Vision's big debt erased by big donations from big developers

By Mike Klassen. Posted at CityCaucus.com on July 29, 2010 | Comments (13)

The lid has finally been taken off the private list of Vision donors

Exactly as we arrived at the 500-day mark since Vision Vancouver last divulged who is paying down their $240,000 campaign debt from the 2008 election, lo and behold the City's governing party releases its list of campaign donors on a hot summer day just prior to a long weekend. CityCaucus.com has been urging Vision to live up to its promise of openness and transparency, and its former calls for continuous disclosure. We're pleased to announce that we will officially stop our CityCaucus.com COUNT-UP CLOCK™ at 500 days.

At first glance what do we see from Vision Vancouver's financial declaration? Without question, it's a huge amount of money that Vision have raised in the past 15 months. For an organization who is on the record as decrying the amount of money spent on civic campaigns, Vision Vancouver have taken campaign spending into stratospheric heights. Having raised $433,000 in the past 500 days, Vision Vancouver have single-handedly raised the bar for the cost of civic elections in BC.

Secondly, there is the matter of how Vision have flouted the rules of the Vancouver Charter, which clearly states that if you have raised money to pay down an outstanding election campaign debt, you must report it within 30 days. The Ministry of Rural and Community Development was written to consider the matter of Vision's non-compliance, and the Minister's response was to file any complaints directly with the Vancouver Police Department's Financial Crime Unit. That unit is headed up by Sergeant Mark Johnstone.

The most interesting details of Vision's disclosure statement are those that are left out. For example, we can see that Vision Vancouver paid over $14,000 as interest on the $240K debt. Who did they pay that interest to? Was it perhaps some of Vision's better known bankrollers such as Renewal Partners, or was it a bank such as VanCity? Would a bank even consider a quarter million dollar loan to a political party with virtually no assets? As we've asked before, who was holding Vision Vancouver's debt?

Another detail one notes when looking at the numbers is how much Vision Vancouver spends on operations. After paying down their debt they've spent another $180,000 in 15 months. This means with salaries and other costs the party is burning through almost $12,000 per month! Look at the bottom line on page 2, and you can see that Vision only has just over $10,000 left in the bank. That means unless they can get developers to write more cheques immediately, Vision will be in the red again by Labour Day!

The poor old NPA may not be raising any money, but according to their financial statement read at their recent AGM, they have almost $20,000 in the bank. That means even with all the money Vision have raised, the NPA still has more cash!

For the many developers who've donated to Vision a thorny problem arises now that we know who gave to Vision, when they gave to Vision and how much they donated. Since the NPA has Vision's donor list, and will most likely squeeze the same developers for an equivalent donation as election season heats up. So if you are a developer who gave a $10,000 donation, suddenly it becomes $20,000. Wow.

Continue reading Vision's big debt erased by big donations from big developers.

Tagged: debt, developers, disclosure, joel solomon, renewal partners, unions, vancity, vision vancouver

Permalink | Filed under: Editorial

FOI shows 132 more VPD staff join $100,000 Club

By Mike Klassen. Posted at CityCaucus.com on July 29, 2010 | Comments (2)

This image features neither a VPD member nor Canadian money, but you get the point

An FOI filed months ago with the Vancouver Police Department by CityCaucus.com has now arrived in our mailbox – coincidentally just before a long weekend. It reveals that 477 employees working for the Vancouver Police Department are now in the exclusive $100,000+ Club. This compares to the 2008 calendar year whereby 345 employees were earning more than $100K in 2008. If you recall, The Province newspaper also provided this story with front page coverage last year.

Our FOI requested the salaries (including overtime) and expense claims for all those employed by the Vancouver Police Department in 2009. The highest paid employee on the list was Chief Jim Chu who earned $303,602.44. Other top earners include several Deputy Chiefs and inspectors who also earned up to $207, 897 per year.

The Vancouver Sun also put in a separate FOI with the VPD which asked for the names and salaries of all employees making over $75K. The VPD only provided them a short list of employees whom they considered not covered under the Freedom of Information Act.

Our list is more extensive as it lists all the salaries and expense claims for each employee, however on our printout the names have all been blacked out for security purposes. We're not sure why the Sun's list includes names, while our more extensive list with all salaried employees does not? It is interesting to compare how many employees earning top salaries were not forwarded to the Sun as part of their FOI request.

Continue reading FOI shows 132 more VPD staff join $100,000 Club.

Tagged: athlete's village, foi, police budget, rental housing, south east false creek, vancouver sun, vpd

Permalink | Filed under: City Focus

Merkley's "moving expenses" raise questions about Hollyhock hire

By Mike Klassen. Posted at CityCaucus.com on July 29, 2010 | Comments (6)

Ryan Merkley did a six-month tour of duty in Vancouver before returning home

CityCaucus.com readers will remember the odd story of the last-minute hiring of Toronto's Ryan Merkley as Vancouver's new Director of Communications replacing Laurie Best just prior to the 2010 Olympics. Merkley is best known as yet another Hollyhock hire, that is, another person with direct ties to the pervasive social venture network headed up by Vision Vancouver financier Joel Solomon.

On the face of it Merkley came with some good credentials. He was a political operative from back east who worked for the outgoing Mayor of Toronto David Miller. But what set him apart was his clear connections to Solomon and the Hollyhock crowd. What the real head-scratcher for anyone who knows media relations was why would they bring in someone from out of town to run Comms weeks before the Olympics? Hiring Merkley appears to have been a poor choice when the City's priority should have been to get the most experienced local PR flack for the job.

