Mayor Gregor Robertson boasted that he was the only Canadian mayor at a Vatican City conference on human trafficking and climate change last summer.
His office, however, was last to disclose expense reports after the Courier made Freedom of Information applications to city halls bigger and smaller.
Records show it cost Vancouver taxpayers more than $5,500 to send Robertson and aide Braeden Caley to the Vatican City for the Pontifical Academy’s “Modern Slavery and Climate Change: The Commitment of Cities” workshop on July 21. The event was highlighted by an appearance by Pope Francis.
Robertson’s airfare was reimbursed by the Vatican. He billed $1,728.48, mainly for hotel and per diems for July 20-23. His expense report showed he also spent July 17-19 in Rome on personal time, coinciding with a trip to the Italian capital by his girlfriend, singer Wanting Qu. Caley travelled July 19-23 and his bill was $3,822.65 for airfare and hotel. A copy of Robertson’s expense records was sought Aug. 18 and finally released 32 business days later on Oct. 1. Under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, public bodies must respond no later than 30 business days with the records or a decision to delay or deny disclosure.
By comparison, staff in the office of Boulder, Colorado Mayor Matt Appelbaum responded just two days after an Aug. 18 request with documents showing Appelbaum’s July 18-24 trip cost $3,139.67. His expenses show he paid the cost of his flight upgrade and the fifth night at a Rome hotel. Colorado public bodies must decide three days after a public records request is made whether to release, delay or deny the records. New York and Washington laws set five-day deadlines, while California’s is 10.
San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee’s office responded Aug. 27 with records showing Lee’s trip cost $6,055.62, his wife Anita’s $2,750.52 and senior advisor on the environment Roger Kim’s $2,142. Kristin Macaulay in the Mayor’s Office of Communications said Anita Lee’s travel expenses were paid by the Friends of the Commission on the Status of Women.
City of Seattle public records analyst Ana Rocha responded Aug. 24, saying “no taxpayer dollars were used” to fund Mayor Ed Murray’s trip. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office responded Sept. 11 with credit card statements showing $13,513.10 was spent on airfare for de Blasio, international affairs aide Penny Abeywardena and deputy press secretary Monica Klein.
On Nov. 9, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner revealed that City of Vancouver would be probed under a 2014-launched audit and compliance program. In a news release the next day, OIPC further explained that the province’s biggest municipality “ranked among public bodies with the highest number of complaints and access to information appeals received by this Office” in four of the last five years.
Vancouver city hall’s data website shows that Robertson billed taxpayers $7,914.33 for travel expenses between January and September of this year, including trips to Paris, Toronto and New York. Robertson’s fall travels included Washington, D.C., Guangzhou, China and Hong Kong. He is scheduled to appear Dec. 6 at the World Climate Summit in Paris, during the United Nations’ Conference of the Parties 21 convention.
A year ago, the Courier reported that Robertson spent more than $63,000 on travel and 181 days away from Vancouver between 2009 and mid-2014. During 2012 alone, he was out-of-town on city business for 53 days. Most of his trips were to promote Vision Vancouver’s Greenest City 2020 plan.
@bobmackin
