It’s not every day the mayor comes knocking at your door, but it could happen in the next few months.
Mayor Jonathan Cote has announced he will be running in October’s municipal election and seeking a second term as mayor. He served three terms as a city councillor, before topping the polls in the 2014 mayoral race.
“I have really enjoyed the opportunity to serve in this role in the City of New Westminster,” he told the Record. “It has been a really busy and exciting time in the city. To me I think there are a lot of things we are working on, a lot of challenges that still strongly motivate me to continue to put my name forward.”
Cote plans to engage with residents and community groups in the coming months to develop a more detailed platform but plans to focus on three main themes: investing in community facilities; taking action and advocating for housing solutions; and building a healthy, happy and inclusive community.
“I think one of the big things I want to be taking on during the next term is focusing on some of the community facilities that we love in our community, whether that’s the redevelopment of the Canada Games Pool, completing the renovation work at the library or continuing the work we are doing to connect our riverfront,” he said. “Those are three big projects that will have some very meaningful impacts to residents in the city.”
While the city’s riverfront strategy extends from Sapperton to Queensborough, Cote said the real big opportunity in the next term will be linking Westminster Pier Park and Sapperton Landing as the Pattullo Bridge project moves forward.
Cote said housing affordability is a big challenge in New Westminster and Metro Vancouver. While the city has taken a leadership role on housing in the region, he said there’s more work to be done.
“The City of New Westminster needs to continue be looking for actions and policies that we can do to help with these challenges, and we need to continue to be a strong advocate with the different levels of government, provincial and federal, to really take on this issue.”
While he’s the incumbent, Cote said he isn’t taking anything for granted and will be engaging with the electorate as much as possible during the campaign. To date, no other candidates have announced plans to run for mayor.
“There’s no doubt my schedule is already very busy, but we plan to campaign as hard as we can, try and get out to as many doors and engage with as many residents as possible, to talk about the work we have been doing in the City of New Westminster and what we want to be doing moving forward,” he said. “I always love the door knocking part of the campaign because that is where you get to talk face to face to people and really hear what’s on people’s minds and be able to share my vision for the future of New Westminster.”
