People for Public Infrastructure sent a letter to the City of Prince Rupert on Nov. 14 to request to be added to the Nov. 21 Committee of the Whole meeting to provide a presentation on P3 projects (public-private partnerships).

The presentation will include background on P3s and recommendations for City Council when considering a P3 project for the city’s water and sewer system. Click here to view a PDF of the Power Point for the presentation.

We are a grassroots and all-volunteer organization.

We do not accept financial contributions from unions, businesses, and other organizations. We do accept financial contributions from individuals. We also accept in-kind contributions from organizations.

This page includes information on all financial contributions and in-kind contributions received. It is updated every month on the 5th of the month.

We are currently not incorporated and are informally organized. Tom Kertes is the volunteer organizer of People for Public Infrastructure. Eight community members met on November 6, 2022 to form the organization and lay out our vision, values, goals, and plan.

All community members are welcome to join the organization by attending planning meetings. Meeting dates and times are posted on the website. Contact Tom Kertes at 778-884-5343 or tomkertes@gmail.com to be notified of the next meeting.

Financial Contributions

• Nov. 7, 2022 Update – None received

In-Kind Contributions

• Nov. 7, 2022 Update- None received

Budget (Income/Expense) Reports

• A budget report will be provided every quarter starting on Jan. 5, 2023 for the 4th quarter of 2022.

Our first meeting was held on Nov. 6, 2022 and was attended by eight local residents. At that meeting we agreed to work together to educate the community on the value of keeping the city’s water and sewer system public. We also decided to continue meeting and to reach out to elected officials and other residents to build support for keeping the city’s water and sewer system under public control and operation.

Click Here to View the Update (pdf)

• LOWER FEES. PUBLIC CONTROL.
  We value public-governance, public-ownership, public-control, public-operation, public-maintenance, and public-financing of the city’s water and sewer system. This keeps fees low and ensures local control over our city’s public water and sewer system.
• COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
  We value the community’s voice in government and we value working together to make government work for us all. This builds a strong community for everyone and increases community engagement.
• MAXIMIZE THE PUBLIC BENEFIT.
  We value maximizing the public benefits that come from government investments in our city’s infrastructure. Let’s make sure that every dollar spent on infrastructure creates the most benefit possible for the whole community.

(Revised Nov. 23, 2022)

Vision

“Public control and low rates for Prince Rupert utilities.”

People for Public Infrastructure is a grassroots community group of Prince Rupert residents working together to ensure that the city’s public water and sewer system remain publicly governed, publicly owned, publicly controlled, publicly operated, publicly maintained, and publicly financed.

A public utility system is one governed directly by the city, within the municipality itself. This puts our city’s elected representatives in direct control and oversight of the system and results in local control over our infrastructure, reduced costs of operation, and lower fees for residents and businesses.

Goals

• Ensure that residents and businesses have a voice in the process of deciding how the city will govern and run our public utilities system.
• Ensure that alternatives to privatization are considered and that this be an open process.
• Keep utility prices as low as possible and ensure that local governance and control is maintained over the public utility system.

(Revised Nov. 24, 2022)

Learn more: What’s privatization?

Learn more: Timeline of how People for Public Infrastructure was founded (PDF)

Tom Kertes (Volunteer Organizer)

778-884-5343

tomkertes@gmail.com