Bev Dornan
Running for council in Langley Township
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Merchandise manager, age not provided
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• Have you held office in past? If so, please specify: Yes, two terms on council
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Candidate provided bio: I am Bev Dornan and I am running for the position of Langley Township councillor.
I have lived and worked in this community my whole life. I have two grown sons and five grandchildren. I am the general merchandise manager of Otter Co-op.
I am also a devoted volunteer to many organizations such as Rotary, Langley Community Services, past chair of the hospital foundation and Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce.
Previously I have also served two terms on council.
As a candidate, I feel I can offer good governance, accessibility, ability to communicate and willingness to engage. I feel I could make the hard decisions when called upon. Langley is a great place to live, work and raise your family, and I would value the chance to be part of the team that guides it into the future.
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Website: www.bevdornan2018
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Phone: 604-996-1502
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Email: bevjdornan@shaw.ca
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• Who is your favourite superhero, and why? Wonder Woman
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There are 23 candidates running for eight Langley Township council seats. 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: Fort Langley
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2. How many years have you lived in Langley?
Answer: 63 years
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3. How many Langley Township council meetings have you attended in the past year?
Answer: 8
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4: Should the municipality be directly funding social housing to reduce homelessness?
Answer: No. Housing is handled by other levels of government, but Township, in this changing world, I feel has a responsibility to their part. Partnering with other social organizations, faith groups to put together plans for social housing and as their contribution, reduce or eliminate DCC’s or other policy contributions that Township can make to foster the advancement of these projects is necessary.
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5. Do you support elevated rail over light rapid transit from Surrey to Langley?
Answer: Yes. I feel for that corridor, with the long expanse of rural lands in the strip, is a more efficient style of transit. This also seamlessly connects with the transit we already have. I know it may be a little more expensive, but I think will give the best result.
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6. Should the municipality fund an arts centre?
Answer: Yes. Langley is very fortunate to have many excellent sporting venues and sports is a vital part of the healthy living we enjoy here in Langley, but the arts is also a very important part or could be a very important part of the makeup of Langley as well. We must nourish our mind and soul as well as our body. Partnerships with other layers of government through grants, fund raising through the community may be ways to lower the burden on the taxpayers.
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7. Would you vote to raise taxes to hire more police?
Answer: Yes. Safety is of paramount concern to me. I would not vote yes without a very good case or plan put out from the RCMP for the need and where it is being used. With a good plan in place, I would support this.
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8. Does Langley need a new or second hospital to serve the growing population?
Answer: Yes. Langley is one of the fastest growing municipalities in the region. We are getting a brand-new emergency ward, and I would say that an addition or enlargement of the existing footprint, would be more likely. But the bottom line is we need more health care services in our region.
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9. Does Willoughby need its own dedicated library?
Answer: Don’t’ know. Willoughby has and is growing at a very fast pace. We have a library at the Township Hall at the foot of Willoughby and I do not know to what capacity it is being used. Libraries functions are changing and becoming a centre of community activity and learning. With the pace of growth, it probably will have to come.
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10. Is there enough effort being made to preserve farmland?
Answer: Yes. With the designation by the ALC of the farmland in our community, I think it is very well defined what is and is not farmland. Is the farmland all being used to its best use – not. The price of land has made farming, especially small lot farming very difficult. I think it is our duty to promote and support agriculture and to encourage more and better use of the land set aside. There will always be pressure to take land out, especially when it is not being actively used for agriculture, but we must stand up for agriculture.
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11. Should Langley allow construction of residential towers?
Answer: Yes. Housing choices for all our citizens, and affordable choices is one of the biggest challenges of our times. Allowing towers in areas close to transit and the commercial areas of our municipality gives our young people a choice of housing they can afford as well as our seniors who are downsizing, and would like to be in a walkable community and close to transit.
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12. Should Langley have its own municipal police force, replacing the RCMP?
Answer: No. I think we have a very good relationship with our RCMP. The services we count on are being done, we have access through the regional aspect of the RCMP to the specialty services such as IHIT and others to a wide range of services we could not afford as a municipal police force, in my opinion. I think the communication system with the RCMP throughout the region and the sharing of information is to our benefit.
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13. Do you think residential property taxes are too high?
Answer: Yes. The quick answer is yes. The value of our properties, me included have gone up significantly in the last few years. This is only one aspect of the taxes. Langley is growing and the demand for services, infrastructure, fire and police protection is also increasing. What the question should be is - Are we getting value for our taxes and if so, then they are doing their job.
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14. Do you support the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline?
Answer: Yes. I know this is a controversial topic, but our use of oil is still great, and the transportation of this product then must come by rail or truck and I believe this has far more chance of an ecological mishap than the pipeline. Protection of our waterways is still top of mind and plans must be in place to protect or ecology and environment. Thousands of jobs are hanging in the balance and the life blood of many communities are counting on this pipeline.
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15. Should the municipality offer tax breaks, incentives, or rebates to companies looking to set up shop here?
Answer: No. As a rule, I would say no. I think Langley is a desirable area and can attract good businesses with good paying jobs to our community. Is there, in the future, a chance that this might happen – maybe. If the opportunity was so great for the jobs being secured, I might give it a second look but not promises.
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16. Is Langley being pushed to grow too fast?
Answer: Don’t know. The whole of the Fraser Valley and especially Metro Vancouver is expecting to grow significantly over the next 10 years. The price of housing and the demands for more affordable housing by the public is the most important demand being asked by the public. Langley is still more affordable than closer to Vancouver, but we also have young people and seniors looking for housing choices. I think we must do our part in supplying this demand. So, is it too fast or is it the right pace?
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17. Do you support redevelopment of Fort Langley’s downtown?
Answer: No. This is a hard question as there is a need and is already happening with change in the Fort. I like the eclectic mix of buildings and I like the quaint and heritage nature of the village. There is a need for redevelopment of some areas but the feeling of the quaint village we all love. Wholesale redevelopment is not what I want to see.
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18. Should development of Brookswood be phased in?
Answer: Yes. This will be done naturally as the neighborhood hood plans are developed. The community plan has been approved but that is the overview of the area and now neighborhood plans need to be developed in conjunction with the community. This then will only happen as the plans are developed.
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19. Should the Township set a deadline to finish widening 208th Street in Willoughby?
Answer: No. This is being done as the development along that stretch of road is complete. Doing it advance of the development would mean that the Township would have to pay for the widening in advance, monies out of our pockets. The development pays for the road as it progresses. I know it is inconvenient but feel this is a better approach for all the residents in the Township. There has been improvement such as the twinning of the 208 St overpass and 80th Avenue connector.
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20. Should there be a limit to the number of consecutive terms a member of council can serve?
Answer: Yes. I feel change and renewal is a good thing. I am not saying what the number of terms is appropriate but going on forever is not healthy as well. This is a discussion that can be discussed at the Union of BC Municipalities convention as a policy to be discussed.