1.Sustainability seems to be a common word these days, but its use is often ambiguous. How do you define the word “sustainability”, and how does it relate to the job of a City Councillor or Mayor?
I view sustainability as the ability of a City to maintain a course of action within its
normal resources of staff and budget. For example can we maintain our civic infrastructure(roads,
sewer,water, electrical, within our own ability. The same can be said for Social resources: Housing, emergency support. Also how can we sustain our environment, air, water, land and improve our core elements by reducing pollution, carbon footprint
, and our impact on our environment.
2.Still on the subject of sustainability, what do you see as the major successes in New Westminster during the last council term, and what were the missed opportunities?
Our major successes is our city walkability programs we began in 1996. Our recycling programs are just now showing vast improvement in
our % of material diverted from landfill. Our 4 new parks in Queensborough, and our in-progress Westminster Pier Park are great achievments. For our youth our completed Youth Centre couple with Century House is a great success for the City’s Youth.
3.What do you see as the major opportunities and challenges for the upcoming Council term in regards to sustainability?
Our biggest challenge in sutainabililty is our civic infrastructure costs, in that we can only accomplish a small amount of renewal each year.
4.The City will be developing a Master Transportation Plan within the next term, what would you like to see included in that plan?
We need to know the BC Gov’t final decision on the Patullo Bridge, also we need the Surrey-Delta South Fraser Perimeter Road to be completed to take truck pressure off of
our roadways; Front/Brunette/Stewardson.
We need to continue neighborhood traffic calming, and making each neighborhood safely
walkable.
5.Translink continues to mull a replacement for the Pattullo Bridge. Would you rather see the bridge repaired, replaced with a 4-lane structure, or replaced with a larger structure? Would you support tolling the bridge to pay for its replacement? If you don’t support replacement, would you support tolling the existing bridge?
We MUST have the Patullo tolled,if we do not, we will become the Fraser crossing of choice and we will be inundated with even yet more traffic.
6.Do you support a Tree Bylaw to regulate the removal of nuisance trees on private property?
Yes, with some good arborist guidelines.
7.Now that Metro Vancouver’s Solid Waste Management Plan is approved, would you support the location of a Waste-to-Energy plant in New Westminster?
NO I WLL NOT SUPPORT A GARBAGE BURNER IN NEW WESTMINSTER.
