Will any of the issues raised by non-Team Cote candidates and constituents on the campaign trail find their way into council chambers? Time will tell.
While the six members of Team Cote took all six spots on council with a combined 42,346 votes, the four New West Progressive candidates and the four independents received more than 29,000 votes. Jonathan Cote blew away the competition in the mayor’s race with 10,487 votes, but Nikki Binns, Harm Woldring and Jimmie Bell received a combined 3,881 votes.
“They definitely raised some community issues that I heard on the doorsteps,” Mayor Jonathan Cote said of his mayoral challengers. “Those are important issues that do need to be looked at by the city. To me, moving forward once the new council gets inaugurated it’s about how do we represent all of New Westminster, not just the folks that supported us during this election. I truly believe that is my role coming back as mayor of New Westminster.”
During the campaign, some candidates and community members expressed concerns about issues such as density, infrastructure to meet the needs of a growing city, traffic and taxation.
“I do think there were some concerns that came out. Density is one of those concerns,” said Coun. Jaimie McEvoy. “I think that the city does need to sort of look at how it deepens its consultation processes in the city and go about capturing the public.”
