Increasing your family comes at a price - but it's a price worth paying, according to Mayor Malcolm Brodie.
The mayor was this week responding to a volley of criticism from Richmond News readers about the decision to spend an approximate $40,000 to send himself and six councillors to China to sign a new Sister City agreement with Xiamen.
The cash will come from a $234,000 tax surplus from last year, which was allocated, to the Sister City program.
Angry readers questioned the need to spend taxpayers' money forging such relationships, wondering just how big a bang they're getting for their buck.
And it was widely suggested that, if they really felt the need to travel all the way to China later this month to sign a piece of paper, does it need seven members of city council to be there?
"These Sister City trips are controversial and they do generate mixed feelings on being worthwhile or not," Brodie told the News.
"Our current and future success is due, in part, to our city having an international approach to its affairs.
"An important aspect of that is having an outward look to making connections with other cities, particularly in Asia."
Brodie explained that the city council delegation will only be spending three days in Xiamen and will be "working very hard in terms of the business and making what we hope will be lasting connections.
"There's a whole bunch of cultural dynamics at work here and there are business ties already between Xiamen and Richmond.
"The prosperity of the city doesn't come from one source.
"If we want to be a diverse city, we have to reach out to people all over the world, they're not going to just come to us."
Brodie conceded the benefits of Sister City ties are not always direct and it can be difficult for people to see the justification in spending their tax dollars on so-called "political junkets."
The mayor also admitted that not everyone on council needs to make the trip to China, adding that it was a matter of individual choice.
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