Mike Makrigiorgos, one of the owners of the consulting firm which dealt with Beros’ campaign, said he did propose additional services, which Beros declined verbally, according to the audit report.

Shortly after the 2018 election, Makrigiorgos was hired as the chief of staff for Beros, Perrelli and DiPaola, yorkregion.com reported.

The auditors dismissed an allegation that the amount Beros reported for sign inventory was “less than current market value” on the grounds that the act permits use of the lowest pricing available to the public.

Beros and Perrelli canvassed together during the election and put up around 130 small signs and six large signs on lawns, the report revealed, confirming the low price for the signs provided to Perrelli by his sign supplier.

The supplier, Top Quality Print and Sign, is a local printing business housed in Richmond Hill’s former Jefferson Schoolhouse, auditors found.

“Residents can make their own judgments about the connections and information revealed in the audit,” said resident Carol Davidson, who spoke at the July hearing as an agent on behalf of Leafloor.

She said it shouldn’t be this hard to find out how candidates were supported during local elections, demanding greater transparency and accountability in local politics.

“When you can’t attack a person’s political policies, weak-minded people turn to personal attacks,” Beros wrote in an email. He included his belief that the residents tried to achieve “through groundless allegations” what they could not through the election.

Davidson ran for the council seat in Ward 1 against Beros in the last election and lost by 636 votes.

Scott Thompson, one of the two residents who requested the compliance audit, questioned the legitimacy of the evidence provided to the investigators and said he suspected that one individual's "personal interests” took precedence over the interests of the residents.

“It has become quite apparent that this individual helped orchestrate where financial backing came from that helped propel certain like-minded members into council positions,” Thompson said.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY

Reporter Sheila Wang found a report on the city's website on a joint audit committee's decision on Coun. Greg Beros's campaign finances. She wanted to find out what the councillor and the residents had to say about the result of a six-month investigation.