I sometimes fear that I am becoming desensitized to the nutty, greenwashed wastefulness of Vancouver City Hall. It just keeps happening; their ludicrous social engineering has become so routine.

We had the $5,000 grant for 30 homes to tear up their lawns and plant wheat. That went nowhere – except on to Maclean’s list of “99 stupid things the government sent your money on.”

Then there’s the ban on doorknobs, which has drawn scorn from a thinktank located TEN provinces away.

And $50,000 for a bike helmet rental vending machine. Millions for “temporary” bike lanes that their own studies showed hurt local businesses. Millions more for a bike share program when the supplier has already gone bankrupt.

And now it’s the sweetheart deal with bankrupt Alterrus, all so Vancouver city politicians could smile and point at lettuce growing on top of a parkade. The City didn’t do its due diligence, and Alterrus was never going to be a reliable tenant.

As the National Post reports, Alterrus’s financial documents showed it was “a dog” – “The documents contained enough warnings and caveats to give the most reckless gambler pause. But not Vancouver officials; they were either unfazed or caught unawares.”

When the deal was announced, Alterrus had already lost $54.2 million. It had no revenues. It had broken a promise to a British zoo to put up the same equipment.

But don’t worry: the executives were still raking in dough: at least three people making six figures, presumably for suckering in people like Mayor Gregor Robertson.

Your tax dollars at work, Vancouver.