New Westminster’s mayoral candidates have been on the move during the 2022 election campaign.
Three candidates are vying to be New Westminster’s next mayor: Ken Armstrong (New West Progressives); Patrick Johnstone (Community First New West); and Chuck Puchmayr (independent). Here’s a bit of what they’ve had to say on the campaign trail, which has included several all-candidates meeting.
Ken Armstrong
Armstrong said the New West Progressives are committed to ensuring New Westminster’s infrastructure keeps pace with its rapidly growing population, getting affordable housing built and keeping streets safe from crime. A first-time candidate, he said the NWP will actively listen to New West residents to ensure city council's agenda is driven by citizens’ needs.
“As a group, we are also committed to putting aside our federal and provincial political views for the betterment of the city,” he said. “Paving potholes is not a partisan political issue. It does not align with federal or provincial political ideologies. Whether you are a Conservative, a Liberal, a Green or an NDPer, if you want a pothole patched, it is just that simple.”
Unlike the NDP-affiliated Community First New West team, Armstrong said the New Westminster Progressives’ five city council and three school board candidates aren’t aligned with any provincial party.
“Over the last eight years or so, we've seen the condition of our streets and our sidewalks deteriorate. We've seen an increase in vacant business properties downtown. And we've seen an increase in petty crime, personal crime and property crime in the downtown,” he said. “And frankly, if you elect the same people, you're going to get the same results.”
Providing core city services such as roads, sidewalk and park maintenance is a reoccurring message of New West Progressives’ council candidates, including Armstrong.
“We've got cracked and crumbling basic core infrastructure in the city,” he said. “And the maintenance of that has fallen behind and that needs to be a priority.”
If elected, Armstrong said the NWP will be “sharpening the pencil” to make sure tax dollars are being spent wisely.
“We know as a team that taxpayers, residential taxpayers and property and business taxpayers need to get full value for their tax dollars. And that will be a priority for us,” he said.
Armstrong said it’s time for a change at city hall.
“We are committed to actively listening to New Westminster residents to ensure the council's agenda is driven by the needs of residents,” he said. “We've heard many complaints on the doorsteps that the incumbents just don't listen.”
Patrick Johnstone
Johnstone, who is currently serving his second term on city council, said the city will need to collaborate with its partners to take on the big challenges facing the community, such as housing, the climate crisis and renewal of the city’s public spaces.
“These are team efforts,” he said. “My record in the city has been one of collaboration, of team building, of transparency, of accountability. And our Community First team is a group of people who share the values of this community. They are proactive, they're innovative, and they are willing to do the work because they've done the work.”
Johnstone said he’s tried to be the most accountable and the most transparent city councillor he knows how to be, noting he’s written a report after every council meeting for the past eight years talking about the visions and the ideas behind every decision he’s made on council.
“I'm proud that during that time, New Westminster led the region on important issues like housing policy, like climate policy, that we were named amongst the most economically resilient municipalities in British Columbia, and that we became a destination community for young people to come and set down the roots,” he said. “So, I think now is not the time to move backwards in that progress. The setbacks that we felt locally and regionally, from COVID, they show the importance of the community working together.”
Johnstone said the Community First team plans to do that, by connecting, activating and nurturing the entire community.
“We're going to connect our neighbourhoods. We're going to activate those community groups that are great partners across this community. And we're going to nurture all the residents and all the businesses of this city in order to build a community where everyone can thrive,” he said.
Housing is the biggest issue in the Metro Vancouver region, said Johnstone.
“That is going to be the primary measure of what our success is as a city over the next 20 years,” he said.
Johnstone said Community First New West’s platform outlines a path forward to a more connected, more activated and more rich community.
“We are going to continue … to build the housing. We're going to protect renters. We’re going to continue to expand our schools and invest in infrastructure that makes our city strong. And we're going to do it with compassion. So now is not the time to go backwards, it's not time to pause. Our city, our region is growing fast. There's too much important work for us to continue doing right now.”
Chuck Puchmayr
Puchmayr, a seven-term councillor, is promising to bring more transparency to city hall if elected mayor.
“Especially in the last term, we've really taken the public out of the equation. We've made it more difficult for members of the public to come and speak to council,” he said. “We were one of the most open councils in Metro Vancouver. Now you need to email, make an appointment in advance. You used to be able to come in and sign in at seven o'clock at night and be heard. I want to see that again. I believe in public dialogue.”
Puchmayr said he’s concerned about some of the legislation the city is now allowed to use, as it takes the public out of some processes.
“I want to have open government, transparent government and disclosure,” he said. “We were one of the most transparent governments, we won awards for it. And now, in my opinion, we have become too secret.”
Puchmayr has expressed concern about his council colleagues’ decision to eliminate some advisory committees. He wants to bring back the railway advisory committee, as he believes it put on a political lens on railway issues and expedited whistle cessation, and he’d also like to see council consider the reinstatement of an emergency advisory committee.
Puchmayr said he’s worked with dynamic people from different political perspectives during his time on city council. While the other mayoral candidates are running as part of a slate, Puchmayr is an independent.
“I found that I learned that working with people that have different political opinions or different views is not as much of a challenge, but in a way, it's a blessing,” he said. “You really learn to listen and you learn to collaborate, and you learn that you have to give and take in life, and you have to give and take in politics. And sometimes we miss that in local government. Sometimes we have these ideas that we think are the best ideas and they should be the go forward. And there isn't the consultation that is required in the public.”
Puchmayr said he’s running on a platform of sensible government
“I want to listen; I want to engage. I have a generation of engagement, whether it was through my labour organization or whether it was through my position as an MLA,” said the former one-term New Westminster MLA. “Engagement is a very, very important part. And so I want to have a city where we listen to people, where we advocate for people, where we give and take, and we don't create winners and losers. Right now, sadly, we are creating winners and losers.”
More to come on the mayoral candidates’ responses to some of the reoccurring questions in the 2022 campaign. You can also check out their responses to a Record questionnaire on The Record's election page.
