HRM to put out new tender for parking enforcement contract after “performance issues”

By Andrew Pinsent

HALIFAX – Halifax Regional Municipality will put out a new tender for parking enforcement in the coming weeks after “performance issues” were noted with the current service being provided by Independent Security Services Atlantic Inc.

HRM spokesperson Brendan Elliott confirms to News 95.7 while the process is in its infancy, in the past few weeks the Municipality has decided to put out a new tender for the service after an annual review of such City contracts.

The company was awarded the five-year contract in March 2014, which afforded both sides a chance to review whether to continue providing or requesting the service on an annual basis. HRM has now decided to pull out of that deal citing concerns over the current level of service.

“The fact that we’ve pulled out of this contract shows that we weren’t satisfied with the job that was being done,” Elliott said, who said ISSA will not be barred from applying for the new contract.

Elliott said it also presented HRM with an “opportunity” to re-examine the language of the contract and what is expected of a contractor who is performing the service.

HRM: “Performance Issues” with current contractor, ticket probe ongoing

HRM said the current parking ticket investigations by both police and the Municipality were just one factor in the decision but Elliott said “it’s fair to say we had some performance issues with regard to the work that was being done by the current contractor.”

The City will be looking at tweaking what’s inside the RFP this time around, looking to fill in any perceived gaps that may have been found in the service.

“We will be looking at changing specific language in the new RFP tender for anyone who is interested in taking on the contract to demonstrate to us how they might address any concerns that we may have,” Elliott said.

Contractor to reapply to new tender, has their own concerns

Owner and Director of ISSA, Lawrence Conrad, wanted to clarify the decision by the Municipality was “not a termination,” rather a non-renewal on the five-year contract that was signed with the company in 2014.

Conrad confirmed the company would be applying to keep the contract when the new tender becomes public, but said that each side have had their own set of issues when it comes to providing the service since the original contract was signed nearly two years ago.

“If it’s going to result in positive changes for the way the service is actually being rolled out, than I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed,” Conrad said.

“Obviously, I would like to maintain the contract…it’s a lot of investment, but again I have a lot of other contracts with the City and I have a great relationship with the HRM.”

He said he believes both sides went into a new way of dealing with parking enforcement and both have had some subsequent growing pains.

“From my understanding the HRM may be making some changes to the scope of service to better reflect the demand required of the contract,” Conrad said, adding he agreed wholeheartedly with that aspect.

He’s hoping the new RFP reflects how service expectations have “evolved,” while taking into account other issues surrounding outdated equipment, the need for a dedicated supervisor position in the downtown core and delays in the licensing of employees as Special Constables.

Conrad said before a memorandum of understanding was reached with the Department of Justice, it was taking upwards of two to three months to get potential or current employees licensed properly as special constables, which he said also led to not being able to hire staff he may have wanted.

“They were telling me, ‘Lawrence, I can’t wait two months to find out about a job.'”

It’s taken the company two years to feel out how to best approach the service and “we’re still getting it down,” Conrad said, adding he does fear the progress that has been made may be lost as a result of the decision not to renew but “we’re still optimistic.”

Owner and director: ‘Service has evolved’

“It’s extremely challenging to meet the duties laid out in the contract and what the City wants given what resources are currently available,” along with the addition of more services to be performed.

He said extra duties, like enforcement of the HRM’s winter parking ban, and the removal of a dedicated supervisor position shows the service being performed is evolving and one should expect hiccups along the way.

“They added extra services like winter parking ban and street cleaning, but took away the supervisor position,” Conrad said. “It was almost doomed for failure.”

He said the current contract with HRM includes 14 positions: 12 patrol members in the urban core and two others in cars that respond to mobile calls, which Conrad said represents a very high number of calls.

With no dedicated supervisor to look over the core, he said it’s tough to keep coordinated with “two cars covering over 6,000 sq. km. in the Municipality.”

“Previous to this, all of the other companies had dedicated supervisors,” he said. “We have a pretty big company and a lot of resources and it’s still challenging, almost impossible at times to keep up with the demand.”

At the company’s own cost, Conrad said they’ve recently hired a supervisor to oversee the operations in the core.

“It’s showing that what we said needed to happen is actually working,” Conrad said, adding that he is looking forward to showing the Municipality it can best provide the best service before their contract expires on April 1.

