Upcoming election

Interesting story in the Tri-City News which shows all the upcoming candidates for the October by-election.

And the candidates are....

By Janis Warren - The Tri-City News
Published: September 20, 2013 5:00 PM
Updated: September 20, 2013 5:15 PM

Eleven Coquitlam residents — and one person from Port Moody — have filed their nomination papers to run in the Oct. 26 byelection.

The byelection is being held to replace Linda Reimer and Selina Robinson, who were elected as MLAs in May.

The contenders are:

• Michael Bell
• Ben Craig
• Ben BH Kim
• Andy Lacuna
• Barrie Lynch
• Doug Macdonell
• Kevin Startin
• Teri Towner
• Chris Wilson
• Vincent Wu
• Kurt Zaporozan
• Bonita Zarrillo

Read The Tri-City News' print edition on Wednesday for a brief introduction to the candidates.

But the best part is in the electronic version you can click on each person's name and read all their information that they had to file.  And this tells us who lives where and their union or other organization affiliates.  I see some people list all the public shares in which they are invested, which seems to me to be a big "so what".  If they can't direct IBM why do we care if they have 5 shares of it?   Looking forward to meeting *all* these people at the All Candidate's meeting in Burquitlam.  Let's see where they stand on local issues.

September in Burquitlam

A few days away brings a lot of change.  The intersection of Smith and Clarke is either one lane or shut down completely most days.  It is best, for now, to detour onto Como Lake.

Where the DQ once stood is now a post.

and the posts are going up quickly.

 In front of M&M you get a good shot of where the station will be with the new posts that will support it.

 And if you walk across the street you can see the grade of the train going into the ground. 

At this point, Burquitlam is still marginalized.  Largely ignored by both Coquitlam and Burnaby, it can occasionally be difficult to get services in this area.  But a new sidewalk is coming on North Road where none exists.  Of course it is hugely political.  Coquitlam residents pushed for it, but the City of Coquitlam said it was too expensive for the Coquitlam side, so they want to put it on the Burnaby side.  It should go without saying that Burnaby has said "well sure, but why should we do the upkeep".  Give me a break - is it so impossible for these people to cooperate?  Maybe it's time for Vancouver to swallow these small communities and give them a good kick in the pants much like Toronto has done.  While they bicker, it is the individual homeowners (who pay their taxes that they always forget) who lose.

With that in mind, Coquitlam is having a by-election.  October 26, 2013 we will vote in a couple of new councillors.  Wouldn't it be great if they were the type of people who put people first, and politics and power second?  Of the candidates, the only one I've seen out there is Bonita Zarillo.  Are we already marginalized before they even get voted in?

ONA President to run for council

Yoinked from the Burquitlam Community Association website - which has pulled it down??

From the Now News:
http://www.thenownews.com/craig-to-run-for-council-1.619650

Oakdale Neighbourhood Association president Ben Craig has officially confirmed his intention to run in the Coquitlam byelection next month. - See more at: http://www.thenownews.com/craig-to-run-for-council-1.619650#sthash.Aeo3db0D.dpuf

"I'll run on a platform that supports communities, our small businesses and the taxpayer," Craig said in an email to the Tri-Cities NOW. "With the cost of government going straight up in our city, I believe a taxpayer-focused councillor is desperately needed. I've been a financial advisor for 15 years. I understand the value of a dollar and the need to stick to budgets." - See more at: http://www.thenownews.com/craig-to-run-for-council-1.619650#sthash.Aeo3db0D.dpuf

"Burquitlam will transform in the next few years," he said.
"With Evergreen Line construction underway and thousands of new residents coming to our area, it's more important than ever to have a strong voice for our region."
- See more at: http://www.thenownews.com/craig-to-run-for-council-1.619650#sthash.Aeo3db0D.dpuf

We truly wish him good luck as Burquitlam desperately needs more vocal representation on Council.

You can find Ben on Twitter @bencraig

On Facebook, like Ben Craig for Council

And On Linked In.

Upcoming by-election

Yes October 26 will see the residents of Burquitlam, along with the rest of Coquitlam, go to the polls to vote for a couple of new council members.

From the Tri-City News
In an early Tuesday morning vote at a meeting that started Monday evening — and with no debate on the topic — city council formally set the byelection date and appointed deputy city clerk Kerri Lore as the chief election officer and Lauren Hewson, the manager of information, privacy and administrative services, as deputy chief election officer, effective Aug. 12.

 So far one person that we know of has put their name forward. 
But where is the representation for Burquitlam?  We badly need someone in our corner as evidenced by the Foster "Fiasco".

Watch for local All Candidate's meetings and let's get in there and ask some tough questions.

Foster Development

Two interesting stories in the Tri-City News this week.
The first talks about the size of the Foster Development.  Apparently it is a bit bigger than planned.  It amazes me that the developers are able to do this in spite of the huge amount of opposition.  From the story in the paper:
The Vancouver-based developer Intracorp has been assembling the land over the past two years and is waiting for the go-ahead from city hall to build 107 three-storey townhomes and a 99-unit, five-storey apartment block at 514-554 Foster Ave. and 636-640 Aspen St.

So in 2011 this development was inconsistent with the OCP
In 2011, when company representatives first came before council with a pre-application for 124 townhomes, the city temporarily halted the bid, saying it was "inconsistent" with the 2002 Burquitlam Neighbourhood Plan, a visioning document expected to get updated this fall.


But in 2013, while the neighbourhood OCP is being redeveloped and will not be done until the fall, the developer is able to move in there because the old plan doesn't apply and the new one isn't done and.... say what????

And *this* is why Burquitlam needs someone in our corner on City Council.  It isn't enough to say "oh sure, we'll just write it in to the new OCP".  It takes someone standing up and saying "Wait.  Can we just take a break here for a couple of months, figure out what we want first and then move on it?"

Haven't we put the cart before the horse here?

A local resident noted how the people adjacent to the development felt:

Therese Weel of the Burquitlam Community Association said she drew up a petition in March, when the legal notices were published and letters were mailed out to affected agencies, that called for a smaller development, as put forward in the original plan.
"We canvassed the neighbourhood and ultimately collected the signatures of 29 residents living near the development," Weel told The Tri-City News. "Researching, understanding the issues, discussing the options and providing written feedback requires considerable time and effort.

Ms. Weel also noted in a separate email that 

There are homeless people living in the lane now that they have knocked some of the buildings down.

 Oh wait but somehow it is all okay, according to this second story, because the developer is going to give a bunch of money for some infrastructure.  
A new city of Coquitlam fund set up to collect developers' cash for a future recreation centre in Burquitlam will soon have $665,000 in the kitty.

The problem is the people of Burquitlam have heard this before.  In the past, with development, the money has gone to the City and then they've used it elsewhere.  So now is the time to start calling City Council and make sure they know we want it used here. If we have to have higher densification, at least we should get what the developer promises instead of having this go the neighbourhoods from which the individual council members come.