Budget time is like the Super Bowl for City Hall watchers. Otherwise silly policies like backyard chickens and growing tomatoes at 12th and Cambie are only half-time entertainment until council decides where the money goes.
In the political game that is unfolding, Mayor Gregor Robertson is the quarterback, and Budget Chair Raymond Louie is the wide receiver. Members of the Vision Vancouver council are playing block, and city manager Penny Ballem is coaching from the sidelines.
Robertson's first big play made headlines last week when he suggested up to 158 staff "layoffs" were coming to Vancouver's civil service.
Wait a sec - how could a council who count the CUPE public sector union as their number one supporter suggest that they let staff go?
Don't be fooled by Gregor's fake pass on this, folks.
The City of Vancouver typically loses five per cent of its workforce annually to retirements and turnover - that's the equivalent of 300 full-time staff positions, and more than enough to cover the 158 goal. Not a single unionized employee will get their walking papers from this council - period.
As you might guess, this is more about political perception than reality. Vision Vancouver is made up mostly of staunch, pro-NDP types, yet they are portraying themselves as tax-cutting Republicans.
Is Vision trying to "out-NPA" the NPA?
This strange brew of left and right wing politics started over in Victoria.
The NDP, tiring of being in opposition, have adopted some old-time populist politics - like trashing Campbell's carbon tax - to improve their poll numbers.
Some pundits suggest, however, by doing so they lost critical Green votes that might have put them in the win column.
Back to Vancouver City Hall, where the arts budget took a 10 per cent cut last February, and the Park Board is taking the largest cut to its budget in its history.
Whereas the Vancouver Police Department has been given another six per cent to their bottom line by Robertson and the Vision team.
I know it sounds bizarre, but is Sarah Palin secretly advising Robertson?
Where things potentially come unglued for Vision is if they lose the support of their COPE cousins.
Vancouver's 40-year-old left wing party struck a deal last year to support Vision by not running a mayoral candidate and only two people for council.
Vision's eight-member majority means they don't need COPE's votes to approve the budget, but if they don't support Vision, it could re-awaken a tiger on their left flank.
By aiming for a zero-per cent tax increase, Vision Vancouver risks alienating their traditional base of support on the left, and are unlikely to hold onto support from more conservative voters.
No one thinks that former union organizers like Councillors Geoff Meggs and Raymond Louie are taking their lead from the Fraser Institute, so why pretend?
You'd be wise not to get played by Vision's talk of budget cuts.
Council's majority party is betting that their supporters will play along until 2011 when you can rest assured they'll have lots of funding set aside to sway voters in an election year.
YOU CAN READ MIKE KLASSEN'S BLOG AT WWW.CITYCAUCUS.COM, OR EMAIL HIM AT KLASSEN@CITYCAUCUS.COM.
