What does Vancouver City Council do?
By Alex M-Z
City council consists of the mayor and 10 city councillors.
The mayor has different responsibilities than councillors but he/she doesn’t get an extra vote or the final say on council decisions. He/she chairs council meetings and is responsible for representing Vancouver in various contexts - speaking on behalf of Vancouver in discussions with other governments, signing documents on behalf of the city, and ensuring that council decisions are implemented.
City Council as a whole has a huge list of responsibilities and powers. One of the major ones is passing bylaws to regulate local businesses, building activity, noise, and land use. Beyond legislation, they have the ability to buy/sell property, collect property taxes, approve spending for all portfolios of the City government, and fund special activities (e.g. arts and services). They also can set up new departments and offices for city services, and hire people to staff them.
Some things that city council has done over the past few years are:
Increased the police budget. Since Vision Vancouver took office in 2008, the police budget has risen steadily. It is currently inflated by 30% (54 million dollars) above pre-Vision levels.
Changed the definition of social housing in a way that excludes people on welfare and disability from accessing it (see also).
Determined which local arts and cultural organizations received grants.
Increased fines for sleeping on the street to $10,000 and focused police efforts in the DTES, giving out 95% of all bylaw tickets in that neighborhood.
Created new laws to regulate structures built by protesters, making them illegal to keep up overnight and limiting their potential physical size.
Chose not to implement bylaws that could protect low-income people losing their homes in the Downtown Eastside.
Refused to re-name Trutch street after public outcry.
