation. The rotation system has proven to be as equally as ineffective given that the work still continues to be funneled to Northern Capital.

Initially Sgt Anderson appeared to be supportive of the RCMP upholding the City policy and encouraged communication, however, as the number of violations of the agreement escalate, he no longer returns telephone calls.

We are the largest towing company in Prince George with the largest number and variety of tow trucks and wreckers and we have the largest number of employees. We have a large compound and a large shop with a hoist that would assist the RCMP in any vehicle inspection that they may undertake. There is nothing that any other company has that we do not have. In spite of the discrimination that we have experienced by the RCMP, we have acted in good faith to uphold our end of the agreement and have turned down not one call, no matter that a significant number of them have cost us money (in terms of fuel and wage costs, disposal costs, etc to say nothing of the administrative time to dispose of them).

We have had no communication from the RCMP, verbal or otherwise, indicating that there is a problem with our services or any reason as to why they continue to disregard the rotational agreement and the City's direction with respect to towing services.

In the past week which was the first week of our rotation the following radar, traffic stops, etc have occurred and in which Northern Capital has been in attendance (and these are only the ones of which we are currently aware): Peden Hill, Mud River, Hixon, South weigh scales, University Way. We were telephoned by Integrated Traffic Management and advised that there would be such checks and to have trucks and drivers available which we did. Northern Capital was obviously very busy but we did not receive any calls regarding these checks. Instead, we received a few calls for vehicles with no insurance in the VLA area.

In addition to the previous activities, neither did the RCMP call us earlier in the week to attend to the ambulance accident in Hixon.

We have tried to deal with this matter in an appropriate manner and have allowed a period of time far in excess of anything reasonably necessary to be taken seriously. The RCMP have not only diverted work in contravention of the City policy but they have gone a step further and discredited our good name and taken business away from us by advising vehicle owners that the RCMP utilize Northern Capital because they have the City contract and there is no reason to utilize Ron's Towing. It is interesting that vehicle owners only have the discretion to call the company of their choice when it is Ron' s Towing's rotational week and the RCMP are trying to funnel the tow to Northern Capital otherwise there appears to be no discretion for vehicle owners.

While in the scope of the work that the RCMP undertakes we acknowledge that at first glance this may seem a relatively minor issue. However the fact that the RCMP blatantly financially supports one towing company is undeniable. But the fact that senior RCMP have long been aware of the problem and have continued to allow it to continue is yet another.

Perhaps it needs to be made much clearer that we are not talking about a couple of jobs here or there and we are not talking about inconsequential revenues. For an untold number of years, hundreds of thousands of dollars has been diverted annually to Northern Capital to the exclusion of other approved towing companies.

Superintendent Brenda Butterworth-Carr and Sgt Anderson, in spite of advising the City that the City's towing policy was being followed, advised us that the RCMP does not maintain any records. However, we receive copies of impound notices for the vehicles that are impounded in our facility and maintain detailed dispatch sheets. We would be pleased to provide copies of our records to the RCMP and request that Northern Capital do the same. In addition, we respectfully request that the RCMP provide written confirmation of the number of impound notices and other towing calls that are allocated to each of the towing companies.

We mean no disrespect to the RCMP but respectfully request a written explanation as to why they are so disrespectful in their dealings with us. We also request that our current rotation be extended until such point in time as the RCMP is able to adhere to the policy of the City of Prince George and the RCMP's own written rotation policy.

We look forward to your immediate attention to this matter.

Yourst~$

Norm Clarke President

cc Mayor Dan Rogers and City Council City of Prince George 1 I 00 Patricia Blvd Prince George, BC V2L 3V9 (hand delivered)

Peter German, Deputy Commissioner, West RCMP E Division 657 West 37th Avenue Vancouver, BC V5Z IK6 (via fax 604-207-4704)

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CITY OF PRINCE GEORGE B.C.'s Northern Capital

City Manager's Office, 1100 Patricia Boulevard, Prince George, BC V2L 3V9 Telephone (250) 561-7602 / Fax (250) 561-0183 / www.city.pg.bc.ca

January 28, 2011

Norm Clarke, President Ron's Towing 275 1sL Avenue Prince George, BC V2L 2Y1

Dear Mr. Clarke:

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This letter is in foilow-up to your November 23, 2010 correspondence to Mayor and Council regarding RCMP requests for vehicle tov,ring.

Shortly after our office received your Jetter, it was shared with City Council when it was placed on a council meeting agenda. At that time the matter was referred to Administration for a report back to Council.

The report has been prepared and came back to City Council at the January 10th council meeting.

Attached is a copy of the report for your information. After considering the staff report, City Council received it for information.

