Growing up in Richmond was a rich experience for me. We had the Skookum slide, Stardust Roller rink, Lansdowne race track and the Twin Theatres. Richmond now has many festivals, museums, all weather sports fields, rock climbing, kayak tours the list goes on. Luckily something’s are the same, you can still watch a Richmond Sockeyes hockey game, buy fresh fish off the boats in Steveston, walk the Richmond Nature park, pick fresh blueberries and strawberries, spend a lazy day on the beach and bike all over this glorious perfectly flat city of ours. As a fulltime city councillor for a year now I have had many new experiences like a tour of the YVR control tower including the catwalk outside, I completed Firefighter opps training, hundreds of meetings and I will soon be taking a 3km walking tour through the bowels of the Massey tunnel. It has been a pleasure to answer everyone of your letters, when I looked through my 600 plus responses I realized how much has been accomplished in the last year. We found a place for the RC flyers club, built more trails, we ensured most signs include English, we no longer allow three storey box houses, we opened the City Centre community centre, accomplished 70% recycling and more.
Many of our citizens are nostalgic for the past and I am one of them, but we’ve grown from a small fishing and farming community to a city with access to positively everything. No matter what you want to do, it is available right here in Richmond. We are not just an excellent real estate investment we are a living breathing community with a bright future and limitless opportunities. Whether you are new to Richmond or a pioneer, please take the opportunity to discover our rich history, through the Gulf of Georgia Cannery, the Britannia Shipyards or visit the Richmond Archives and read more about how we have evolved, learning from our past helps us to make smart choices for the future. To foster a sense of community we can volunteer, try a new activity or even just say GOOD MORNING to a new face each and every day. This year I have come up with many new ideas and worked to make positive changes that enhance our city and you have all helped. House Massing has been a major issue that threatens our neighbourhoods but extinguishing LUB’s is just the beginning, we have more work to do. Backyard setbacks, large auxiliary buildings, calculations of square footages, ceiling heights are all controlled with bylaws and they can be modified, I am committed to those improvements, so please keep those letters coming, you’re part of the team.