Incumbent mayor Jonathan Cote will be unveiling a new idea for New Westminster for 50 straight days.
Starting Aug. 31, Cote is announcing a new idea for the city daily for the next 50 days. While some of those ideas are his own, others have come from residents.
“I am going to put out some new ideas about what I think should be priority ideas to help move the city forward,” he told the Record. “It’s going to be on all different topics from housing to transportation to public amenities and infrastructure. It’s going to touch on a variety of issues.”
In August, Cote sought input for his platform from residents via an online survey – a survey that nearly 200 people completed.
“I was really impressed by the amount of time that residents put into to provide their feedback,” he said. “To me that really highlighted some of the big issues that people out in the community are feeling. It also highlighted that not everyone in the community has the same opinion on things too. I thought it was really useful for me as I was thinking: What are the main topics that I want to be talking about? What are the new ideas that I want to be putting out and make sure that actually connected and reflected the concerns and issues that are important to residents?”
While housing affordability was a biggie, Cote said residents shared a variety of ideas of things they’d like to see in New West, some stemming from things they’d seen when travelling to other cities. Some of those residents’ ideas will find their way into Cote’s 50 ideas in 50 days platform.
“It is important for me that we continue to be looking for new ideas and new solutions to the challenges we face,” he said.
If you’re curious about the 50 ideas in 50 days platform, you can check it out on Cote’s website – www.votecote.ca.
