Top 3 questions for 5 candidates vying to be next mayor of Richmond Hill

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 14, 2022

A total of nine certified candidates are running in the 2022 Richmond Hill mayoral byelection slated for Jan. 24. An all-candidate event was held virtually Jan. 11 by Council Accountability Group (CAG). Five of the nine candidates participated in the event while Joe DiPaola, Carmine Perrelli, Rona Wang and Ruida Tian did not attend.

Here are the top three questions asked and answered at the debate.

QUESTION: WHAT IS ONE THING YOU WOULD DO TO INCREASE THE CIVILITY OF COUNCIL MEETINGS?

Susan Korman: I've always believed in a democracy where everyone has a say and everyone has value. There's diversity in this great city of Richmond Hill. We all have different values, but we need to work together and have a strong leader as a new mayor that will say we're all working together. Here's our one goal: let's get everything done, and let's work for Richmond Hill residents, not for our council.

Michael Zambakkides: I think one of the main things would be strong leadership, but also to reprimand. What more can be done to reprimand anybody who is out of order, who is misconducting themselves, who is whatever in regards to breaking the civility, the code of conduct for council. I think that would be a firm measure to basically put discipline back into council.

David West: I think the most important thing is you need to lead by example. But during council meetings, the chair needs to be a lot stronger than we've seen in the past. I am more than willing to be that chair. The rules that we go by are not an option. They have to be adhered to. They have to be strongly adhered to. The chair, having the last word on responding back about something is not an option. Once the chair is ruled on a point of order or something like that, that's it. We're done. We move on. It's the respectful thing to do, and it needs to be done.

Godwin Chan: There's two aspects to it. One is, as a future leader and chair of the council, what we do before the meeting really gets a good sense from the members. We have to be focused. We need to really discuss issues that Richmond Hill businesses and residents expect of us. The meeting is not for any kind of sideshows or any games. And No. 2 is chairing the meeting strictly by rules.

Juni Yeung: I think aside from leading by example and reprimand, we really need a neutral arbiter in the council in order to move things along and to ensure that the points of order are properly enacted. So I definitely would look forward to exploring if a clerk could be acted as an agent in the meeting itself to ensure that the fairness and arbitration of the chair is being upheld. And not just a clerk, but by opening the meetings to even more public and media scrutiny, will we be able to enforce good behaviour from the council?

QUESTION: WHAT ONE DECISION THAT COUNCIL MADE THIS TERM WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO SEE REVERSED AND WHY?

Godwin Chan: My decision would be to restore back the Committee of the Whole meeting and also change the time to the evening, which facilitates more participation by the community because I strongly believe that we need to improve and strengthen community involvement.

Susan Korman: I found out recently that our present sitting council voted in a self-serving way that, with this byelection that is coming up, that they can hold onto their seats and that they can also run for mayor of Richmond Hill. So they did not work as leaders for the community, but they were self-serving.

David West: I have to agree with my colleague Coun. Chan, the removal of the committee of the whole meetings was something I would very much like to see reversed. The committee of the whole cuts in half the number of opportunities that the public has to talk about issues to council. But it also cuts in half the number of opportunities that we have to talk to staff to deliberate with each other, to hear the thoughts of our fellow council members.

Juni Yeung: I also have a problem with the limitation of council meetings to 7 p.m. I personally work from 4:00 p.m. until midnight, so I would not be able to attend any deputation if it were such a fixed time. Rather, it should be opened up to something that allows flex timing for all of us to participate.

Michael Zambakkides: I would have to reiterate everybody's comments in regards to the timing of the meetings in the committees. We've also got to bring civility back to the council.

QUESTION: WHAT WILL BE YOUR FIRST PRIORITY SHOULD YOU BE ELECTED MAYOR?

Michael Zambakkides: It's basically a three-pronged approach. No.1 would be efficiency, that around relationships, around how council works, that of city response times.

Juni Yeung: I would like to start from something small, say, revising the community centre policy from the Parks and Recreation at first. Then we walk into bigger things, more controversial things, such as signage as well as planning for accountability, digital governance.

David West: There is no question at all that we need to restore civility to our council meetings. That needs to change. But the biggest problem is that a lot of residents are feeling unwelcomed to give their input as a result of what they're seeing at council meetings. That has to change. It is fundamental to democracy that we make people feel invited and willing and wanting to participate, and that is so incredibly important.

Susan Korman: No one seems to be talking about the pandemic, which has impacted everyone, not just Richmond Hill. We need daily updates on the pandemic, where to receive the vaccines, how to navigate the site from Richmond Hill to book a vaccine. We don't have any mobile clinics and a show from our council during a time when we're all scared of losing our homes or businesses and loved ones. It is non-existence and it is most important because we can't build and get on with our lives without dealing with the pandemic.

Godwin Chan: It's restoring stability and respect civility at council because we deliberate on issues that are affecting all of us. My approach is to focus on a one-team approach as the new mayor, that all council members, regardless of point of view, should respect the wishes of people.