Next mayor, council of New Westminster need to address housing, infrastructure
Posted October 9, 2018 5:00 am.
Last Updated October 18, 2018 11:50 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NEW WESTMINSTER (NEWS 1130) – Metro Vancouver’s oldest city is hardly immune from the housing issues plaguing newer parts of the region, but it’s an issue on which incumbent mayor Jonathan Cote can claim progress as he seeks a second term on Oct. 20th.
Under Cote’s watch, the city has developed a Tenant Relocation Policy, which is meant to ensure renters displaced by redevelopment and demolition are given compensation and assistance in finding a new place to live.
Recent changes to the Residential Tenancy Act also require tenants be given four months’ notice for eviction due to demolition, renovation, conversion, or repair.
“New Westminster is quite aware of the fact that we have a lot of medium-to-low income people living in the city, so [the current council] has been quite assiduous in trying to make sure that people have affordable places to live,” says Elmer Rudolph, life-long New Westminster resident and president of the West End Residents Association.
Cote is one of the relatively few Metro Vancouver mayors seeking re-election this year, and his campaign started several weeks before any other candidate entered the race to oppose him.
The final ballot includes Cote, longtime resident Jimmie Bell, downtown businessman Harm Woldring, and Nikki Binns — a community volunteer and mother of seven.
Cote tells CityNews that aside from housing, infrastructure is a significant topic of discussion on the campaign trail.
The next mayor and council will preside over the $1.3 billion Pattullo Bridge Replacement project between New Westminster and Surrey, the ongoing Royal Columbian Hospital Redevelopment Project, and the long-awaited New Westminster Secondary School replacement project.
“Whether it’s the Canada Games Pool, whether it’s the work we’re doing on our riverfront, or even just upgrading older facilities like our library, these are what’s really resonating and is important to the residents of New West,” Cote says.
While the city’s mayoral race is not expected to produce any surprises on election night, it’s a different story for the council race following the retirement of long time councillors Bill Harper and Lorrie Williams.
“We don’t often get a lot of turnover in council,” Rudolph says. “Sometimes you’ll get one person retire, but to have two retire, of course that brought a lot of people out who said ‘Wow, there’s two empty spots here, I’ve got a chance!'”
A slate of 14 candidates are vying for six available council seats in 2018.
Non-incumbents include 2017 New Westminster Citizen of the Year Nadine Nakagawa and Daniel Fontaine, once the chief of staff to former Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan.
According to the city, 14,564 people cast votes in New Westminster during the 2014 civic elections, representing a voter turnout of 32.5 per cent.
