In a speech in front of a supportive crowd of friends and family at Hammond Golf Club, Bouchard kicked off his campaign outlining the pillars of his platform which included a significant focus on safer communities, particularly for residents biking and walking on the roads.
One proposal Bouchard is putting forward is to create a public facing webpage allowing residents to submit complaints about speeding and other traffic issues. Bouchard hopes this will identify problem areas and allow the city to make informed decisions about enforcement. This program would include engaging OPP officers to monitor identified areas, hiring them on a paid-for-duty basis.
According to the OPP, the cost to the city for hiring an officer and patrol car is around $100 an hour for a minimum of four hours. The total cost to the city for an officer and car would be a minimum of $400 for four hours of monitoring.
“A program like this would pay for itself,” said Bouchard, referring to revenue earned on ticketing infractions. “It’s not just about giving out tickets and making money. In the end it’s about having safer communities.”
Clarence-Rockland budgets around $50,000 annually in revenue from fines handed out by the OPP. The Ontario Court of Justice in l’Original distributes fees collected from infractions in Prescott-Russell and redistributes a portion of revenues to the municipalities based on their populations. Additional fines collected by OPP in Clarence-Rockland would be similarly redistributed across the counties.
