This is a questionnaire to all candidates who are running for city council in Prince George B.C.
This questionnaire is authorized by the executive of the Prince George and P.G. Gentlemen’s Recreation Hockey League.
We are asking you to respond to a few questions that we hope will help our membership make informed decisions when they vote in the upcoming municipal election Saturday October 15, 2022. As a special interest group these questions deal primarily with the operation, maintenance and fee’s charged for the use of our arenas. We will be posting your responses on our website at www.rec-hms.com for review by members of P.G. Rec. Hockey and P.G. Gentlemen’s Hockey. We will be posting your responses as they come in so please respond ASAP.
Candidates Name: Ron Polillo
Running for Mayor or Councillor: Councillor
Fee’s and fee increases for youth and adult non-profit organization ice time.
Following the core review there was a recommendation to increase hourly ice time fee’s for adults by up to 15% and for youth at a smaller percentage. In the past hourly fee increases would range from 2% to as high as 4% per year. Fee increases were the same for all groups regardless of age. Fortunately, the increases did not occur and those that supported the increases are not longer on council or working for the city.
I would like to share with you a bit of our philosophy when it comes to our costs. Insurance has gone up every year by increasingly higher percentage amounts than the previous year. We are struggling to get enough officials and have increased their pay by 20% this year alone to hopefully entice more to participate. We have experienced fee increases for ice in the past 10 years ranging from 0% to 5%.
We have reached the tipping point and if fee increases for ice go up at a rate of above 2 or 3 %, we will simply use less ice leaving more dark time in the buildings. Dark time is by far the biggest factor in arena operation costs.
On a scale of 1 to 5 please respond to the following question s. (1 you do not agree and 5 you strongly agree)
Do you agree there is value to a community to have affordable recreational opportunities keeping in mind that this is only possible if is subsidized by the tax base?
(1-5) 4
Adult users of the arenas pay a much higher rate per hour than youth groups. Do you believe that fee increase rates should be the same for adults and youth? (If a 2 % increase is decided for the 2023 year this increase would be applied to all user groups)
(1-5) 1
We feel that to continue to have growth throughout all arena sports annual fee increases should be kept between 2% and 3%. Do you agree with this?
(1-5) 4
With the completion of the new kin 1 arena, the staff is now spread out more than ever. We feel there are some prime-time days and evenings where the arenas are understaffed.
There is no point having good facilities and then not staffing them, so they are maintained properly and kept neat and clean.
Do you agree with this?
(1-5) 5
Recently city council has made important decisions that affect all of the arena user groups. We feel there should be consultation with all of the major user groups in advance of important decisions. Do you agree with this?
(1-5) 5
The six city arenas are running at capacity during prime time right now. They provide opportunities for both youth and adults. Some of the arenas have ice in them almost year-round and are the envy of many other communities. It provides abundant opportunity for on ice training for several different sports and recreational opportunity for both youth an adults.
Would you ever vote in favor of closing any of the 6 city arenas without another facility in place or a concrete plan for replacing that arena within a very short time frame?
Yes
No NO