City of Kimberley Mayor Don McCormick took to social media Jan. 6 to outline why it is unacceptable for city staff to experience abuse and threats.

“The RCMP were called this week, after a resident made what best case would be described as abuse, and worst case described as a threat, to a grader operator clearing that street,” McCormick began.

“City employees are yelled at, flipped the finger and absorb other forms of abuse – just for trying to do their jobs. Fortunately, this is from a very small number of people, but one is too many, and it is totally unacceptable,” he outlined.

“If someone walked into your place of work and issued threatening abuse, you would call the RCMP and demand they be arrested. And rightly so. The outdoors is the office for our outside workers and abusers should expect the same response. Come on folks, this is Kimberley. You know we get a lot of snow, so please show some patience and respect for workers who are doing their jobs. A thumbs up once in a while works wonders for morale,” McCormick said.

“Public works projects often require a short-term inconvenience before things are back to normal,” he continued.

“Right now, that project is snow clearing and removal. With the heavy and frequent snowfall this past month it feels anything but short-term. We have the same number of staff and the same equipment fleet whether snowfall is light or heavy.

“Taxpayers would not accept the price of staffing to peak events. So, as we bask in the fantastic snow conditions that make our recreation activities, we need to give staff room to do their jobs,” McCormick said, concluding, “A little peer pressure towards the abusers would help as well.”

City of Kimberley file photo

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