KELOWNA – The spending habits of Kelowna city councillors varies widely according to their 2013 expense claims.
Here are last year’s available claims:
Maxine Dehart – $4653
Robert Hobson – $3018
Gail Given – $2756
Colin Basran – $2079
Luke Stack – $966
Mohini Singh – $66
Andre Blanleil – N/A
Gerry Zimmerman – N/A
Dehart says her expenses were well spent. “I can honestly say with the hours that we put in, I don’t think the public is too unhappy with these expenses.”
Stack says he tries to keep his expenses as low as he can. “I don’t really submit anything that I really don’t need to.”
Mayor Walter Gray, who expensed almost $12,000, says some of his fellow councillors rein in their spending out of fear of upsetting taxpayers.
“Some are so conscious of that, they will deny themselves to go to a convention to learn because they know there’s an expense and will say ‘Gee, what will that look like to the taxpayer?'”
Dehart’s biggest expense in 2013 was for the Union of BC Municipalities convention in Vancouver where she spent $2028.
“I think this is very little money actually. I was quite surprised because we do try to watch our expenses when we go. We don’t go out to extra dinners. We try to go to receptions,” says Dehart
By contrast, Stack billed taxpayers $155 to attend the UBCM convention.
*See the full interview with Maxine Dehart here.
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