City Budget

City Budget

Understanding where the City of Vancouver allocates its budget is going to be my biggest target.  The standard response has been that there is no budget to do what the citizens want and need, however there seems to be plenty of budget to build a new website, or purchase new land for more parks, approve the Hotel renovation after 8 years in operation.  If the budget falls shy on taking care of parks, how can there be money to purchase more land for parks?  The City recently spent over $50,000 for a new website and logo, when the old one worked just fine.  In fact the new site is not organized as well, nor does it incorporate ways to give neighborhood associations, the NTSA tools to be successful.  

Why is the City blindly approving Hilton Hotel renovations on one side, and cutting fire and police jobs on the other?

I feel the city should be able to take advantage of local resources more effectively.  We have an organization called the NTSA (Neighborhood Traffic Safety Alliance) which has been using ¼ of 1% of REET and Federal grant money to effectively prioritize safety and ADA projects to enhance streets and access City wide.  What I don’t understand is the City does not dedicate any of the annual budget to this well organized group.  The city is using staff and resources to do surveys for potential and some future projects, however the NTSA is so well organized they could take on that responsibility quite effectively.  I feel that all traffic calming, restoration and enhancements should have a direct influence of the local residents in each area.  The NTSA is the organized body to streamline that effort and make sure local residents get the most out of any projects being managed in their area.  I have a couple examples in my blog if you are interested in reading more.