Name: Harm Woldring
Twitter: @harmwoldring
Email: harmwoldring@shaw.ca
Questions (in 50 words unless specified).
Tell us about yourself. (100 words)
I have been a resident of New Westminster off and on since 1970. My recent history started 14 years ago when I bought The Wine Factory. My background and experience is in business management, marketing, technology and teaching. I have managed multi-million dollar business for companies like Johnson and Johnson, taught computer science at George Brown College and worked in a wide range of industries. Twenty years ago I worked with six others to start the Parkcrest Child Care Society, served on the board of Kenneth Gordon School for 11 years, and the BC Association of Professional Economists for 7 ...
What are the Top 3 issues facing the City of New Westminster? (100 words)
The single greatest issue facing New West is the runaway budget. New West residents can't afford annual increases in taxes and utility rates especially since the majority of their money ends up in the pay packets of a very small number of people with NOTHING left over for the people for things like swimming pools and public use amenities.
What is the biggest success or failure of the current city council?
This council has failed to bring a single major project in on time or on budget. They have created division among the citizens and taxed many to their limits. While, like other cities and levels of government, they deny being responsible for the housing crisis, in my opinion, the majority …
The City of New Westminster concluded a lengthy official community plan process and is working to implement that plan. With the city’s population projected to grow to 104,000 by 2041, is the city on the right track to accommodating this growth?
My problem with the community plan process is that, like almost everything else in New West, it is fed top down from the 'experts' at City Hall and fundamentally deals only with projected population growth and where the city wants to put them. I believe the planning process should be …
What three people – alive or dead – would you invite to a dinner party?
My mentors John de Wolf, Michael Gormick and probably Robert Oppenheimer because I'd like to talk to him about the moral dilemma he must have faced when letting the nuclear genie out of the bottle.
Editor's note: Candidates were given specific word count guidelines and were cut off if they went over the count.
