City of Kelowna does an about-face on crime forum admission fee after business pushback

Todd Daniels is pleased the City of Kelowna had a change of heart and eliminated an admission fee for a public forum on crime and safety .

“They should have never done it in the first place,” Daniels told Global News. “It’s ridiculous.”

This weekend’s reversal came after business operators blasted the city for implementing a $5 fee to attend the Jan. 27 event at the Kelowna Community Theatre.

“Kudos to them for getting us our money back but now they’re going to have to do all that accounting and paying everyone back, which is going cost more money,” Daniels said.

Unlike last week, the online pre-registration to attend no longer comes with a fee.

“It’s not surprising,” said Kristina Loewen, Conservative MLA for Kelowna Centre. “The outcry was pretty significant, so I’m glad to see that they’ve done the right thing and reversed that fee.”

Loewen is also holding a similar forum in early February but hers has been free all along.

The January forum is one of the city’s responses to the growing  and increasingly louder business complaints about ongoing crime and social disorder.

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With many shop owners spending thousands of dollars for property damage repairs and security measures, many said the fee, albeit small, was a slap in the face.

“I’m not sure whose idea that was; bad political advice,” Loewen said.

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In an email to Global News on Friday, the city said the fee was meant to deter people from pre-registering and then being ‘no-shows’.

“It’s not about revenue,” stated the email. “Because space is limited, the fee helps make sure that the people who reserve a spot are genuinely planning to attend. For free events, we often see 40–70% attrition, which means seats get taken by people who don’t show up, and others who really want to participate aren’t able to. We didn’t want that to happen here.”

However, with so much pushback, the city reversed the decision on Saturday, stating in a news release, “The City has heard concerns from local businesses about the fee to attend the Community Safety Business Forum on Jan. 27. In response to this feedback, the event will now be free.”

The city added the forum will include presentations and an opportunity for attendees to ask questions, as well as activities to allow participants to help identify which potential solutions would make the biggest difference for business owners and operators.

“At the end of the day, I think what’s most important is just that voices are heard,” Loewen said. “Hopefully there’s major changes as a result of the community coming together.”

Daniels will among those attending the now free forum and hopes the city takes the concerns to heart.

“People want change downtown,” Daniels said.  “We have voices and we’re getting angry, so this is the main focus. Listen to the people that voted for you.”

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