SULLIVAN'S ADVERSARIES DISMISS CLAIMS OF SMEAR TACTICS

Mayor Sam Sullivan's political opponents are rejecting claims they
drummed up a politically embarrassing story to try and win an election.

Sullivan created headlines during last year's municipal election
campaign when he told a Vancouver media outlet he gave money for
crack to an addicted friend.

Shortly after Sullivan's victory, the RCMP announced it would
investigate the story for any legal concerns.

"I think [Sullivan] is trying to deflect what's happening with him
off onto us," said Coun. Tim Stevenson of the centre-left Vision Vancouver.

"He went and voluntarily talked about this buying of illicit drugs
and so on ... He in an interview brought the story up himself and
then he wonders why people are talking about it."

In a statement given to the RCMP yesterday, six months after it was
first requested, Sullivan blamed Vision Vancouver for last year's
negative publicity.

"Former Mayor Larry Campbell and his Vision Vancouver party made
these experiences a focus of their campaign," he wrote in a statement
released by public relations firm Reputations, not his on-staff press
secretary. "... Because of the increased public awareness, the police
chief had no alternative but to request that the RCMP investigate
these incidents."