Is it a coincidence that the worst abusers are part of Comrade Miller's cadre of commissars?
In the end, Toronto city councillors couldn't resist taking an already modest reform and watering it down even further.
While they approved a new policy on office expenses last week, councillors retained the right to give public money to neighbourhood sports teams – a sponsorship plum rightly condemned as a way of buying votes with taxpayers' dollars.
Staff had recommended that such donations no longer be counted among a politician's "office expenses." And the city's executive committee agreed. But when the matter came to council, the benefits of writing $500 cheques to sympathetic sports and community organizations proved irresistible to a majority of councillors. Never mind providing a level playing field at election time or ensuring that money isn't wasted.
Some good elements remained in the office expense policy approved by council last week. Only $500 may be spent on business meals over the course of a year, for example, and councillors may no longer expense alcoholic beverages. As well, the requirement that spending details be more frequently posted on the city's website will likely make at least some councillors refrain from repeating past indulgences, such as expensing a bunny suit or espresso machine.
Reform was driven by public anger over such spending, with embarrassed politicians instructing staff last year to come up with a clear new set of rules for office expenses. It was an opportunity for the politicians to rise above their own self-interest. In fairness, they made some progress in that regard.
It is unfortunate, however, that even while doing the right thing councillors managed to undercut the policy by clinging to old-style patronage under the guise of sponsoring local teams.
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