The City of Pickering has recently released the financial accounting of councillor expenditures. These are always interesting and revealing. Residents can see how councils manage their office budgets.
An important caveat
It is very important to note that these reports were produced prior to the tighter controls imposed by the council on spending. Any figures posted in these reports have met city regulatory standards though they may seem extravagant or out of line.
Examination of any one council and concluding that the councillor’s expenditures are out of whack in comparison to other councillors leads to erroneous conclusions. All Pickering Councillor expenditures are gauged by the City’s regulation and no councillor has a report that has not been approved at the time of financial statement filing.
On another note
How a councillor spends their office budget is another question. Some councillors see the need for more communication with their constituents. Hence, they use other means such as mailers, door-to-door distribution and even advertising in local newspapers (Metroland, News Advertiser no longer publish print editions). Some councillors rely on personally developed and commercial or digit distribution of the material. Again, this is their prerogative and a commendable means of keeping their ward’s residents informed.
In any case, residents should be aware of how their elected representatives are doing their job and more importantly, how they are keeping their voters informed. Some councillors are doing outstanding work in these regards.
