Every dollar the City spends started as a dollar you earned. I never lose sight of that, and it shapes how I approach budgeting at both Richmond Hill and York Region.

 

A budget should not be written behind closed doors and presented as a done deal. That is why I made a Member Motion to direct staff to prepare a Budget Consultation Plan as part of the annual budgeting process. Residents should help shape spending priorities before the numbers are locked in, not react to them afterward.

 

I put that principle to work, and held a consultation session at the Oak Ridges library covering both the York Region and Richmond Hill budgets, where residents could ask questions directly and see how the two budgets support the services delivered to us. Staff also ran an online survey so people who could not attend still had a voice.

 

Some of the most practical input arrived that way. Residents are sensible. They want roads fixed, parks maintained, and their taxes respected. Consultation is one part of the job. Oversight is the other. I serve on the York Region Audit Committee, which reviews the fiscal management of budgets totalling $5.2 billion in 2026. That is an enormous public trust, and it deserves rigorous, independent scrutiny. Closer to home, I advocated for an internal audit function at Richmond Hill, because responsible use of public funds should be verified, not assumed.

 

Transparency is a discipline, not a talking point. It means publishing the plan, inviting the questions, and then checking the books. When residents can see how decisions get made and where the money goes, confidence follows. When they cannot, suspicion fills the gap. I know which kind of city I want us to be. While supporting the Mayoral Budget under the new Strong Mayoral Power framework, I will continue to do my part on Council to keep doing the unglamorous work that builds it: open consultations, honest numbers, and audits that ask hard questions.