IN THE CITY’S COUNCIL RACE: Teri James

Teri James

DLBA executive director, age 58

Simonds area resident who’s lived in Langley 22 years

My family and I moved to Langley City in 2001, and I soon became the executive director of the Downtown Langley Business Association.

In 2005, I became the newest member of Langley City council.

Working downtown for 21 years, and serving four terms on City council since 2005, has provided me with a tremendous amount of insight regarding the needs and challenges facing Langley City.

I have a genuine understanding of the concerns around homelessness, affordable housing, responsible development, public safety, and the pressure these issues place on our infrastructure.

I bring to the table my passion for the community.

It is vital to me that we all keep this community vibrant and maintain the quality of life for everyone for years to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TeriJamesLangleyCityCouncil

Instagram: @terijameslangleycitycouncil

Phone: 604-626-3844

.

Have you held office in past? If so, please specify: first elected in 2005 and have served 4 terms on City Council

.

CLICK TO CHECK OUT OUR FULL ELECTION GUIDE ONLINE

Questions:

(These answers are presented as the candidates submitted them)

1. Should Langley City have its own, separate RCMP detachment?

No. The RCMP is the largest part of our annual budget, so I think a review needs to be done to accomplish two things. To explore if it makes fiscal sense to have our own RCMP detachment and to ensure that our citizens are getting the most value from this essential service.

2. Should the City create a performing arts venue within the next council term?

Yes. We have been talking about this for years and we have a shovel ready design and plan in place. It comes down to funding for both capital costs and the ongoing operation.

3. Does the City need more overpasses to reduce train-caused traffic delays?

Don’t know. This would have to be examined to weigh the costs versus the benefits of reducing traffic delays.

4. Should the City set targets for the creation of more low-income and seniors rental spaces, social housing units, and/or co-op development to improve home security?

Yes.

5. Are City taxes too high?

Yes. It was a difficult decision to raise the taxes this year, but a very large percentage of that was RCMP backpay which we had no control over. Council discussed this issue for months and because municipalities are required to have a balanced budget every year, the difficult decision to keep all services at an acceptable level had to be made.

6. Is the City’s population growing too fast?

Yes. This rapid increase means more development, and all development needs to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, to ensure everything is taken into consideration.

This includes parking challenges, overcrowding of schools, retention of green space, extensive neighbourhood consultations, identifying potential strain on our essential services/first responders, and impact on the infrastructure in the areas where the development is occurring.

7. Should the City institute pay parking in some downtown areas?

No. The City will soon be undertaking a Parking Strategy that will incorporate not only the downtown, but other areas of Langley City. This will help us determine the best course of action going forward. Meters won’t be popular, but they may be necessary with SkyTrain coming.

8. Will the arrival of SkyTrain change Langley City for the better?

Don’t know. It must be done properly, which needs to include something to attract visitors to our community (like a performing Arts Centre), so we are a desirable place to come to for a reason as opposed to being the end of the line. In addition, there needs to be a traffic/parking plan including multi-modal options to get people to and from the terminal, and I have been and will continue to advocate for an operational transit police station (manned 24/7) located within the terminal itself.

9. Can municipal staff and council do more to attract new green and high-tech businesses to open in Langley City?

Yes. We have incorporated an Innovation Boulevard Corridor on Glover Road between the downtown core and Kwantlen Polytechnic University in our Official Community Plan and this is exactly what we will be striving to accomplish in the coming years.

10. Does the City have a handle on the problems created by homelessness?

No. I don’t believe there is a community in Metro Vancouver that can honestly say they “have a handle” on this complicated issue. All levels of government and social service agencies funded by Fraser Health need to come to the table with wrap around services that deal with homelessness, addiction, mental health and those individuals who find themselves homeless due to no other reason than a lack of affordable housing.

.

CLICK ON OUR ELECTIONS 2022 TAB TO FIND A WIDE VARIETY OF RELEVANT STORIES

.

EDITOR’S NOTE:

How the questions were presented to each candidate

Langley Advance Times readers have repeatedly told us how much they value this important, straight-forward reference guide that helps orient them with the range of choices on the ballots – both at the council and school board levels.

Towards that end, we have attempted to make this package available (along with the following instructions) to each of the candidates in a timely fashion ahead of the Oct. 15 election.

Please read carefully before you start to fill this out.

To help voters in Langley make their choices on election day, the Langley Advance Times is asking local candidates 10 issue-based questions.

You must provide a ‘yes,’ a ‘no,’ or a ‘don’t know’ (Y, N, D) response to EACH of these questions.

Each question MUST be answered with yes (Y), no (N), or Don’t Know (D). This will be published in a grid in the Oct. 6 edition. Any questions not answered will be LEFT BLANK.

Candidates may also expand on ANY OR ALL of these questions (to a maximum of 200 words each). Please note any responses longer than that will be cut off at the 201-word mark.

Due to space limitations, we can only guarantee to run one of these answers in the Langley Advance Times print edition ahead of the election. You must CLEARLY indicate which expanded answer you want to see published in print. If you do not specify, we will choose. Any and all expanded answers provided will be published online at www.langleyadvancetimes.com.

.