'Poor fiscal management': Vancouver mayor's budget ask comes under fire
CTV
Some Vancouver city councillors are questioning why Mayor Ken Sim needs more funding for his mayoral office.
Some Vancouver city councillors are questioning why Mayor Ken Sim needs more funding for his mayoral office.
The mayor’s 2024 budget is $1.47 million, one of the highest budgets compared to his predecessors. On Tuesday, his office is asking council to divert $80,000 initially approved for the city clerk’s office.
The funds were previously approved by the ABC-majority council at a meeting in December.
According to a report from City Manager Paul Mochrie, the funds are for a new administrative role for the mayor who will help with scheduling and other related functions.
“Apparently, the work that the mayor would like the $80,000 to be directed to is more political in nature, so it’s not appropriate to have it in the clerk's office,” said Pete Fry, a councillor with the Green Party.
Fry called the mayor’s request to council hypocritical, citing his 2022 campaign criticism of former Mayor Kennedy Stewart for his budgetary decisions.
“Ken Sim has one chief of staff, but a far larger staff in general and a far larger budget as well,” Fry said. “There is a fair degree of hypocrisy in him making hay of Kennedy Stewart’s spending, when in fact, he’s spending significantly more and it’s far more opaque.”
