City Council Roundup - June 2023

This is the first episode in a new series that will follow the on-going City of New Westminster City Council.

This meeting covers the June 26, 2023 session held at council chambers in New Westminster City Hall. The focus of this roundup is the annual report from the Chief Administrative Office (CAO) Lisa Spitale. In this report she gives the details of the accomplishments of city council over the past year.

Included in her report are an overview of the previously implemented strategic plan for the city and how it impacted the past year's goals, named "the Seven Bold Steps for New Westminster". These areas include Affordable Housing and Childcare, Culture and Economic Development, Environment and Climate, Facilities Infrastructure and Public Realm, Reconciliation Inclusion and Engagement, Sustainable Transportation and finally Organizational Effectiveness.

As seen in the report, New Westminster has been able to make major inroads on the majority of goals that were set. The report shows how the city has moved the dial towards a carbon-free corporation by reducing the carbon footprint at fire halls and with city-owned fleets, moved forward on the pursuit of a car-light community through the implementation of a Master Transportation Plan and gained traction on the goal of carbon-free buildings with the enactment of a Community Energy and Emmissions Plan that included multi-language Empower Me Workshops.

In addition, the city has implemented an eMobility Strategy as part of the goal of pollution-free vehicles and announced the production of 420MWh of clean energy through Urban Solar Gardens as part of the Carbon-free Energy goal.

Finally, the target of increasing New Westminster's Urban Forest Canopy was pursued through the planting of native trees, tree sale events and the implementation of a watering bag program for replacement trees while the city continued in it's efforts to create a quality people-centered realm by creating more public space across the city.

Spitale is quick to point out the stellar job done by city staff, in particular the Communications Department, for this annual report. Councillor Nakagawa points out that New Westminster is leading the region in the building of purposeful rentals and lauded the commitment of staff who went and replanted trees planted by local politicians to ensure their survival.

Councillor Daniel Fontaine brings up the need to rename this from a report to a report card and not just name accomplishments but also the challenges of what was not accomplished.

Councillor Ruby Campbell comments on how these kinds of accomplishments by the city are what inspired her to run for city council along with the appointment of an Indigenous Relations Advisor as a game changer for the city.

Councillor Tasha Henderson points out that there is a lot to celebrate in this report including the movement forward on climate action.

Councillor Jamie McEvoy lauds the work of the local animal shelter and finally Mayor Patrick Johnstone acknowledges that 2022 was a strange and challenging year for everyone.

The Mayor continues by thanking the staff for helping the city through the transition to a new City Council after the elections and keeping the city on track in its recovery from the pandemic.

He recognizes the work of the previous mayor and council members who sat in council during much of the time covered in the report. He reflects on a question posed to him earlier by local indigenous leaders on what he wants his legacy to be as a leader and how he kept going back to the planting of trees in the community. How in 30 years, when he is gone, those thousands of trees we are planting now will be a legacy for those who come after us. He also touched on the movement forward on reconciliation and climate change and how, as he meets with the youth of the city, he sees that work as his legacy to give to them.