Vancouver councillor George Affleck has raised concerns with the mechanism Vancouver Council has used to fund its just-announced Greenest City Fund.
The $2 million fund, announced last week, is geared at supporting youth-led initiatives, neighbourhood-based projects created by residents and green programs developed by charitable organizations.
City council voted April 17 to contribute $1 million to the fund in a partnership with the Vancouver Foundation, which will also contribute $1 million to the fund.
But Affleck told Business in Vancouver that he’s concerned that council is funding the initiative with money pulled from a parking endowment fund, which, he said, is supposed to fund parking.
“We haven’t asked the public if we can take any money out of this $28 million fund that was intended for one thing and now we’re using it for another – I don’t think that’s fair,” he said.
Affleck said he “[didn’t] necessarily have a problem” with funding the Greenest City Fund, but he questioned how well council is tracking the return on its community investments.
“There are no checks and balances – what’s the ROI on all these investments we’re making and all these things we’re doing in the community?” he said.
“If it’s touchy-feely, that’s fine – but tell me that.”
