David Phelan wants the New Westminster School Board to keep the focus on creating the best education system possible, protecting what we do well and being aware of emerging trends in education that can help us improve, such as the introduction of School Learning Gardens, partnerships with community organizations such as the Royal City Farmers Market and new technologies that can support learning.

Trustee candidate Glen Richmond would like to see more play space for students, fewer portables and a return of the School Liaison Officer program.

Communication with the public and respectful dialogue among trustees are two areas where our school board needs improvement, according to veteran trustee Michael Ewen.

School trustee candidate James Janzen was the first to respond to the first Tenth to the Fraser all-candidates trustee candidates survey. The most important education-related idea or issue to James is ensuring choice for children and parents in public education.

School trustee candidate Lisa Graham supports proactive public engagement to better inform stakeholders, believing “meaningful discussion is informed discussion.”

Improving livability in New West is one of Cal Donnelly’s priorities. Some of his ideas? Taking trucks off the Pattullo Bridge during daytime hours, upgrading recreational facilities and improving the City’s communication with citizens.

Council candidate Chuck Puchmayr believes the best economic development is providing a safe, clean city – along with creative approaches to counter the impact of big box stores that hurt downtown cores.

All candidates were asked to share one ‘blue sky’ idea they would bring forward if cost was no object. Jaimie McEvoy offered five, and justified by saying, “That’s just the amazing thing about New Westminster. We refuse to accept the apparent limits as the end of what we can accomplish. And as a result, we often succeed.”

Council incumbent Bill Harper would like to see the City make better use of technology to improve access to information and make City Hall more citizen-friendly.

Traffic is among city council candidate Vladimir Krasnogor’s top concerns, and he’d like to see the City take a fact-based approach to solving gridlock by analyzing traffic patterns.

Born and raised in Sapperton, Gerry Liu would like to see more support for residents’ associations in New Westminster, a new state-of-the art community centre, and would oppose a waste-to-energy incinerator in our community.

The economy, transportation, affordable housing and environmental considerations are on Dr. David Noshad’s mind. Noshad believes younger citizens need more attention by city council, that increasing the city’s revenue by other means than taxes is the best way to fund needed improvements, and would hire consulting firms to provide scientific analyses of complex issues to help council make more informed decisions.

Betty McIntosh says she is ‘friendly to all’ and would continue to listen and work for the people in New Westminster. She supports continued social media outreach via councillors and City staff, and would like to see City staff propose new ways to improve efficiencies in government.

Council candidate Susan Wandell shares her ideas to improve New Westminster, including more support for the arts, reaching out to disenfranchised communities, attracting light/green industries, and asking the electorate to guide spending priorities when they vote at each election.

Jonathan Cote admires what he calls New Westminster’s ‘incredible sense of place.’ If re-elected, Cote would like to improve economic development by attracting new industries and commercial office space, improve residents’ participation in public consultation, and reduce truck traffic through the city.

New Westminster’s infrastructure deficit is a big concern for incumbent councillor Lorrie Williams. She’d also like to see planning begin for a new sports complex in the city.

Council candidate Gavin Palmer wants to see more of what he calls a ‘can do’ attitude among City staff, more support for Residents Associations and an approach to civic management modeled after private enterprise, reducing subsidies and moving to a user-pay a fee-for-service approach.

Taxpayer representation is the civic issue that is most personally meaningful for John Ashdown, a small business owner who would slash taxes, designate truck-only routes and sees the 400,000 cars that pass through New West every day as an opportunity for our local retailers.

‘Traffic flows, rat running, gridlock morning & night’ are among the issues that matter most to New Westminster city council incumbent Bob Osterman.

Despite having no formal political parties in New Westminster, there is a clear schism between two opposing groups in the city: the powerful New Westminster & District Labour Council and the upstart electors’ group Voice New Westminster. Neither group defines itself as a “party” and yet the political discourse in this town is profoundly shaped by these two forces.

With its fenced dog parks, beautiful green spaces, and riverside trails, New Westminster is a pretty good place to be a dog. That is, unless you have the misfortunate to be born with a big head, stocky body and short coat. If you resemble one of the “pit bull” or mastiff breeds targeted under the city’s animal control bylaw, you face a very different kind of lifestyle.

This is the third in a series of articles sharing highlights from NWEP’s mayor and council candidates questionnaire on environmental issues. While we shared the candidates’ opinions on traffic issues in our last post in this series, it’s worth taking a little more time to discuss one issue in particular that could have a profound impact on traffic flow in New Westminster: the proposed replacement of the Pattullo Bridge.

A constant source of frustration and conflict in New Westminster, traffic is one of the most heated issues in our city right now. This is the second in a series of posts highlighting responses from New Westminster Environmental Partners’ mayor and council candidates’ survey focusing on environmental issues.

New Westminster Environmental Partners, in partnership with Tenth to the Fraser, asked all the mayoral and council candidates about environmental issues. NWEP has each candidate’s complete answers on their website, and we will be publishing highlights from the responses over the next week or so. We will begin with the mayoral candidates’ takes on sustainability: how to define the term, local successes and missed opportunities.

It’s been with a keen interest from the perspectives of both a New West kid and that of a Realtor I’ve watched a positive renewal of many a New Westminster neighbourhood. Everyone operating within the city, visiting, or just driving through, has made note of much change. A while ago I had the opportunity to sit down with Mayor Wayne Wright and chat about this growth. Today I’ll share a few thoughts from my perspectives and conclusions from that meeting.
As a New West kid I grew to know downtown as …