 What does the tempest over Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim's library comments tell us about the next 4 years? | | |  | | | Did you hear about the story about Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim suggesting the city should charge for basic library services?
The accusation was arguably the biggest local politics story on Twitter and Reddit most of this week, fuelled almost entirely by a single tweet, based on a comment Sim made during city budget discussions on Tuesday.
“Libraries are super important,” said Sim, in the yearly meeting where council asks public questions of management in every city department and their respective asks for the year.
“My question to you is have you looked at potential revenue opportunities in the VPL system that helps fund some of the work you want to do?”
Sim then mused that if each library raised less than $500 a month, it would generate $100,000 a year, enough for a small new program.
“Have you guys looked at that at all?”
Library staff then said they were limited under provincial legislation on what things they are allowed to raise fees from, but did already raise revenue from things like renting rooms out.
(A look at budgets shows that in a typical year, the VPL raises around $2 to $3 million dollars from various program fees and rental payments.)
The tweet struck a huge nerve because it played to some people’s fears that Sim and his ABC Party will not govern as centrists but profit-hungry conservatives that will give to police while taking from everyone else. And with the budget months away, there’s a hypothetical that the city will vote for changes to libraries that at this point is impossible to disprove.
However, it was eventually deleted by the original poster because he realized the phrase “basic services” gave a misleading impression of the exchange.
One could dismiss the entire incident as another social media tempest over a claim which is a long way from reality. But it does reveal a couple of storylines that will likely be present over the next four years.
First, Vancouver has changed from a centre-left government to a centre-right one. Accordingly, the most focused criticism this term is also likely to change, from those worried the city doesn’t care about crime or safety, to those worried the city doesn’t care about protecting basic services or the most marginalized. As such, the controversies will change.
Second, Sim will have to get used to his every comment being critiqued like any public figure would. Musing about raising $100,000 from libraries and saying, “Have you guys looked at that?” is something that can come across as spitballing when you’re a member of the public but unserious or callous when you’re the mayor.
In any case, it’s the first controversy under Sim’s tenure that mattered deeply online for 48 hours but resulted in no tangible changes to how the city is run.
But odds are it won’t be the last. | | |  | | | 1. Snow! | | | Of course, all political news in southwest B.C. tends to take a back seat when 15 centimetres of snow hits the ground and thousands of people are stuck for hours on the roads as a result. Because of the patchwork level of jurisdictions in the region, two councillors have called for a “Snow Summit” to try to find solutions — though it’s possible any such meeting would result in the same finger pointing at different levels of government that tends to follow such occasions.
Read more in Daily Hive | | |  | | | 2. Policing | But election promises are still moving forward — or at least attempting to move forward, as Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke’s push to eliminate the fledgling Surrey Police Service will soon be up to the province. In the interim, a tenuous truce between the SPS and Surrey RCMP appears to be breaking, which is probably less than ideal no matter what happens.
Read more in Global News | | | |  | | | 3. Budgets | And in cities big and small, the subject of next year’s financial planning has begun to command a lot of attention, as they begin to plug away before the March 31 deadline. And while the focus is on Vancouver facing the potential of another 5-7 per cent tax increase, many municipalities are in the same boat, owing largely to inflation and aging infrastructure. Read more in Castanet | | | | | |  | | | 5. Trees | What level of detail should local politicians be involved in with a city of 20,000 people? Should it involve ruling on the fate of a single tree? It was the question that came to mind for one councillor in Oak Bay as he voted on the future of a Garry oak on a school ground — while another councillor had to recuse herself due to a conflict of interest. For what it’s worth, the tree survived. Read more in the Saanich News | | | | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
forwarded to you. | | | | That's it for this week! In the meantime, check out the latest headlines at cbc.ca/bc and follow our municipal affairs reporter Justin McElroy on Twitter. And if you have any questions you might want answered in a future mailbag, drop Justin a line at metromatters@cbc.ca. | | | |
