Politis Elected Chair of Mayors' Coalition on Policing

Cochrane, Ontario –  Cochrane Mayor Peter Politis has been elected the Chair of the Mayors’ Coalition on Affordable, Sustainable and Accountable Policing.  Almost two years since Mayor Politis and four other Mayors organized to form the Mayors’ Coalition, the group has grown to over 125 municipalities representing the need for rural and northern policing cost reforms.

While the Mayors’ Coalition has been operating effectively through its steering committee of five Mayors, the growth and the complexity of the issues requires another organizational enhancement.  The Chair provides the group a focussed and more deliberate structure that will lend itself well toward the continued lobbying efforts of the group.  Some of the key roles will include:

• reaching out to the other groups and players advocating for policing cost reforms to build effective working relationships and elevate the level of collaboration on the issues;
• organizing the internal initiatives and act as a connection between the Mayors themselves and the respective administrations to increase the horse power available to the group;
• acting as the main voice and contact while facilitating interaction with the group.

The Mayors’ Coalition has been instrumental in raising the level of importance around the need for policing reforms and has played a key role in the provinces and OPP’s new billing reforms that will make paying for policing costs more equitable.  Mayor Politis had this to say when asked about this recent structural change in the organization, “As Mayors we are all very busy and have many priorities to look after.  In order for us to continue to find success through the Mayors’ Coalition, it became obvious that we needed to have an official Chair to help us speak with one voice while helping to focus our efforts efficiently.  I’m extremely honoured that my colleagues would put their faith in me to play this critical role and look forward to continuing to drive the reform of policing costs with them.”

Some of the immediate actions Mayor Politis and the Steering Committee will be pursuing are:

• Meeting with some of the key advocates for policing costs and seeking synergies with the Coalition;
• Work to establish a common committee amongst the groups that can work with the OPP and Province on addressing cost drivers and respective reforms;
• Organize a presentation opportunity at the upcoming Rural Ontario Municipal Association Conference in February to help message;
• Clearly identify issues for the government and OPP to address.

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Currently, municipalities are handed a bill from the province to pay for policing services and have little say in the strategic and spending practices behind it. This has resulted in an unsustainable model that continues to add costs annually instead of managing those costs in accordance with the needs of the people paying the bill, the municipalities.  The model is premised on a complicated formula that has created an unfair distribution of costs across municipalities while being an obstacle to the accountability required by elected municipal leaders to the people whom they collect taxes from.

The current approach leads to situations where municipalities have no direct control over how their policing budget is spent; little input into strategy, and little ability to report back to their constituents of how the monies were spent.  These issues need to be addressed through direct dialogue with the Ministry and the Mayors Coalition, working together as political leaders and collaborating together to form a real partnership between the Province and Municipalities on this issue.

The Mayors’ Coalition for Affordable, Sustainable and Accountable Policing is a consortium of concerned municipalities who have formed a coalition of municipally elected representatives, seeking to address the unsustainable cost of police service through a reformed partnership model, or the complete removal of the payment for the service from the municipal tax levy all together.  The coalition has grown from 22 members to over 125 members in one short year and continues to receive new members and new commitment to resources daily on this issue.  Cochrane Mayor Peter Politis Chairs the Executive Committee comprised of five other Mayors seeking the best outcomes.

Much more information can be found at their website at www.mayorscoalition.com.