Conrad said problems with radios and handheld ticket devices, even enacting new policies has caused headaches, with red tape standing in the way of the replacement of potentially outdated equipment or updated service standards.

“It gets cold out there and when you have to go back to the office to get a ticket book because the ticket machine won’t work, because it’s minus 20 out, it’s challenging for both organizations,” Conrad said, who said dedicated IT Staff have been more than gracious.

“They have great people there and they try to do the best they can but it’s still challenging…you need functional equipment.”

“Mistakes will be made and lessons will be learned…we will re-apply,” he said, referring to the new tender.

Ticket probe ongoing, police charge three former employees

Staff within HRM noticed irregularities in October of last year, which showed a large spike in the number of tickets being issued to out-of-province license plates, which was deemed odd by staff because of the normally high compliance rate for tourists parking in Halifax.

Roughly 2,200 suspect tickets were eventually uncovered by HRM, prompting staff to both go to police and launch their own investigation.

The police investigation has so far resulted in three former employees being charged with breach of trust by a public officer and uttering a forged document for allegedly issuing the tickets to fake cars.

Charges against a 22-year-old Dartmouth man, a 21-year-old Eastern Passage man and a 22-year-old Cole Harbour man were announced on Friday. All three have been released with court dates in Halifax Provincial Court next month.

The motivation for the actions, according to the ISSA, was to make it appear the men were working their beat and handing out tickets, when they were elsewhere and not working at all. None of the allegations have been proven court.

A ticket probe within HRM remains ongoing but a timeline for its completion is not currently known.

Conrad said while he believes the decision by the Municipality is unrelated to the current investigations, “I can’t help but feel it may cast a shadow on our efforts to renew this service that we have learned so much about over the past two years.”

When it comes to police charges against three former employees, Conrad said he was limited in what he could say because the matter is before the courts, but added he hoped the alleged actions of the three men don’t reflect on the company or its employees as a whole.

Conrad pointed to his good news stories that are rarely, if ever reported; like when enforcement officers paid to get a pregnant woman’s car out of the tow yard.

He said the company has been “ambassadors to the city,” for the 20 years they have been in operation, and still continue to work on other contracts like security at Ferry Terminals within HRM.

Conrad feels the good relationship between the two parties will continue.

HRM: Smooth transition expected, no cost to taxpayers

Elliott said like in many other situations where similar contracts expire or are terminated with HRM, the current contractor would perform the service until a new service provider is found.

“That will be our expectation in this case,” Elliott said.

Language in the contract allows for both sides to pull out of providing or request the service after an annual review, so no taxpayer money will be spent getting out of the contract, according to Elliott.

“There’s just simply notice that has to be given, so no, there will be no extra money spent by the Municipality to get out of this contract and re-offer the tender.”

Cabs previously complain of tickets

One of three cab drivers who told News 95.7 in December he was given phantom tickets by one of the now-charged parking enforcement officers received a letter in the past week, stating he no longer had to show up for a court date in April to fight one of his tickets he contested, because that officer is no longer an employee of HRM.

Jean Lanlacette said he was happy to receive the letter, but still feels he was forced to pay other tickets he wasn’t fairly issued, while others who didn’t fight them were still forced to pay who feel weren’t guilty as well.

Elliott said the timing is a coincidence, as the City reviews all tickets where the driver pleads not guilty in a first court appearance, as was done in this case.

Finding the officer no longer worked for the contractor, staff decided there was no reasonable prospect for a conviction, so the ticket was essentially dropped.

Elliott said the letter is not related to the charges that were laid by police and even if the officer had left the job on his own volition, the ticket would be flagged because the officer couldn’t show up to court to testify on his own behalf.

A total of three cab drivers came forward with similar allegations in December involving roughly a dozen tickets in the area of Barrington Street and Duke Street, near the Delta Barrington Hotel.

Frank Opdebeck, the concierge at the hotel, told News 95.7 at the time that he witnessed the same officer who is now facing charges key in license plate numbers to cabs that were parked in the taxi stand in front of the hotel.

Elliott said any driver who feels they’ve been improperly issued a ticket can appeal to the city and then to judge if they still disagree with the decision.

There remains no evidence to suggest any Nova Scotia license plates were involved in the probe, according to HRM, who has said the issues involved only tickets with out-of-province license plates.

Conrad said he was confident the tickets that were handed out to the cab drivers involved were valid and outright dismissed the notion the tickets were not properly placed on the vehicle’s windshield.

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