A Vancouver city councillor says the city needs to reassess its priorities, after it cut funding for street cleaning to hire a new social media staffer for the city manager’s office.
Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung says the city had budgeted more than $300,000 to improve sanitation and street cleaning this year. But in its quest to balance the budget amid COVID-19, council voted to slash that by $130,000.
At the same time, the city is now budgeting $95,000 to hire the city manager’s social media manager.
READ MORE: COVID-19 cash crunch: Vancouver mulls financial impact of 3-, 6- and 9-month lockdowns
“Given the fact that we have a hiring freeze at the City of Vancouver, we have 1,800 staff on temporary layoff, and all of our exempt staff have taken a 10 per cent pay cut, it just seems like the wrong message to send right now,” said Kirby-Yung.
“We have dozens of communications staff, and just like everybody is having to pivot and learn to work flexibly and prioritize, I think that’s what the city needs to do too.”
City Manager Sadhu Johnston was not available for an interview to discuss the social media job.
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It’s also not clear why the city’s robust, existing communications department couldn’t handle the work. As of 2017, the city employed 21 full-time communications staff and a dozen part-time staffers.
The city did not reply to Global News with updated numbers on that department by deadline.
Kirby-Yung says the move is especially ill-timed as homeowners are preparing for a seven per cent property tax increase.
She adds that the failure to fund new cleaning efforts also hits the wrong note with COVID-19 showing no signs of disappearing.
“The last thing you do is cut sanitation services when you have a pandemic,” she said.
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