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Resident calls for public budget workshops as Ontario prepares its large budget
Summary
A resident urged the council to hold public budget workshops, arguing the city’s budget process has lacked accessible public sessions and recordings; he said neighboring cities provide more transparent opportunities for resident input.
Chris Robles told the council that neighboring cities routinely hold public budget workshops and that Ontario should do the same rather than scheduling budget meetings at times and places that make public participation difficult. "It's time that you hold a breakdown of the budget for residents so that they can understand the budget," Robles said, arguing that residents deserve accessible opportunities to review how public funds are allocated.
Robles noted what he described as a "1000000000 dollar budget" and said that the city had held some budget discussions at times and locations that made it hard for residents to attend. He called for video records and more public outreach; the council did not adopt any immediate procedural change in this meeting, but his remarks were recorded for council consideration.
