Vancouver city council will vote on increasing the budget for the office of Mayor Ken Sim once again, by reallocating $80,000 from the city’s clerk’s department.
The funds are in addition to the $100,000 boost city council approved in discretionary funding for the mayor’s personal office in December.
The recommendation from city manager Paul Mochrie says the $80,000 was originally approved to establish a new administrative role that supports scheduling and related mayor functions in the city clerk’s office.
But Mochrie says the job requires “a close day-to-day working relationship with the Mayor” and shouldn’t have to answer to the City of Vancouver’s public administration.
“Given the specific operational requirement and nature of the role as a direct support to the mayor, this position will be significantly more effective as a member of the mayor’s staff, rather than a position that reports up to the city clerk,” it says.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim put forward a successful amendment to the city’s budget to give his office another $100,000 in funding, along with an additional $80,000 in secondary support. But as Justin McElroy reports, it’s not exactly the impression he gave voters about the mayor’s budget when he was campaigning.
During the 2022 election campaign, Sim criticized what he referred to as the “dumb spend” of predecessor Kennedy Stewart in the mayor’s office. Sim promised efficiencies and reduced spending if elected.
But under Sim, the budget for the mayor’s office has only increased.
According to city data, Sim is on track to spend more than $1.5 million in the mayor’s office in 2024, about $450,000 more than Stewart spent in 2021, his final full year as Vancouver mayor.
Speaking on the CBC’s The Early Edition, Vancouver Green Party Coun. Pete Fry said the mayor’s office on the third floor of city hall has been expanding to accommodate new hires.
“What we’ve seen is a pretty significant increase in spending in the mayor’s office,” said Pete Fry. “Certainly, it’s not what he campaigned on.”
The recommendation before council says because the $80,000 was already approved, reallocating the money from the city clerk’s office to the mayor’s office will have no net impact on the 2024 operating budget.