RICHMOND HILL - In response to Mayor Scarpitti’s June 14 press release, I am not in favour of amalgamating the nine municipalities in York Region. No resident voted for me or anyone else on Council to dissolve Richmond Hill.

Richmond Hill is a unique municipality within York Region with a distinct character that our residents, including myself, are proud to call home. We have a great vision for the future of our community and dissolving Richmond Hill will only put that vision into jeopardy.

It has been proven in the past that amalgamation does not generally result in significant cost savings and the opinion of one municipal mayor that directly impacts the other eight municipalities in York Region does not reflect my thoughts on this issue.

We have been anticipating and will soon undergo a process to look carefully at Regional governance structure using a facilitator appointed by the Province and I continue to look forward to that process to ensure we are delivering our Regional services in the most cost effective way. 

Right now in Richmond Hill, we are laser focused on a number of very important issues and emerging issues in our municipality, especially the provincially legislated development of 1.5 million housing units across Ontario, and the target of 27,000 units here in Richmond Hill. The process of a complicated dissolution of a municipality will not advance our progress on these goals.

I am looking forward to working with the Province to find ways to coordinate and deliver Regional services efficiently for the benefit of citizens of Richmond Hill.

David West, 
Mayor

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The City of Richmond Hill, the third most populous city in York Region, has a population of over 200,000.

Media contacts

• Emily Houdi, Chief of Staff to Mayor David West, emily.houdi@richmondhill.ca 
• Kate Davey, Communications Coordinator, Office of the Mayor, kate.davey@richmondhill.ca