The City of Vancouver said taxpayers’ interests trump the public’s right to know about a $100 million loan the city has reportedly provided to the developer of the Olympic Village at Southeast False Creek.
“There’s a difference between the public and the taxpayer,” Deputy City Manager Jodi Andrews told reporters outside the construction site on Thursday.
“It’s not in the taxpayers’ best interest to talk about the day-to-day dealings,” Andrews said “It really is inappropriate and is harmful to the taxpayer.”
Andrews also refused to comment on reports that the city’s top financial officer has resigned her position and flown to Hong Kong.
Mayor Sam Sullivan declined to discuss the issue with reporters on Thursday.
Coun. Peter Ladner, who chairs the city’s finance committee, mentioned the loan during an Oct. 22 homelessness debate, but refused to respond to The Tyee's follow-up questions.
Ladner, who as the Non-Partisan Association’s mayoral candidate has been anything but camera-shy, refused to speak to reporters yesterday. NPA campaign spokesman Michael Meneer said Ladner was waiting on a City of Vancouver announcement that would clarify the situation.
But the cryptic news release issued by the city shortly after 2 p.m. provided no answers.
“Staff has kept all council members informed,” the release continued. “The City will continue to make information publicly available when appropriate…”
Vision Vancouver opponent Gregor Robertson called on Ladner to disclose the loan.
Globe and Mail columnist Gary Mason, who broke the story yesterday, called for full disclosure today.
Monte Paulsen is investigative editor of The Tyee.
Does appropriate mean,
Does appropriate mean, sometime after the municipal elections and around tax assessment time?
Open and transparent? Not the NPA
A fiscally conservative sort of person like me wants to know that those elected to work on my behalf are making prudent capital and other investment decisions.
Its impossible to have any comfort that the NPA led City of Vancouver is making prudent decisions given the shroud of secrecy which seems an endemic feature of the NPA.
Peter Ladner and the city claim there is nothing to worry about, that these transactions are done all the time. Odd - those are the same words the leaders of some of Wall Street's biggest recent blow-ups have used.
We should take nothing for granted when it comes to city finances in these times. Just look at Lehman Brothers in the U.S. which, just days before going under, claimed that it was well-capitalized and in no danger. By the end of the following weekend, it essentially failed to exist as a company.
If indeed these transactions are routine, then nothing can be gained from keeping the details in secret.
If the NPA dominated board can't operate under climate of openness then it needs to be replaced. That's not a partisan expression but a business decision.
This Says as Much about Staff as Council
Before you start wailing on the NPA, it's worth remembering that all of Vison and Cope voted in favour of the secret deal too. Do you really think Council's going to be any more transparent when Gregor Robertson takes power? Every one of these "mainstream" parties are bought and paid for by developers or special interest groups.
What this really speaks to is how weak the people we elect really are, and how City staff like Judy Rogers has usurped the power at City Hall. They're the ones who have made the city their own private fiefdom...not council.
Can't Give Up Because 'leftofcentre' Is Right
Certainly politics as usual has to change, as do some city bureaucrats. If we are to fix our political system, then more of us have to get involved politically to effect those changes.
Miami Syndrome
Sounds like Vancouver taxpayers will end up owning a bunch of condos which will have fallen like a rock in price over the next 3-4 years.
Maybe We Are in Kansas
Dave Eby raised a good question on his blog: Why didn't any Vision/COPE Councillors make a motion in the closed meeting to have the issue made public or put it up for debate? They had to know it would be damaging to the NPA if the matter became public knowledge prior to the election. The Globe & Mail's Gary Mason broke the story but didn't indicate who ordered Council to keep it a secret or face serious repercussions? Outside the courts, who has the power to order City Council to do anything? The body is accountable to the electorate, not the Wizard of Oz!