The now fully-funded Social Disorder Response Team is designed to act quickly so abandoned materials don't expand and overwhelm an area. (City of Nanaimo)

By Spencer Sterritt

FULLY FUNDED

Social Disorder Response Team to tackle Nanaimo issues

May 26, 2020 | 2:07 PM

NANAIMO — A team tackling social disorder in Nanaimo is now fully funded until the end of the year.

Nanaimo councillors on Monday, May 25 unanimously approved $187,000 in funding for the Social Disorder Response Team, which has been in action since a trial last fall.

The team is made up of bylaw and RCMP officers, joined by parks and sanitation staff.

Charlotte Davis, the former sanitation manager and current rec facilities and custodial services manager, explained bylaw staff were the only City department cleaning out encampments.

“We’re able to support the bylaw team by seeing the whole problem across the city. It’s in parks where we’ve got encampments and abandoned materials, it’s on our streets when we’ve got shopping carts abandoned as well.”

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Davis estimated the team helped return two-to-three hours a day in staff time to bylaw officers by helping with the issues at hand.

Her staff report showed 70 per cent of bylaw resources were taken up handling social disorder issues.

Each day, City crews meet bylaw and RCMP officers at various locations deemed hotspots throughout the community. Many of the hotspots are in the downtown area, such as Bowen Park, Diana Krall Plaza, the Bastion bridge and Wesley St.

“The key issue is we need to respond quickly,” Davis said. “If we don’t respond quickly, we see the materials get spread about. In particular with encampments, they grow. Some of the encampments we’re seeing are rather sophisticated. The number of shopping carts were already exceeding last years count.”

Team funding previously came from the sanitation budget, but sanitation manager Taaj Daliran said the funding source was unsustainable.

The $187,000 will come from the Special Initiatives Reserve to fund the team five days a week until the end of December 2020.

Coun. Don Bonner said he appreciates the effort of the team but hoped more options will be presented once a business case is made for the team.

“It’s unfortunate we’re spending a whole bunch of money not on a proactive fixing of the problem. This is reactive money.”

Coun. Sheryl Armstrong specifically mentioned the Van Isle Clean Team, who volunteer to clean up dump sites and abandoned homeless camps around Nanaimo.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit