Local politicos brushed up on their civic affairs at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference and trade show in Ontario.
Along with Mayor Wayne Wright, councillors Bill Harper, Jaimie McEvoy, Betty McIntosh, Chuck Puchmayr and Lorrie Williams headed east to attend the federation’s annual convention that was held May 30 to June 2 in Niagara Falls. The conference aims to provide a place where municipal leaders can learn from experts and their peers, connect with municipal colleagues from across Canada, and influence federal decision making on critical issues affecting municipalities.
Last year’s Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference took place in Vancouver. Coun. Jonathan Cote held down the fort while the rest of council was at the conference.
Coueffin retires
A man who’s handled some of the most controversial issues at city hall has called it a day.
Keith Coueffin, the city’s manager of licensing and integrated services, recently retired after more than three decades with the city. Coueffin began working for the health department in 1980 as a public health inspector and served as the chief public health officer from 1990 to 1996.
“I would like to say that the city really has treated me extremely well. It’s an organization I am very proud to have worked for,” he said. “I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of amazing people. The city is a very good employer. I feel very fortunate.”
During his three decades with the city, Coueffin was involved with complex files such as drug and nuisance behaviours, bylaw enforcement, smoking control bylaws, liquor licences, marijuana dispensaries and problematic properties and businesses that generated negative impacts to the city, such as one that purchased scrap metal and stolen property from people.
In the years before the Fraser Health Authority was created through regionalization of health-care services, the City of New Westminster was among the cities that had its own health unit. Coueffin was the lone employee of the New Westminster health unit that moved into city hall when the unit was transferred to the Fraser Health.
In 1999, Coueffin was appointed the assistant director of strategic services and in 2006 he was named the manager of licensing and integrated services.
“A lot of the work I did had to deal with coordinating actions of a number of groups or parties to improve neighbourhood livability,” he said. “I think we have had some successes in doing that. That’s been very satisfying.”
As an example, Coueffin said the city developed a comprehensive strategy to help deal with drug and nuisance activities in the downtown. He said one of the creative actions taken as part of that initiative was building a dog park in the downtown to create positive traffic flow and bring positive activity to the area as opposed to leaving it open and void.
Coueffin recalls working with former city staffer Brian Coates and others to devise a way to deter graffiti on the city’s traffic control boxes.
“It’s really quite satisfying for me to go around New Westminster and see the beautiful traffic control boxes now with flowers and so forth,” he said. “That was basically an anti-graffiti initiative. We took a graffiti problem and made it community beautification.”
City administrator Lisa Spitale said Coueffin spearheaded many of the city’s most progressive initiatives on business licence regulations, rental housing maintenance standards and bylaw enforcement procedures.
“Keith is considered a leader in the region and in the province for his balanced and strategic approach to bylaw enforcement, community livability and business-friendly regulations,” she said in an email to city staff. “Keith has a stellar reputation for promoting actions that solve problems and building relationships.”
Cleaning house
The Glenbrooke North Residents’ Association is gearing up for its annual garage sale.
The association’s neighbourhood garage sale is taking place on Saturday, June 14 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Area residents are able to sign up until June 11. A map of all the locations will be distributed at the garage sales and will also be posted at www.glenbrookenorth.ca.
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