Regional Council — Kitchener

It should be more transparent and accessible

Please describe one concrete example of a trade-off you would support (or oppose) when costs rise faster than revenues.candidate's own words

When municipal costs rise faster than revenues, I would strongly support adjusting regional development charges to fully capture growth costs, while deferring capital expansion projects that can wait to prioritize financial constraints. This will help to ensure that existing taxpayers are not forced to subsidize a budget shortfall for infrastructure designed to serve new builds, while allowing us to reevaluate policies affecting our long-term costs. By reevaluating our long-term policies to favor compact growth, we ensure that we aren't locking future generations into a permanent infrastructure deficit.

If you chose "It should be more transparent and accessible", please describe how.candidate's own words

Our regional budget process works best when it is fully transparent, welcoming, and easy for every resident to understand. While the Region of Waterloo manages complex finances, we have a wonderful opportunity to make these large budget documents much more accessible to the public. We can build on the excellent communication style used during the early stages of the ION Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, which successfully used clear pictographs and straightforward messaging to connect with our community. My goal is to support the creation of plain-language communication that clearly shows a friendly, dollar-for-dollar breakdown of how property taxes are invested in our services and to have it shared in multiple ways with residents. Hosting collaborative town halls with helpful visual tools, we can ensure residents feel truly included and heard throughout the entire budget planning process.

It should be more transparent and accessible

If you chose "It should be more transparent and accessible", please describe how.candidate's own words

I have made transparency and accessibility a priority in my own approach as a Regional Councillor, including communicating budget decisions, explaining the rationale behind them, and encouraging residents to participate in the process. I believe the Region has information available to the public, but the bigger challenge is often meaningful engagement. Budget documents can be technical and difficult for residents to navigate, and many people do not know when or how to provide input before decisions are made. I would support making the budget process easier to understand, with clearer public-facing information about major investments, trade-offs and potential impacts, and more proactive opportunities for residents to engage before decisions are finalized. Transparency is not simply making information public. It is making sure residents can understand it, access it and have a meaningful opportunity to shape decisions.

It should be more transparent and accessible

Please describe one concrete example of a trade-off you would support (or oppose) when costs rise faster than revenues.candidate's own words

I would support deferring a new or expanded Regional facility until there is clear evidence that existing space cannot be consolidated, adapted or shared more efficiently. I brought forward the Facilities Strategic Plan that Regional Council approved because we need a complete inventory of our buildings, their utilization, operating costs, condition and five-to-ten-year requirements. That information should come before committing taxpayers to new construction and decades of additional maintenance. When revenues are tight, maintaining existing infrastructure and protecting core frontline services should take priority over expanding the Region’s physical footprint. A tax increase should not be used to avoid making responsible decisions about underused assets or lower-priority spending.

Would you like to provide any additional context for your views on budgets?candidate's own words

My professional background in financial services and my work on Regional Council have taught me that neither automatic tax increases nor artificial tax freezes are responsible financial plans. I have pushed for stronger long-term facilities planning, closer examination of major contracts, measurable results from new spending and detailed reporting on programs such as A Better Tent City. Residents deserve to know not only how much government is spending, but what results that spending is producing. Before raising taxes, Council should examine service-delivery models, procurement, grants, partnerships, asset utilization and lower-priority spending. When an increase is necessary to maintain essential services or infrastructure, it should be moderate, predictable and clearly connected to a publicly explained need. One-time funding should not create permanent operating costs without a sustainable plan to pay for them.

If you chose "It should be more transparent and accessible", please describe how.candidate's own words

Public budget documents are available, but availability does not always mean accessibility. Residents should receive a plain-language summary showing the proposed household impact, service changes, new spending, reductions, debt, reserve use and major capital commitments well before the final vote. Each major proposal should identify its full lifecycle cost, funding source and measurable outcome. The Region should also maintain a public dashboard showing whether major projects are on budget and schedule and whether approved service investments are achieving their intended results.

Would you like to provide any additional context for your views on budgets?candidate's own words

"Care for people and the land we share" needs to be the primary consideration here as well. That includes impacts of rising taxes, service provision and management, and the responsibilities we have to each other in community. I would expect that requests for funding adjustments would also need to appeal to this core value.

It should be more transparent and accessible

If you chose "It should be more transparent and accessible", please describe how.candidate's own words

full transparency on the city website

It should be more transparent and accessible

Please describe one concrete example of a trade-off you would support (or oppose) when costs rise faster than revenues.candidate's own words

I support completing detailed reviews or audits of specific program budgets (or projects) to identify cost savings or alternative delivery models that achieve a similar benefit.

If you chose "It should be more transparent and accessible", please describe how.candidate's own words

Of the two options provided, I would suggest that there are always ways that we can make the budget process more transparent and accessible. For example, for the 2026 Budget Regional Council asked staff to host additional town halls in Cambridge and the Townships.

It should be more transparent and accessible

Please describe one concrete example of a trade-off you would support (or oppose) when costs rise faster than revenues.candidate's own words

I'm running for Regional Council because of an issue I'm having with a local business that also happens to have a contract with the Region of Waterloo. That business has asked me to take my patronage of their service elsewhere while refusing to provide an explanation as to why. My position is that Waterloo Taxi Ltd., if they wish to keep their MobilityPlus contract, has to provide me, and Waterloo Taxi's shareholders, an explanation as to why I was told to take my business elsewhere.

Would you like to provide any additional context for your views on budgets?candidate's own words

I'm running for Regional Council because of an issue I'm having with a local business that also happens to have a contract with the Region of Waterloo. That business has asked me to take my patronage of their service elsewhere while refusing to provide an explanation as to why. My position is that Waterloo Taxi Ltd., if they wish to keep their MobilityPlus contract, has to provide me, and Waterloo Taxi's shareholders, an explanation as to why I was told to take my business elsewhere.

If you chose "It should be more transparent and accessible", please describe how.candidate's own words

I'm running for Regional Council because of an issue I'm having with a local business that also happens to have a contract with the Region of Waterloo. That business has asked me to take my patronage of their service elsewhere while refusing to provide an explanation as to why. My position is that Waterloo Taxi Ltd., if they wish to keep their MobilityPlus contract, has to provide me, and Waterloo Taxi's shareholders, an explanation as to why I was told to take my business elsewhere.