By Chris Beach

Northern View

The Northern View: Mayor Yu’s Expense Budget

Dec 20, 2023 | 10:25 AM

The recent uproar over Prince George Mayor Yu’s travel and expense budget has caused quite a stir here in the city and around the province, and he certainly didn’t handle the whole situation very well.

There’s no question the taxpayers should not be paying for unused hotel rooms right here in the city. I think it’s a safe bet that Mayor Yu is now going to be a lot more careful and transparent with his spending going forward.

But the fact of the matter is the mayor’s current budget is very outdated and arguably too small to carry out his duties effectively for a city like Prince George, and anyone who frequently travels out of town for work will know this.

The CBC put a spotlight on the fact that Simon Yu spent $18,000 in one year, but for a mayor who represents a city as large as and as far away from major centres as Prince George is, that is not an unreasonable amount.

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Hotel costs have risen incredibly in the last few years, and even the Treasure Cove Hotel here in Prince George cost $242 a night. Try getting a similar hotel for the same price in downtown Vancouver. Spend a few days at just one conference and it costs thousands.

How about flights? Since 2020 prices on many routes from Prince George have exploded and unlike the Mayors of Nanaimo or Kelowna, our mayor doesn’t usually have the option to drive to Victoria or Vancouver for a meeting or conference.

His current annual travel and expense budget of $9500 is about the same as many councillors of towns 20 times smaller than Prince George in northern BC. Even our former mayor spent $16,000 way back in 2019, when everything cost a lot less.

And perhaps most importantly, Mayor Yu’s budget should not be the same as the rest of the Prince George Council because his position is full-time and when nobody else can travel, it’s the mayor who will pick up the slack and assume that extra responsibility for representing the city when no one else on Council is willing or able to.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not a fan of wasting taxpayer money in any way, but if the current mayor say, helps brings in a billion-dollar plant, hundreds of jobs and significant long-term tax revenues to the city, $18,000 will be a minimal and worthwhile investment toward that end.

I’m Chris Beach and this is the Northern View.

Editors note: The views expressed in this column do not necessarily represent the views of Pattison Media.