New hires will help enforce COVID measures
The city is hiring five temporary bylaw officers to help enforce measures designed to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Hamilton.
The six-month posts, which will cost roughly $260,000 drawn from upper-level government funding, add to a fulltime contingent of 40 officers.
“This is to due to the broad array of COVID-19 inspections, enforcement that we do on a daily basis,” Paul Johnson, who leads Hamilton’s emergency operations centre, said Wednesday.
The extra officers join the ranks as the city aims to enforce recently announced provincial restrictions during a vicious third wave of the pandemic.
In Hamilton, officials closed playgrounds over the weekend, following Premier Doug Ford’s lead, but reopened them after the province switched gears amid public backlash.
The city also closed the popular escarpment stairways for all use at first, but then pivoted to keep them open for essential trips, such as work and medical appointments.
Those who don’t follow the rules face tickets of around $880. So far, no fines have been issued, the city said Wednesday.
The prohibition is a sore point for some residents, although there hasn’t been an “avalanche of concerns,” Coun. Tom Jackson during Wednesday’s pandemic update. Jackson noted some of his east Mountain constituents have complained even emergency operation centre officials have said the “stairs aren’t a problem. They’re not an issue in terms of outbreaks.”
But the stairs can become crowded destination points for thousands at peak times, Johnson responded.
The temporary ban is part of a suite of measures to minimize movement throughout the city during this crucial stage of the pandemic, he added. “They are a gathering spot. They are a place where people travel to.”
Johnson acknowledged some who live near escarpment stairs question why they can’t use them for leisure.
“We’re not going to check where people live and what people do. We’re asking for a few weeks for people to really limit where they go and what they do.”
Johnson, who noted use of the stairs was also limited in the early days of the pandemic, said there are other ways people can get exercise while stay-at-home measures are in effect.
They will reopen once those are lifted, he said.