Platform — Teri Towner for Coquitlam Council

Everyone deserves to feel safe in their neighbourhood and in our public spaces. While Coquitlam is a safe city, we need to remain proactive and responsive to ensure it is a safe, welcoming community for all residents.

• Continue to invest in police services, fire response and bylaw enforcement to keep pace with our growing population.

• Create public spaces that feel safe through thoughtful design, lighting, visibility and ongoing maintenance.

• Improve pedestrian and traffic safety; apply a Vision Zero approach to address speed and reduce serious injuries and fatalities on our roads.

• Advocate for stronger regulation and safer use of e-mobility devices – including designated parking. Stronger enforcement is also needed and usage on pedestrian paths such as Lafarge Lake loop, should be banned.

• Respond quickly to graffiti to keep our neighbourhoods welcoming and clean

• Continue to be responsive and utilize expedited demolition process to mitigate the impacts vacant and derelict homes can have on neighbours.

• Advocate for continued funding towards the Building Safer Communities Program which successfully provided coordinated support for at-risk youth and families facing complex challenges

• Support installations of AEDs throughout city

• Continue supporting Coquitlam Search and Rescue with grants and a collaborative partnership

This past term:

• Strengthened the City’s Community Safety Division; added a Safety Advisor position, more police, fire, bylaw inspectors and emergency management coordinator; ensured residents have a voice through the recently-formed Community Safety Advisory Committee.

• Coquitlam RCMP partnered with Inadmissible Patrons Program

• Advocated for wrap-around services at 3030 Gordon Ave, increased mental health and addiction supports and supportive housing. This advocacy resulted in Coquitlam receiving a mobile integrated crisis response (MICR) team - specialized response to people experiencing a mental health crisis.

Being a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars has always been one of my highest priorities.

Thanks to careful financial management, Coquitlam is in a strong financial position. We have low debt, healthy reserve funds, continued investment in infrastructure, an asset replacement program, and a strategic investment approach that generates strong returns.

However, the financial landscape for municipalities is changing. Development-related revenues have slowed due to provincial legislative changes and market conditions. Senior governments have increasingly downloaded responsibilities onto municipalities. Provincial downloading cost Coquitlam approximately $37 million over the past three years. This, combined with global economic uncertainty, rising costs, the growing impacts of climate change and increasing regional cost pressures make fiscal discipline more important than ever.

We absolutely must stay focused on delivering the CORE municipal services residents rely on while ensuring every tax dollar is spent wisely. I strongly believe local governments should concentrate on the responsibilities they were created to deliver. Municipalities receive the smallest share of taxpayers’ dollars, so we simply cannot afford to take on responsibilities that belong to provincial or federal governments – even when well-meaning residents ask us to.

I will continue to support finding efficiencies, embracing innovation, and improving the way the City delivers services. Good financial management isn’t about spending less for the sake of spending less - it’s about spending wisely, investing strategically, and delivering the greatest value for residents.

I am committed to protecting taxpayers by keeping Coquitlam financially strong, maintaining stable and predictable property taxes whenever possible, investing responsibly in the infrastructure our community needs, and ensuring the City remains well positioned to meet future challenges without compromising the high-quality services residents expect.

I’ve spent 12 years on Coquitlam Council, and if there’s one word that has guided me through almost all decisions at the table, it’s livability. Not as an abstract planning term, but as a simple question I ask myself: will this make life better for the people who live here?

Livability is the measure of how well a city supports the wellbeing, and quality of life of the people who call it home. It’s about more than growth - it’s about building neighbourhoods that are safe, welcoming, connected, and enjoyable at every age and stage of life, while protecting the qualities that make Coquitlam special.

To me, livability means:

• Green and healthy - beautiful parks, an abundance of trees, clean air, welcoming public gathering places, and recreation opportunities that support active, healthy lifestyles.

• Housing that fits real lives - a genuine variety of housing types and options, practical layouts, family-friendly design, storage, parking and the amenities that make everyday life easier.

• A city built for people - safe streets and sidewalks, walkable neighbourhoods, cycling infrastructure, reliable transportation, and attractive, accessible public spaces that strengthen our sense of community; Minimizing construction impacts on existing neighbourhoods as our city continues to grow.

• Places that bring us together - public art, community gardens, dog parks, trails, pools, arenas, community centres, arts and culture spaces - amenities that make Coquitlam a city people are proud to call home.

• A sense of connection - festivals, celebrations, cultural gatherings, volunteer opportunities, programs for youth and seniors, summer camps for kids, opportunities to be civically engaged; a caring community supporting those facing challenges

These are the things local government controls, and after 12 years on Council, I’ve learned to focus my energy where it actually makes a difference. I can’t control the macroeconomic climate, inflation, or geopolitical unrest - but as your City Councillor, I will stay focused on what I can control. I will keep working hard to protect and improve livability for all Coquitlam residents. I know these differences have a measurable impact on people’s daily lives.

A truly livable city also offers services families rely on every day. Schools, childcare, and healthcare - including mental health services - aren’t municipal responsibilities, but I hear about them repeatedly at the door and in my inbox. These are essential to our residents’ quality of life and I will keep pushing senior governments to deliver the investments our growing community needs.

Livability isn’t a slogan. It’s the daily work of getting the fundamentals right and I’m asking for your vote to keep doing it.

While municipalities are responsible for delivering local services, many of the issues residents care most about - health care, education, affordable housing, mental health services, transit - are the responsibility of other orders of government. I believe City Council has an important role to play in ensuring Coquitlam’s voice is heard. That means building strong, respectful relationships with our MPs, MLAs, School Trustees, Indigenous partners, and regional agencies, and advocating thoughtfully and persistently for the investments our growing community needs.

Coquitlam has a strong track record of successful advocacy. Working collaboratively with our partners, we helped secure a Mobile Integrated Crisis Response (MICR) team, supported the opening of a winter shelter with the Province and kʷikʷəƛ̓əm First Nation, and we continue to advance important priorities for our community, including affordable housing for seniors. As Coquitlam continues to grow, effective advocacy will be more important than ever. I will continue to champion the needs of our residents and work collaboratively with other governments to achieve practical, lasting results.

• Champion provincial investment in health care, including an urgent care centre within Coquitlam, schools, and other essential infrastructure so services residents need keep pace with provincially-mandated housing growth.

• Support increased funding for regional transportation improvements, including major projects such as the Brunette Interchange and sustainable funding for TransLink’s Access for Everyone Plan.

• Continue advocating for more supportive and affordable housing, expanded mental health and addiction services, and wraparound supports for vulnerable residents, including at 3030 Gordon Avenue.

• Push for increased investment in childcare spaces and stable operating funding to meet the needs of Coquitlam families.

• Advocate for federal and provincial funding to help municipalities build climate-resilient infrastructure and prepare for flooding, wildfire, and other extreme weather events.

• Encourage federal leadership to accelerate innovative housing solutions, including Canada’s prefabricated and modular housing industry.

• Continue advocating for stable, long-term funding for community safety initiatives, including the Building Safer Communities Fund.

• Support sensible bail reform and stronger coordination across governments to improve public safety while ensuring communities receive the resources they need.