Sincerely,

------~f -·· _J~

Doreen Dery Legislative Support Clerk

CITY OF PRINCE GEORGE

DATE:

TO:

FROM:

SUBJECT:

ATTACHMENT(S):

STAFF REPORT TO COUNCIL PUBLIC SAFETY AND CIVIC FACILITIES 1100 Patricia Boulevard, Prince George, 8 .C., V2L 3V9

December 22 2010

MAYOR AND COUNCIL

ROB WHITWHAM, DIRECTOR, PUBLIC SAFETY AND CIVIC FACILITIES

RCMP Towing - Letter from Ron's Towing

None

RECOMMENDATION(S):

1. THAT the Staff Report be received.

PURPOSE: At its November 29, 2010 regular meeting, Council received a letter dated November 23, 2010 from Ron's Towing. The letter outlined concerns the company has with the manner in which the Prince George Detachment, RCMP distributes towing requests amongst local towing companies. This report provides follow­up to that letter.

POLICY/REGULATORY ANALYSIS: The Purchasing Policy.

Several years ago the contract to provide towing services for the City and RCMP was terminated due to the contractor's inability to meet its obligations. There seemed to be little interest from other local towing companies in picking up the work, so an Expression of Interest was placed on BC Bid in an effort to give broader exposure to the City's towing opportunity. There was one submission received. The submission was not substantive enough for the City to move to a contract arrangement.

Our experience has been that the tow companies are generally very interested in towing for the RCMP and less interested in towing for the City. Towing for the RCMP is considered to be more lucrative as the majority of those calls involve ICBC.

Administration is looking into a new contractual arrangement for towing that was recently put into place by another BC municipality. The initial reports are that the arrangement is working very well. Supply and Fleet Services and Bylaw Services will work with the RCMP to determine if this arrangement could meet the towing needs of the City and of the RCMP. If it does, a competitive bid process will be developed.

In the meantime, using local tow companies on an equitable basis for RCMP towing meets the intent of the Purchasing Policy.

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES: Continuing Progressive and Responsible Fiscal Management

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS: As outlined in the Ron's Towing letter, the company did raise their concerns with the RCMP earlier in 2010, there was confirmation that no contract for Prince George Detachment RCMP towing had been awarded, and there was a commitment that Prince George Detachment towing would be shared among local towing companies. The Ron's Towing letter suggests that the commitment has lapsed and in that regard, the RCMP met with Mr. Clarke on December 6, 2010 to discuss the concerns. Prince George RCMP has since reaffirmed with members the requirement to utilize ICBC approved tow companies on an equal basis. Mr. Clarke and the RCMP will be in further contact to determine whether the concerns about equality in tow callouts have been addressed.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:

This report is in response to the referral from Council.

Respectfully submitted:

Rob Whitwham Director, Public Safety and Civic Facilities

To: Mayor and Council

Heavy and Light Towing • 24 Hours 275 1st Avenue, Prince George, 8.C. V2L 2Y1 • 250-564-8444

Delivered by hand

November 23. 20 I 0

City ol' Prince George I I 00 Patricia Blvd. Prince George. BC V2L 3V9

Attention: Mayor Dan Rogers and City Council

Dear Sirs and Madams:

Re: Awarding or RCMP Towing Requests to /\cc Auto Towing l .td and Northern Northern Capital Towing I.tel .. hereinarter referred to as ··Northern Capital"'

We have undertaken to deal with our concerns with respect to the RCMP awarding substant ial I) all of their requests for towing (l) Northern Capital. We have dealt with appropriate levels of RCMP seniority but have received no satisfaction to our requests for exphrnation or clari fication on this issue and find it necessary to pursue the matter further.

ll is our understanding that Brenda Rutter\\orth-Carr. Superintendent had a discussion with Leila I lolz\\Orth. formerly of Ron ·s Towing. this spring wherein she indicated that nu contract had been awarded and that the RCMP work \\ as to be shared among local towing companies. For a brief period 0f time. namely days. there appeared to be an increase in calls tl1 our o ffice from the RCMP. I lowcver. the number quickly dissipated back to earlier levels.

We have had discussions \\'ilh the Cit) of' Prince George as well as the Prince (icorge RCMP \,ith respect to the awarding of towing services in the Prince C1corge area and have been advised that no contract has been a\\•arded.

In an effort to pursue the matter and as suggested by local RC MP communications (Chris 13aumford and Guy Tremblay) we wrote a letter on June 22. 2010 to the RCMP, the receipt of which was acknowledged by return correspondence but which provided no comment on towing practices.

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We have had 110 communication from the RCM P \Vitli respect to the perfonnancc of our services. Over the pasl several months there has been 110 change Lo the awarding or tO\ving requests and the RCMP continues to award substantially all of the towi ng to Northern Capital.

Last month, in contrast to the advice of Brenda Butterworth-Carr, Sgt Steinhauser advised us that the RCMP policy was not that the work be shared but that RCMP members were f'ree to call \\hichever towing company they prefer. I le did not comment on the practice of the RCMP with respect to the significant number of towing calls made by RCMP dispatch but based on the number of calls that we receive, they would also appear to be awarded to Northern Capital along with those made directly by RCMP members.

We have left mes:,ages for Brenda Butterworth-Carr and her assistant but have received no rep ly .

