Ever since my early childhood years, I’ve had two traits in extreme abundance – curiosity and a “never give up” attitude. I would drive my parents crazy by asking a million questions, then never accepting the simple answer.
“How does electricity work?” and “Why don’t I have fins like a fish?” often led to long detailed discussions with my librarian mother and science teacher dad, who also had the wisdom to tell me to do my own research. I learned at an early age that you get much more satisfying answers when you dig deep.
A couple of months ago, I requested some information from the District of Squamish related to how the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corporation (SODC) has been spending money. After all, if you pay taxes in Squamish, it’s your money, and even when my son wants ten bucks “for school,” I want to know how he’ll be spending it. I figured asking the district how the SODC is spending millions of our dollars was reasonable. In exchange for a few hundred dollars, the district sent me the information that showed between 2005 and 2014, the SODC had shelled out just under $12 million to an assorted group of consultants and contractors.
Being the kind of guy who is never satisfied until I know all of the facts, I sent in a second request to ask how these suppliers were selected. After all, when a district employee wants to spend more than $2,000, he or she has to get three written quotes, so I asked the district to confirm that the SODC adheres to by the same policy. I run a construction company for a living and I know that prices from different contractors can vary widely, so I thought I’d check to see if we are getting the best value for our money.
According to the documents I received from the District, each of the 55 companies listed charged from $2,800 (Murdy McAllister for legal services) to over $1 million (Hemmera for land remediation consulting) during that time period. It’s a lot of money.
I was shocked when I received the official district response, which said: “The SODC has no obligation to follow the District of Squamish Purchasing Policy.”
Hang on just a minute. What? The SODC was created by the district, funded entirely by the district and is overseen by district staff. How do they get away from abiding by the same policies as everyone else who works for the same employer, using the same public purse? Seems questionable to me.
Mike Duffy went to trial for $90,000 in ambiguous expenses. I’m not a big politico, but the feds have a budget of hundreds of billions a year, and they hung this guy out to dry for ninety grand. Squamish has an annual operating budget of less than $40 million and we stand by while $12 million is spent by SODC without the same transparency necessary to buy a new photocopier for city hall?
As of press time, Mayor Patricia Heintzman tells me that they will look into it. I have a suggestion: Why not simply make the SODC comply with the same policy as the rest of the district? The only reason to resist would be if there is something to hide.
