OCCUPIED BUDGET
What seemed like a long time ago-Oct. 19 to be exact-Police Chief Jim Chu issued a dire warning at a Vancouver Police Board meeting saying his police force could run a deficit for the first time in seven years.
Chu pointed to the Occupy Vancouver protest on the grounds of the Vancouver Art Gallery, which began Oct. 15, as the reason for driving up policing costs.
"The cost of the policing is not trivial but we're going to deploy what we need to keep the protesters as well as the public safe," Chu told me after the board meeting. But he wouldn't reveal costs or number of officers working the protest. "For any event where there's an extended period of time that it's going to occur, and when we don't know for certainty what kind of event it's going to be, it is very difficult to put a final budget number on it."
Now that the protest has fizzled and there are only three weeks left in the year, the question remains whether the VPD will run a deficit this year.
The answer?
I thought I would get one at the Nov. 16 police board meeting. But this is as close as I got when Deputy Chief Adam Palmer addressed the board.
"We probably won't know until early 2012, when the final calculations are done," said Palmer, who oversees the VPD's financial picture. "So it's going to be that late until we can tell you definitively. The first few weeks into January we're still finalizing the 2011 budget and what the final costs are."
Police board member Glenn Wong suggested at the meeting that a letter be written to city council, warning them about a possible deficit.
"Personally, I'd feel more comfortable if at least they had some formal warning so there's not a major surprise to council from the board," said Wong, who made the comment without Mayor Gregor Robertson, the board's chairperson, in the room. He was absent that day, on the campaign trail.
But Wong's suggestion was shot down by police board members Patti Marfleet and Mary Collins, who suggested the board wait for an update at the Dec. 14 meeting.
"I think we want to be sure what we're saying before we said it," Collins said. "I wouldn't want to make it sound like [crying] wolf. So maybe we should see in December whether there's any new information."
And what are the consequences if the VPD goes over budget?
Robertson didn't know when I asked him way back in October. Maybe he and the rest of the board will have an answer next Wednesday.
TWITTER FAN
In other Robertson-related news, the big guy himself is now following me on Twitter.
That's great news!
Why?
Well, c'mon he's the mayor.
And I'm thinking it's his subtle way of saying I can contact him via a direct message-DM, if you're hip to the lingo-when I need a comment.
I'll try it one day and report back.
Unlike his predecessors Larry Campbell and Sam Sullivan, Robertson still hasn't offered up his cell number. Apparently, I've got another three years to work on getting it.
Twitter: @Howellings
