A provincial court judge has dismissed a lawsuit that alleged Vancouver’s mayor was in a conflict of interest over the lease of a city-owned building to software company Hootsuite.
Municipal Cedar Party leader Glen Chernen and nine others filed the petition on February 14. The petition alleged that Mayor Gregor Robertson had failed to disclose a conflict of interest when the city leased a 33,282-square-foot building to Hootsuite, and that Robertson had received “substantial election, campaign and political assistance” from Hootsuite.
In the July 21 ruling, Chief Justice Hinkson found no evidence that the “modest campaign assistance” Hootsuite provided to Robertson — in the form of social media technical assistance and hosting a town hall event — were linked to the lease and option to purchase the property offered to the tech company.
The petition also claimed that the bid process for the building at 5 Eighth Avenue was not transparent. The decision to lease the building to Hootsuite was made behind closed doors and the terms of the lease were not disclosed until January 21, 2014 in response to a freedom of information request.
The former police building was leased to Hootsuite at $47,149.50 per month ($17 per square foot). That amount will rise to $61,017 ($22 per square foot) in the fifth year. An option to buy the building for $9.3 million by the end of 2015 and a $700,000 renovation allowance were also part of the contract.
While Hinkson described the city’s leasing process as “shrouded in secrecy,” the judge found that the evidence filed by Robertson in a response to the petition “supported a conclusion that the city recovered fair market value for the property.”
The judge stopped short of finding that the petition was frivolous or wasted the court’s time.
Follow the link for a copy of the judge's ruling:
With files from Bob Mackin
