The City of Vancouver paid more to fix and replace outhouses ruined in the Stanley Cup riot than it cost to rent them, according to documents released via Freedom of Information.
Pit Stop Portable Toilet Services supplied $22,593 of porta-potties and cleaning services during the last two rounds of the Vancouver Canucks' playoff run, but billed taxpayers $25,611 extra for riot damage, according to an Aug. 19 summary of expenses released Nov. 22.
The contract put the onus on the city to repair or replace units, worth $950 each.
"[June 15] was a very sad end to what was, until then, a great Vancouver celebration," wrote city special events manager Muriel Honey in a June 17 email to Pit Stop general manager Rob Mitchell. "I hope you were happy to be part of our little team that managed to put together a great series of events on very short notice."
"We will all dust ourselves off after this process and look forward to many more events with better endings (including our hockey team winning the Cup)," Mitchell responded.
Pit Stop charged the city for 48 damaged units, nine needing replacement and two that went missing. The dollar amount was censored but the invoice mentions $2,640 labour and $631.38 supplies.
The records were among items originally sought in a June 17 FOI request. City hall's FOI office delayed release three times until finally delivering Nov. 22-three days after the civic election.
At a Sept. 1 news conference, Mayor Gregor Robertson said riot-related FOI requests would be fulfilled before the election. The city did dump hundreds of pages of information online in September, but not those requested June 17. When Robertson began his first term in 2008, he promised to "ensure transparency" at city hall.
Newly released records show Brand Live Management Group was hired two days before the seven-game series started and invoiced the city for $39,625.66. Brand Live credits include Vancouver House during the 2010 Winter Olympics, annual Celebration of Light fireworks and activities to draw people to the once-desolate Olympic Village. Brand Live was also paid $854,013 in 2010 by the city.
A June 12 email copied to Honey from Brand Live senior vice-president Paul Runnals said there would be 56 security guards from Concord and Source for Games 6 and 7, but wondered: "To what degree we should be checking open beverage containers (water, big gulp cups, etc.) for presence of alcohol?"
No response was included in the city's FOI disclosure.
Other expenses included Concord Security ($40,491), Super Save Fence Rentals ($34,256), CBC Fun Zone ($18,315), carpet ($8,701) and signs by Fastsigns ($1,776). All fence panels were recovered after the riot, but Super Save charged $3,164 to replace 49 bases and 93 tops that were unaccounted for.
The biggest bill was $129,219 for Fresh Air Cinema's three big LED screens. The cost included $23,399 in riot damage.
None of the records released indicate whether the city followed its own buying policy to seek at least three bids by phone or in writing from known suppliers for goods and services under $75,000. Fan zone supplier contracts were not included in a report published Aug. 17 on the city's Supply Management website. In 2010, city hall spent $2.2 million on 32 no-bid contracts.
City hall spokeswoman Wendy Stewart did not respond before deadline.
