It doesn’t seem that long ago that Jonathan Cote was a fresh-faced council candidate amid a crowd of much older colleagues. A decade later, he’s poised to become a power player in regional politics.
With a number of Metro Vancouver mayors opting not to run in the 2018 election and other incumbents losing their seats, Cote easily won back his seat and is now the fifth longest-serving mayor in the region. At the ripe old age of 39, he’s a veteran politician in the Lower Mainland – and the Record’s Newsmaker of the Year.
Cote first appeared on the local political scene in 2005, when the then-26-year-old made his first bid for council. He won that and two subsequent terms as a councillor, before taking on incumbent mayor Wayne Wright in the 2014 election and winning.
This fall, Cote trounced three other mayoral candidates to secure a second term as mayor.
Cote, who has a master’s degree in urban studies from Simon Fraser University and is a bit of a policy wonk, is rarely short on ideas, whether it’s creating task forces to delve into matters like affordable housing and transportation, campaigning with initiatives like 50 ideas in 50 days or suggesting New West implement initiatives he’s seen in other cities, such as placing furniture in public places for residents to enjoy.
As good as his ideas may be, Cote has seen firsthand some of the challenges that go with implementation. Despite his desire to connect New Westminster by building a pedestrian/cyclist bridge between the Queensborough and Quayside neighbourhoods, that project proved far too costly for the city.
And speaking of city coffers, Cote leads a council that’s hearing from more and more residents who are concerned the city’s amenities aren’t keeping pace with the rapid development (too rapid for some folks) that’s occurring in New West. Between the need for new services like recreation facilities and the demand to replace aging infrastructure and build new infrastructure to accommodate growth, such as those associated with the sewer, water and electrical utilities, the city could be looking to spend – and borrow – millions of dollars.
If money grew on trees, that wouldn’t be a problem. As mayor, citizens look to the Cote to find the right balance between the needs of a growing community and the financial limitations of taxpayers.
Cote, who hopes to champion issues like transit and the housing crisis at the regional level, will have a front row seat for discussions on the region’s transportation and transit; he was recently elected chair of the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation – the group that’s responsible for considering TransLink plans dealing with transportation service levels, major capital projects, regional funding and borrowing limits.
Cote has a talent for taking differing viewpoints and trying to find common ground – a skill he will surely need to put to the test in New Westminster and at Metro Vancouver in the year ahead.