We have kept detailed records with respect to all calls we ha ve rece ived rrom the RCMP. Typically the tows for which we are called are for older vehicles, with little or no markcl value. no insurance. etc. These calls include vehicles undenvatcr, ones with no wheels, ones that have been burned etc. In spite or the fact that based on the nature (If t.hesc calls and that they often result in a cost lo us, wc have declined not a single call.

Based on the calls that we do receive we arc left with the clear impression that they are not calls that Northern Capital would want and that we arc called simply so that it appears that lhe work is being allocmcd among local towing companies. We can sec for ourselves in addition 10 hcing con1i11ually 1nld of'Nnrthcrn Cap ital 's trucks sitting. at road blocks and their trucks atlending to motor vehicle accidents. Recently, once again, three were called - this time to an accident on I lighway 97 North (in spite of one of the victims requesting. Ron's TO\~ing). We are almost never called to lh<: l>Cene or motor vehicle accidents or to assist with rnad blocks in sritc ,)r the fact that our company has the largest number or low truck~ in Prince George.

With rcsped to the new drinking and dri\'ing lcgislarion \ve ha\'C rece ived a disproportionate!) low numhcr of the tc)\ving calls for the tickets recently issued. We hnve had members ofthc public advise us that Nonhern Capital's compound's are ovcrflmving with vehir..:les impounded under the new regulations. The October 9, 20 IO edition of the Prince George Citi7cn listed the number of impounds to that date as 44. The number of impounds for which Ron's Towing were called \Vas 5.

In the past week we have had a further t,,o incidents . We ,-.ere called by dispatch lo attend to a stolen burned out vehicle in IJear Lake. There ,,as no file number at the time or dispatch but, as requested, we towed the vehicle. We later tried to gel a file number only lo find that dispatch had no record of any call being made . After several phone calls we did manage to get a file number but have not yet received any determination as to how we wi ll be paid for the tow. The vehicle clearly has no value, we will have to pay a driver for attending to the tow, and we will have to now try to legally dispose of the remains ofa \"chicle for which we will be unable to identify an owner. It is uncertain whether we will get paid or not.

In addition. we \\Crc called by a large truck dealership that we \\,Ork \.\ith to tm, a truck to their shop but before \VC could even get off the phone were apologetically told by them that the RCMP had called a towing company themselves and our services would not be required.

We hm c been told of countless occasions where members of the public have been offered a choice ofto\,ing companies and in spite of asking fi)r our company. Northern Capital arrives. We have been told or people phoning the RCMP and being told that Northern Capital has their vehicle because that is who the RCMP call. We have had calls from frustrated people looking lc)r their vehicles at Northern Capital when it was one of the rare occasions that we received the call and the RCMP simply direct them to Northern Capital. We have been told by the RCMP that they have spent a considerable amount of time developing policies fix handling Nortlwrn Capital"s invoices. The only communication we have had from the RCMP \\,as when we finally had tl1 call the RCMP for payment of old outstanding invoices. We otherwise received no communication as to the RCMP practices l<.)r handling towing IIJVOICes.

The RCMJ> website lists open and honest rnmrnunication and unbiased and respectful treatment of all people as being priorities of the RCMP. We can only assume that this also appl ies to those. like us. \\ho w(,rk in conjunction with the RCMP.

Vv' t.: support and haw made every cl'forr to be cooperative "v ith the Rl"Mfl in the course or their work. Most recently \\e held a vehicle lor the RCMP to assist in a drug investigation. This was in spite of the ract that \\'C had undesirable people attending our offices trying to gain acces~ tu it and in spite of the fact that we \Vere holding it with likely no legal riµht ro do so or at least none tlwr was communicated to us.

In !>pite or having lo deal with satcty concerns f<lr our employees from t ime to time in circumstances such as this. ou r lives are in Prince George and we believe that situations such as !his are an investment in the safety of our conm1t1nity and will ultimately make Prince George a better place to live.

rhi '> is not an issue of c0mpctitio11 and we ha\e no prnhlcrn \\ith having cornpe1iwrs. The issue i~ that in spite of the RCMP's stated position with respect to the awarding of RCMP towing (that no contract has been awarded). the results speak for themsel ves. In the spirit of transparency under which ,,e have assumed the RCMP operate we have not undertaken a marketing program aimed at individual RCM P members since it appears inappropriate in the circumstances to be so liciting work from individual public officials.

It is not our assertion that we receive all of the \\Ork of the RCMP. It is simply that \\C be treated respectfully. We would like to have confirmed in writing exactly what the position is of the City of Prince George .ind the RCMP with respect Lo towing requests and specifically confirmation or whether a contract. formal or informal. has been awarded and if so the applicable terms and conditions. In addition, we respcc tftilly request confirmation or the number of towing requests issued by the RCM P lor the past six months.

v-.,e look fi.1rnarcl to your prompt reply.

Yours truly,

Norm Clarke, President

cc 13rl:nda 13uttcrn onh-Carr. Supcri111,·11dclll l'rin,, (iclll')!C RC\-11'