The City of Richmond is being criticized for what some are calling excessive spending on a holiday party.
On Dec. 12 last year, the city held a party at the Olympic Oval for approximately 900 city staff. The cost was $119,000, or about $132 per person.
Details are coming to light after a Global BC’s freedom of information produced 4,400 pages of records from the city.
“I think any comparison with similar size municipalities would show that this is yet again another example of excessive spending by Richmond city council,” Duff Conacher with Democracy Watch said.
Taxpayers spent about $80,000 on catering, $3,500 on wine, $3,500 on beer, $6,000 went to an event company providing mini golf and other games. A photo booth cost $1,100 and a separate professional photographer was paid $2,700.
On Tuesday, Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie defended having the party.
He said the gathering was good for morale, but he acknowledged the high cost, saying “A year-end party is a time to reflect on what happened in the past, it is an investment in your people, it is a way to build morale.”
Carson Binda with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation commented that “the province must reinstate the auditor general for local governments to investigate wasteful spending just like this.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for B.C.’s Housing and Municipal Affairs Ministry said the province was not considering adding a new oversight body.
“The Office of the Auditor General for Local Government role was primarily focused on performance audits of the operations of local governments including asset management, emergency management and human resources,” the stat
The audits were non-binding, provided local governments with objective information and relevant advice, but did not require specific actions to be taken.
Door prizes at the event included gift cards, which are the subject of an ongoing RCMP criminal investigation into unaccounted for cards valued at $295,000. Just one day before the event, Richmond issued a press release announcing a 5.86 per cent tax increase.
“It seems like the Richmond city council is really completely out of touch with democratic good government principles and standards, especially standards concerning government spending and preventing wasting of public’s money,” Conacher said.
Richmond’s mayor says there has been no final decision on having a party this year.