Thanks for the coverage of this exciting election. l am writing because some of the goals that l have announced at all-candidate forums have been missed and l think the public should know about the goals I have in my first term as a councillor.

• Reinstate mandatory pub surveys for residents in the vicinity of a new pub or night club. In 2005, Councilors Howard, Dang, McNulty and Kumagai, along with Mayor Brodie, voted to change the pub bylaw to make public pub surveys “at the discretion of council”. In the 1970s, Council voted to require a survey for neighbourhood pubs, which was a new concept at that time. Not long ago, though, the residents living close to the new Shark Club had no idea that their peace and quiet was about to be compromised by a new nightclub. If the neighbourhood surveys had still been in place, a lot of grief for the business owners and the residents could have been mitigated. (See attachments.)

• Optional neighbourhood rezoning to protect neighbourhoods. Work to adopt similar practices as the Corporation of Delta, where five neighbourhoods in North Delta have been granted  “Down Zoning “ to protect their neighbourhoods from construction of monster houses. If that is something that neighbourhoods in Richmond would welcome, then they should have the mechanism in place to achieve this new zoning. (See attachment.)

• Support children living in poverty with free or reduced rates on city recreation programs; 26% of children live in poverty in Richmond, and they need to be supported by the VILLAGE of RICHMOND. If the City of Richmond spends a small amount early in the life of a child living in poverty, then much larger costs can be avoided later on, when potential problems manifest themselves. Currently, Richmond schools identify these compromised children and wave fees when possible so that they can be involved in school activities.

• Limit a councillor’s time on council to three terms. Nine years is a long time, and councillors should be able to achieve their goals in that time period.  Limiting terms gives incumbents a chance to retire for a three-year term and then return with new ideas and energy. The 3-term maximum also gives much better opportunities for new candidates to bring their new ideas to city council. Richmond city council has been effective, and its hard work should be applauded, but in order to have a council that will change with the times, it is logical to allow for a changing of the guard to keep Richmond current with the trends and aspirations of new councilors.

It is hard to have your ideas heard when 17 candidates are all trying to get their points across to the public in a maximum of 60 seconds, so l wanted to be clear about the goals l have for my first term as a city councillor.

Thank you very much,
Carol Day
RITE Richmond Independent Team of Electors
604 240 1986
carolday @voterite.ca