"60 cents of every taxpayer dollar went to consultants, many of whom have ties to... Vision Vancouver."
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and his staff spent a record $264,137 on non-essential goods and services in 2015, including $174,321 on communications consultants, according to documents released under Freedom of Information.
(View documents below)
Spending on consultants from the so-called Mayor’s Discretionary Fund increased 86% from 2014’s $93,815 and far exceeded the $129,346 spent on all goods and services that year. Between November 2011 and December 2015, the total cost of consultants, advertising, travel, taxis, food and drink and other items was nearly $650,000. Of that, 60 cents of every taxpayer dollar went to consultants, many of whom have ties to the Robertson-led Vision Vancouver party.
NPA Coun. George Affleck called it wasteful. The Mayor’s Office directory shows 10 staff while another 25 people work in communications jobs at city hall and parks board.
“As the mayor, when he talks about affordability and the ever-increasing costs to people of this city, the first place he should look is literally in his own office,” Affleck said. “If he can’t provide restraint of his own spending, how can we expect he has any kind of ability to manage taxpayer dollars?”
More than a third of the money paid to consultants in 2015 went to two former Robertson aides who left their city jobs last spring.
Lara Honrado, who worked in the Mayor’s Office from October 2009 to April 2015, is principal at Georgetown Strategy Consulting, which was paid $31,000 for strategic planning services from May to September. Honrado also heads the Burnaby-North Seymour federal Liberal riding association.
Ko worked under Robertson from November 2010 to May 2015. She joined a U.S. charity affiliated with the United Nations Refugee Agency, but was paid $30,000 until last October for consulting services, stakeholder engagement and helping the transition to her April 2015-hired successor, Nicole Seguin. Seguin’s partner, Jacob Hunter, is a former Vision Vancouver data and voter targeting manager and ex-organizer of Vancouver’s annual 4/20 marijuana-promotion festival.
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https://www.biv.com/article/2016/4/consultants-and-travel-drive-whopping-increase-van/