Those in the PR business know that it can take months if not years to build up rapport with key media. Job One during the 2010 Games was to make sure that Vancouver's message hit the wires. On that score Vancouver gets a giant FAIL. The biggest story out of the 2010 Games was nothing Vancouver did per se, rather it was how many people just went out and enjoyed the surroundings, and the free events.

With this in mind we have to ask how wise it was to offer Merkley the job and to sweeten it with a $5000 relocation dispensation! According to our freedom of information request on his letter of offer (see page one & page two), Merkley was given the job without any stated terms, nor any salary changes to reflect the merits of his work. For his temporary position (which would have led to full time status) Merkley received the equivalent salary pay grade of the outgoing Best from word Go. Although he didn't qualify for the reimbursement of moving costs, for some reason the City made an exception as the letter describes:

Your temporary appointment does not qualify you for our City of Vancouver Relocation Assistance Program; however, we are prepared to offer assistance up to $5000 in recognition of the expenses you will incur due to relocation.

Merkley's hiring appeared to be a straight up case of bringing in one of the social enterprise disciples being groomed by Solomon through the Hollyhock educational apparatus. His mug is all over this Renewal Partners retreat from a couple of summers back. While in Vancouver, Merkley reportedly devoted himself to fellow Hollyhockers Sadhu Johnston and Gregor Robertson, regularly taking lunches with the former.

It should be no surprise that Merkley decamped for his life back in Toronto once his temporary contract ended – perhaps Vancouver wasn't exciting enough after the Games ended.

Continue reading Merkley's "moving expenses" raise questions about Hollyhock hire.

Tagged: gregor robertson, hollyhock, joel solomon, laurie best, ryan merkley, sadhu johnston, vancouver

Permalink | Filed under: Editorial

There's no place like the Naramata Bench

By Mike Klassen. Posted at BCWineLover.com on July 26, 2010 | Comments (0)

Gary Reynolds of Lake Breeze Winery

This cross-post to CityCaucus.com and BCWineLover.com is part of BCWL's account of their recent "Okanagan 2010" wine travels.

Visiting the Naramata Bench is like a ride in the country but with benefits. Naramata is the bourgeoning "sub-appellation" of the Okanagan Valley that features some of BC's very best independent winemakers. We visited some of our favourite wineries on a glorious sunny day last week. Whenever it's possible to speak with one of the proprietors for a few minutes, we get a quick download on what's happening with their business and the surrounding region.

As we always only visit a maximum of four wineries (three is preferred) we settled on Lake Breeze Vineyards, Marichel Winery, Hillside Estate Winery and Nichol Vineyard. Lake Breeze and Hillside are more substantial operations and big wine tourist draws. Each has an accompanying eatery staffed with a professional chef and very pleasant servers; lunch at either venue is highly recommended.

By comparison both Marichel and Nichol Vineyard wineries are comparatively small operations. Both are run by a husband and wife team who pour their souls into what they bottle. Interestingly, both of these small wineries feature the Syrah (or Shiraz) grape as one of their core varietals. It's a grape that requires the summer heat that the microclimates of the Naramata Bench provide. Both Nichol's and Marichel's Syrah wines are simply some of the best bottles of BC wine you will taste.

Lake Breeze Vineyards hold the crown for the most consistently fresh and crisp Pinot Blanc wine in the province. Achieving "double gold" medals and Lieutenant Governor Awards hasn't let them sit back on their laurels, however. Lake Breeze are stepping up their efforts on red wines as well. In fact, it's a point of pride for co-proprietor Gary Reynolds that visitors are now making Lake Breeze reds their reason to visit.

Continue reading There's no place like the Naramata Bench.

Tagged: gary reynolds, lake breeze, lieutenant governor awards, marichel, naramata, nichol vineyards, okanagan 2010

Permalink | Filed under: Destinations

Our latest visit to Bottleneck Drive in Summerland

By Mike Klassen. Posted at BCWineLover.com on July 23, 2010 | Comments (0)

8th Generation Winery proprietor Stefanie Schales with Stacey

Our first stop at 8th Generation Winery began a pleasant tour of "Bottleneck Drive", the marketing handle given to a route in Summerland, BC. It begins at Highway 97 and travels up a pleasant country road with a few turns to get to all your stops. On this day we visited one of our favourite stops – Thornhaven Estate Vineyards – and finished up at the lovely Silkscarf Winery.

8th Generation took us by surprise at the quality of winemaking, the smart pricing and the hospitable folks at their facility. 8th Generation refers to the eight generations of winemaking experience proprietor Bernd Schales – a native of Germany who has moved to the Okanagan – has in his family lineage. His wife Stefanie (seen above with Stacey) also runs the winery. She took time out to tell us about how they acquired an eighteen year-old planting of Riesling grapes in the Okanagan Falls area, eventually acquiring the Summerland winery formerly known as Adora.

8th Generation have definitely put their mark on this location. They're winning awards for their wines, including their exceptional "Classic" Riesling, produced in a dry German style (we picked up a few bottles). They had help from Brandever, the marketing and branding company headed up by Bernie Hadley-Beauregard. Stefanie said, "We already had the story – we knew it would be about eight generations. We just wanted labels that would stand out. We're very happy with the use of the numeral eight on all our labels."

Continue reading Our latest visit to Bottleneck Drive in Summerland.

Tagged: 8th generation winery, bottleneck drive, okanagan 2010, summerland

Permalink | Filed under: Destinations