Even though Mayor Dave Aspden complained the policy would “nickel and dime” him, it’s in the public interest to require municipal politicians to disclose their use of city vehicles.
Doing so will make the use of city vehicles by elected officials more transparent, resulting in greater accountability.
Ward 6 Coun. Michael Prowse started the wheels turning by suggesting that members of council disclose their use of city vehicles, and that the use be deducted from annual car allowances – $3,000 for councillors and $6,000 for the mayor. The motion got wide support around the council table, with the mayor voicing opposition, saying “we’ll start penalizing me,” suggesting the policy would cost taxpayers hundreds of dollars more, as the use of a private vehicle could be more expensive than the use of a city vehicle.
If that’s the case, then it’s a price that should be paid in the interests of accountability and transparency.
But really, in the grand scheme of things, this is small potatoes, and council tends to get bogged down in this type of discussion. The mayor, for one, seemed to take it personally, with his “penalizing” and “nickel and dime” comments. Perhaps he has a point, as he is a frequent user of a city vehicle, and the new rules will affect him directly.
While the revision is completely appropriate, the matter would have been better handled as part of an overall remuneration review, now underway. That would have given council time to build consensus, and avoid the type of conflict witnessed last week.
Such animosity only gives rise to a perception (reality?) that this is a council eternally at odds with its mayor, which has a dysfunctional edge no matter how you explain it.
Making the expense discussion part of an overall review would also allow a couple of basic questions to be asked and thoroughly discussed:
1) Is there a case to be made that the mayor should, in fact, have access to a city vehicle for work-related purposes? 2) Are current car allowances adequate, or do they need to be revised?
Such a process would be less dramatic than what we witnessed last week, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
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