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City plans to give CAO control of sponsorships

Parks, streets, skywalks included

By: Bartley Kives

Posted: 05/29/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

The City of Winnipeg is poised to give its chief administrative officer the power to award exclusive commercial rights to any park, street, skywalk or other public space without political oversight.

And for now, city officials are refusing to say precisely what those rights would entail.

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On Wednesday, council will peruse a plan to hand the CAO the authority to approve sponsorship deals that offer exclusive access to public spaces "for the purposes of engaging in commercial transactions."

In the short term, this plan will allow the city to conclude a pair of newspaper sponsorships negotiated earlier this year that respectively grant the free daily Metro exclusive distribution rights to city skywalks and the Winnipeg Sun the exclusive right to place its vending boxes along the Southwest Transitway.

But it will also allow the CAO to approve "future sponsorship agreements" that would grant the exclusive right to engage in commercial services in any park, street, rapid-transit corridor, walkway, skywalk "or any other public space" under city authority, without council oversight, according to a report approved by executive policy committee on Friday.

"These sorts of deals need to be negotiated at that level," said Charleswood-Tuxedo Coun. Paula Havixbeck, the councillor responsible for the sponsorship program. "I think we have a great deal of confidence in the administration to negotiate these sorts of things."

Havixbeck said she personally peruses every potential sponsorship deal and has no problem with the fact councillors won't get a say in granting exclusive commercial rights to parks or other public spaces.

Her responsibilities, however, are not enshrined by any legislation. The oversight for corporate sponsorship is subject to an annual appointment by the mayor, which means there is no guarantee a member of council will oversee the city's sponsorship program in the future.

This delegation of authority troubles Fort Rouge Coun. Jenny Gerbasi, a critic of the city corporate sponsorship program. The report before council does not include explicit details of the sort of commercial rights that may be granted.

"There has been a deluge of concentration of authority within the hands of the CAO," said Gerbasi, who added the latest proposal raises red flags. "The commercialization of our public spaces could certainly be a concern if it wasn't done properly.

"When the sponsorship program started, we joked about Tim Hortons putting their logos on the zebras at the zoo. I don't know how far this is going to go. In certain public spaces, residents and councillors might want a say, especially if they're large sponsorships with a big visual impact."

The plan that comes before council Wednesday would amend city bylaws governing streets and parks. City officials declined to comment about the potential scope of these changes, as communications director Steve West said it would be inappropriate for them to speak after EPC made its decision.

Havixbeck said if the delegation of authority has undesirable results, the city could always reverse its decision.

"We have a problem, we change it back," she said. "There's always checks and balances that can be put in place."

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 29, 2012 A1

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