Bringing Honesty and Direct Accountability Back to City Hall
In recent years, "public consultation" at City Hall has turned into an expensive, corporate exercise. Whenever a controversial decision arises—whether it's an Official Community Plan review or a major corridor overhaul like the "Great Street" project—the city hires high-priced external consulting firms to manage the process.
These consultants produce slick marketing buzzwords like "City Shaping," run filtered online surveys, and present polished reports back to Council. But real community input gets lost in translation. Instead of local leaders listening directly to residents, consulting frameworks are used to buffer politicians from tough questions and sell pre-determined outcomes back to the neighborhood.
That is not how local democracy is supposed to work.
A City Council's primary duty is to represent citizens to their government—not to market the government’s agenda back to citizens.
When you hire consultants to stand between elected officials and the community, you destroy trust. True local democracy is naturally messy, direct, and passionate. Council members should have the courage and the spine to stand in a crowded room, take their lumps, listen directly to neighborhood concerns, and defend their decisions face-to-face.
When elected to City Council, I pledge to transform how City Hall engages with you:
- Councillors Must Attend All Civic Engagement Events: Divert funds spent on PR consultants back into core community amenities, requiring staff and elected officials to lead public meetings directly.
- Direct, Open Town Halls: Institute regular, unscripted neighborhood town hall meetings across all corners of North Vancouver where residents can ask questions directly on the record.
- Authentic Community Planning: Rethink our OCP process so it prioritizes real neighborhood preservation, practical infrastructure capacity, and actual resident feedback—not top-down urban planning slogans.
You deserve elected representatives who listen first, speak honestly, and answer directly to the people paying the bills.