Councillors expensed nearly $150,000
Long and varied list of items claimed by councillors in first six months
From a $600 portrait session to a $38 parking ticket, the list of items, meals and gifts city councillors expensed in the first six months of 2016 is long and varied.
Councillors billed taxpayers for items including a popcorn machine rental ($118, Ward 11), pens and pencils from 4imprint ($1,061, Ward 10), two mattresses for families living in extreme poverty ($258, Ward 8), a suite for 18 guests at a Flames game ($2,471, Ward 12) and many magnets ($999, Ward 4).
The city’s 14 councillors expensed nearly $150,000 over a six month period for items including external communications, cellphone bills, travel, staff development, hosting, mileage, and employee recognition, according to ward expense reports filed for January to June 2016.
Each ward office is allocated $283,000 annually and the majority goes toward assistant salaries, which are not reported to protect employee privacy.
After paying staff, the budget each councillor has left over for communications, business expenses and travel varies; and, the balance sheets submitted by councillors are diverse.
They include a $38 parking ticket from Ward 4 Coun. Sean Chu, a $600 “Ward 8 portrait session,” and nearly $1,000 that went to a polling firm from both Ward 2 Coun. Joe Magliocca and Chu, for constituent polling.
The official expense disclosures reveal Ward 7 Coun. Druh Farrell expensed the least at $3,322, followed by Ward 13 Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart at $4,217.
But, Colley-Urquhart said last month she personally reimbursed $1,690 recorded on her disclosure for 1,000 promotional wristbands, meaning she billed taxpayers $2,527 in the first six months of the year.
“I always ask myself, is this something I should be paying taxpayer dollars for? The answer to that question is different for every elected official,” said Colley-Urquhart.
The expense reports show several councillors spent more than $1,000 on meals, meetings and open houses in their communities, but Colley-Urquhart spent no money on “business hosting.”
Colley-Urquhart said that’s because she typically pays out of her own pocket for meals where business is discussed and she tries to piggy-back on the city and use their resources when it comes to hosting events and engagement sessions for her constituents.
“In these tough economic times, it’s even more important for me to demonstrate that I am frugal,” she said.
But Woolley, who expensed the most of any councillor at $24,258, including $4,526 for business hosting, said councillors are allocated an office budget specifically to serve Calgarians.
“We are working super-hard and it takes financial resources to deliver on the things that we need to deliver to citizens,” he said.
Woolley’s expense report included $375 paid to a writing professional for help with an editorial that appeared in the Calgary Herald in January, $600 for a photo shoot that resulted in new portraits on his website, and several items for people “living in extreme poverty” including $258 for two mattresses from Mattress R Us, $139 for movie tickets, $973 at Walmart and $205 at Sears for household supplies.
The Ward 8 councillor stood by what his office spent and noted every ward office has a gift budget; instead of buying city swag for families in a housing complex in his ward, he chose to gift them desperately needed essentials.
“We delivered some gifts of some very, very useful things to the people living in some of the deepest poverty in the city,” he said.
Coun. Sean Chu’s expenses included a $38 parking ticket he believes one of his staff members received and $999 for magnets of his business card — a tactic he switched to after discovering the paper business cards he left constituents, while door-knocking, would blow away.
Chu, who at $6,077 expensed less than many of his colleagues, said he started paying for coffee meetings out of his own pocket after receiving grief a couple of years ago when his expense report was made public.
“We should be watching what we do,” he said. “If it’s not necessary we shouldn’t be doing it, especially in this economy.”
The expense disclosures show a large portion of the money expensed by many councillors went towards communications, including printing and mailing out ward newsletters, and cellphone bills.
While some councillors, including Gian-Carlo Carra and Woolley detailed exactly what restaurant or catering company every penny went to, several others recorded the dollar amount but not where it was spent.
Seven councillors (Joe Magliocca, Jim Stevenson, Ray Jones, Evan Woolley, Gian-Carlo Cara, Andre Chabot and Shane Keating) had tabs between $855 and $2,471 for hosting larger groups in a corporate box at Flames games — a longstanding practice.
Keating spent $2,471 at a Flames game in February attended by 18 community association presidents in his ward, which he believes is a relatively small annual cost to thank volunteers for everything they do for the city.
Keating, who at $16,992 expensed the second most, said he puts thought into every bill, which included $3,576 in printing costs for his ward newsletter, $49 for farewell flowers and $201 for an open house that 80 people attended.
“My philosophy is the budget is there, but it’s the same as what I expect from city administration,” he said.
“Just because you have a budget doesn’t mean you have to spend it, there has to be justification for everything you do.”
The budget and expenses for the Mayor’s Office are posted separately from the ward reports and the most recent document shows that from the beginning of January to the end of May, the Mayor’s Office expensed $13,676, including travel.