A chartered professional accountant and an accomplished cyclist are the newest candidates for the New West Progressives.
NWP mayoral candidate Ken Armstrong and the New West Progressives have announced that Rick Folka and Jiayi Li-McCarthy have been approved by the board of directors to be on the 2022 council slate.
“I’m very pleased to have Rick and Jiayi on our team as we head into the civic election this fall,” Armstrong said in a news release. “They both want New Westminster to become an even better place to live, work and play.”
Folka, who was born in New Westminster and raised his family in the city, received his accounting designation from the Society of Management Accountants of British Columbia in 1981. He currently has the designation CPA, CMA.
“Putting my name on the ballot this fall is a great way for me to contribute back to a community I have called home for most of my life,” he said. “I strongly believe that we need positive change and a commitment to collaboration on city council this fall. I know that our team will be offering that to voters on Oct. 15.”
Li-McCarthy is a former champion cyclist who was a part of the China National Cyclist Team. A member of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union local 1518, Li-McCarthy has worked at the Safeway store in Royal Square mall for the past 15 years and previously worked as the manager of business Development for Jiahao Commercial Buildings in Shenyang China.
“If I’m elected to council this fall, I’ll be advocating strongly to ensure that our seniors and marginalized citizens have better access to city hall,” Li-McCarthy said in a news release. “I’ll also be working hard to make sure that our small businesses have a stronger voice in the decision-making process.”
Li-McCarthy, who speaks English and Mandarin, is passionate about helping seniors, single mothers and residents who are struggling to access affordable housing. She’s also committed to encouraging building new economic development opportunities in the city and strengthening New Westminster’s sister city relationships.
Folka, who lives in Glenbrooke North with his wife Joanne, is the former chair of the board at St. Mary’s Hospital in New Westminster. If elected to city council, Folka is also committed to streamlining the time it takes to get building permits approved, supporting more effective citizen engagement and ensuring that neighbourhood voices are heard and respected by municipal politicians.
In February, the New West Progressives announced Queensborough resident Ken Armstrong would be their mayoral candidate. The NWP expects to announce a third NWP council candidate at an April 28 event at Begbie’s pub in downtown New West.
Input wanted
The New West Progressives, which formed in 2017, are holding a series of townhall forums to get input that will help shape their 2022 election platform. The forums are taking place at the Queensborough Community Centre on Thursday, May 5 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.; at the Inn at the Quay on Tuesday, May 10 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.; and at the Royal City Curling Club on Tuesday, May 17 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
“Now that we’re able to gather in-person once again to get direct feedback from the community, it’s important we do so to ensure that our platform reflects their priorities,” Armstrong said. “This type of policy development and feedback needs to happen more regularly at city hall. It’s something our team intends to implement rather quickly after we get elected.”
In addition to the townhall forums, the New West Progressives have launched an online survey to gather additional feedback from local residents and small businesses. The deadline to complete the survey is May 31.
The survey includes a section where community members are asked to rank 12 issues in terms of their importance, including transportation and transit, truth and reconciliation, crime and safety, densification, and arts and culture. It then asks respondents to rate the current council’s efforts in these areas and to provide additional feedback.
The New West Progressives say they’ll use feedback from the survey and townhall forums to develop its council campaign platform that will be released prior to the Oct. 15 civic election.
To provide your input, go to www.nwprogressives.ca/survey.
Follow Theresa McManus on Twitter @TheresaMcManus
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