A Vancouver city councillor says the city needs to reassess its priorities, after it cut funding for street cleaning to hire a new social media staffer for the city manager’s office.
Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung says the city had budgeted more than $300,000 to improve sanitation and street cleaning this year. But in its quest to balance the budget amid COVID-19, council voted to slash that by $125,000.
At the same time, the city is now budgeting $95,000 to hire the city manager’s social media manager. [ Sign up for our Health IQ newsletter for the latest coronavirus updates ] “Given the fact that we have a hiring freeze at the City of Vancouver, we have 1,800 staff on temporary layoff, and all of our exempt staff have taken a 10 per cent pay cut,