Loss Of In-House Solicitors Stalls Re-Organization Plans

With the City not having a City Solicitor there are two immediate effects on some of the re-organization plans at City Hall.

First off the plans to quickly re-organize the City Solicitor’s office are now on hold until what time a new City Solicitor is hired.

And secondly if you have more than a few parking tickets kicking around you likely won’t have to worry about the City coming to collect them either for awhile.

Those were the answers given by City Manager Jim Puffalt in regards to the departures of former City Clerk/Solicitor Myron Gulka-Teichko and assistant city solicitor Katelyn Soltys (later City Solicitor/Director of Legislative and Enforcement Services from July 2021- November 2021) when asked by MJ Independent about the effects not having an in-house solicitor would have on plans for re-organization at City Hall.

The retirement of Gulka-Teichko afforded the City the opportunity to split the City Clerk/Solicitor position into two separate jobs and offices thereby allowing the Legislative and Enforcement Services to concentrate better on legal and enforcement matters.

“We think it is going to be six months until we get bylaw enforcement in there,” Puffalt said at this morning’s post Council presser.

The City was planning to move two additional bylaw officers into the new Legislative and Enforcement Services office once they were moved out of the Planning Department office.

Asked about how the lack of a City solicitor affected plans to attempt to collect the seemingly mountainous $1 million owing in unpaid parking tickets Puffalt said likewise that effort is also temporarily shelved.

That will probably six months,” he said when asked about the effort.

Collecting the outstanding parking tickets is important as it is key to funding the changes planned for City Hall, he said.

“It is important for us to bring it forward enough responsibly to bring it forward properly.”

Asked further if the delay was a major blow to the re-organizational plans Puffalt said he did not see it that way.

“It is not a major blow we are still going to get there.”

“Sometimes all of the plans don’t go the way you want but you get tenacious…you don’t quit,” Puffalt replied when MJ Independent asked if the delay could mean less of the outstanding parking debt could not be collected.

Asked further if there was not provincial debt collection laws could mean the City could possibly not collect on any parking ticket older than two years old Pufflat said he was not aware of that case. MJ Independent had asked a lawyer if the potential existed if someone owed a debt made no attempts to collect it within two years.

“We will check it with other lawyers,” he replied.

Additionally the lack of a City solicitor has meant there is also more agreements the City Manager’s office is looking over.