Rudy Storteboom
Running for a seat on council in the City of Langley
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Licenced realtor/site inspector/mortgage consultant, 63
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• Have you held office in past? If so, please specify: Yes. I’ve served 2 (not consecutive) terms.
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Candidate provided bio: Rudy Storteboom was born and raised in the Fraser Valley and has lived in Langley City for over 30 years. He lives in the downtown core and serves on his strata council at Paddington Station. Rudy is happy to have family and many life-long friends living in Langley City. This is Rudy’s second term on council, having served from 2008-2011 and again since 2014. He enjoys going for walks in the downtown core and attending events in the community as well as connecting with friends and neighbours over coffee.
Councillor Storteboom says that ‘The City of Langley provides me with a full and happy life that presents new opportunities for personal development, every day. It’s the people who live here that make my life so rewarding and I am proud to call Langley City my home.”
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Facebook: Rudy 4 Langley City Council
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Twitter: @Rudy Storteboom/langleycityguy
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Website: Rudy4Council.com
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Phone: (604) 562-7839 (RUDY)
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• Who is your favourite superhero, and why? “Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ This is my gift, my curse. Who am I? I’m Spider-man.”
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There are 16 candidates running for six councillor seats with the City of Langley. The following are questions asked of each candidate hopeful. They were directed to provide a minimum of a Yes, No, or Don’t Know answer, and given an option to expand on one answer in print (to a maximum of 100 words per question). They could expand on all questions online, if they wished to do so. The following are their replies.
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Questions and Answers:
1. What neighbourhood of Langley do you live in?
Answer: I live in the Nicomekl neighbourhood of Langley City.
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2. How many years have you lived in Langley?
Answer: I’ve live in the Fraser Valley for my whole life, and I’ve lived in Langley City for about 35 years.
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3. How many Langley City council meetings have you attended in the past year?
Answer: I’ve attended all regularly scheduled meetings and working sessions for the past four-year term.
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4: Should the City be directly funding social housing to reduce homelessness?
Answer: No. Housing is the responsibility of the BC Government’s Ministry of Housing. However, Langley City can work with developers and housing agencies by using a toolkit of zoning and bylaws to accommodate renovations and redevelopment.
Please note: Langley City is already fully developed with one of the highest percentages of social housing in Metro Vancouver. While regional vacancy rates are at record lows and supply remains strong, Langley City has the most affordable housing in the region. The Salvation Army’s Gateway of Hope is currently operating well over capacity. We have more than our fair share of homelessness here!
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5. Do you support elevated rail over light rapid transit from Surrey to Langley?
Answer: Yes
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6. Should the City’s industrial area be phased out in favour of residential and commercial development?
Answer: No
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7. Would you vote to raise taxes to hire more police?
Answer: Don’t know
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8. Do you agree with the growth estimates for Langley City in its new Nexus of Community strategic plan?
Answer: Yes
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9. Should Langley have its own municipal police force, replacing the RCMP?
Answer: No
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10. Should the City fund an arts centre?
Answer: Don’t know. The City should recruit funding partners. Please see the Nexus of Community Strategy on the Langley City website.
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11. Does Langley City need an indoor swimming pool?
Answer: Yes
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12. Should Langley City lobby for its own urgent care centre?
Answer: Yes
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13. Do you think residential property taxes are too high?
Answer: Yes, although Langley City has some of the lowest property taxes in the region, new sources of revenue can contribute to make our taxes even lower.
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14. Should the City amalgamate with the Township?
Answer: NO! Not the City of Surrey either!
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15. Should the municipality offer tax breaks, incentives, or rebates to companies looking to set up shop here?
Answer: Yes. Incentives can produce positive results in certain market conditions.
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16. Is Langley City being pushed to grow too fast?
Answer: Yes. The current housing demand is pushing development throughout the region.
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17. Should Langley City take more direct action to combat the opioid crisis locally?
Answer: Yes. Awareness, education, and advocacy are everyone’s responsibility.
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18. Should the City encourage the creation of more rental and low-income housing?
Answer: No, Langley City is already working and networking with developers to create new rental buildings and renovate supportive housing.
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19. Should the City taxes be cut by cutting services?
Answer: No
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20. Should there be a limit to the number of consecutive terms a member of council can serve?
Answer: No. That’s what voters can decide.