Where I stand
Your town hall
Clear answers, open doors, real accountability. No surprises at budget time.
Residents shouldn't need a degree in municipal finance to follow what's happening at council. They shouldn't have to guess what a tax-rate change means for their property. They shouldn't find out about a major decision after it's already been made.
Town hall is where the decisions about your money, your roads, your beach, and your community get made. It belongs to residents. It needs to read that way.
What I'll push for at council
- No surprises at budget time. Tax rate changes shouldn’t show up in the news the morning after they’re voted on. I believe in fiscal responsibility, always looking for areas where we can reduce or eliminate unnecessary spending before asking taxpayers for more. If a tax increase is necessary, residents deserve to know why, how much, and what alternatives were considered well before a vote takes place. Budget pressures should be communicated months in advance, with the tradeoffs on the record. Residents deserve the chance to weigh in before the vote, not after.
- Plain-language budget summaries. The annual budget shouldn't only exist as a 200-page PDF. It should also exist as a one-page summary, in plain English, with the numbers that actually matter to residents (what's my property tax going to next year, where is the new spending, what got cut). Posted on the town website at the same time the full document drops.
- Council that responds to emails. Not autoresponders. Not "thank you for your input." Real responses, signed by the councillor. If I'm elected, every email gets read and answered, not by staff, by me, within a week. If something needs more time, you'll hear that, with a date for when you'll have an answer.
Open council isn't a slogan, it's a set of practices. Live streams. Searchable minutes. Plain language budgets. Email replies that aren't autoresponders. Most of these don't cost the town a dollar. They just take a councillor who actually wants residents to know what's happening.
Related
- Community first — the consultation pattern that pairs with open budgeting and accountability.
- Housing that fits — the visible follow-through — you can tell whether your council means it by the state of your road.