City Hall is working for you. Community First believes municipal government has a responsibility to create a city that is active, welcoming, and connected. This means investing in the local community-based organizations that activate our public spaces, it means supporting our local businesses to thrive, and it means taking leadership in designing services and opportunities that bring people together.
It also means ensuring we are using our shared resources effectively and responsibly, investing in high quality and responsive emergency services, and incorporating your feedback and ideas every step of the way.
Community Care and Safety
We know that Emergency Services are only part of what makes a city safe, but it’s an important investment we have, and will continue to, prioritize.
Actions:
- Complete the hiring of 3 new bylaw staff.
- Grow the Enhanced Foot Patrol Initiative in policing across New Westminster, with a focus on expanding to Uptown and other neighborhoods.
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Develop a proactive plan to address the impacts of homelessness, including ensuring public spaces are safe, welcoming, and clean for everyone, using lessons learned from the crisis response pilot project.
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Move forward with a new Downtown Fire Hall to replace Hall #2.
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Raise minimum staffing standards from 16 for the fire department to meet community safety needs.
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Include consideration of a satellite fire station as part of 22nd Street development plans.
- Work with community serving organizations across the city to assure emergency response programs and preparedness supports all residences.
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Increase the community policing presence in Queensborough and work with the police board to explore enhanced service delivery options.
- Recommend to the province the development of a Foundry Youth Mental Health Centre in New Westminster.
Improving Community Conversations
Community engagement and communication can always be improved and we are committed to finding new and creative ways to reach out and hear from residents.
Actions:
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Make improvements to Be Heard New West based on public feedback.
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Hire a communications specialist to improve information-sharing about capital projects.
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Continue to support the Community Advisory assembly model as a tool for representative dialogue and participatory democracy.
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Continue supporting dialogue and community healing initiatives that strengthen trust and inclusion.
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Establish an advisory group of adults 55+ to implement expanded programming for seniors at Century House and throughout the city.
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Audit city-owned properties for accessibility barriers and initiate improvements to exceed standards set out by the province in the Accessible BC Act.
- Mandate regular training for city staff on accessibility to improve service to residents.
Optimizing our Electrical Utility
As a city with our own Electrical Utility, we are uniquely positioned to take advantage of this resource and make the energy transition work for the entire community.
Actions:
- Move to universal water metering to address future droughts and more fairly allocate water resources.
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Commit to aligning residential rates and rate structures with BC Hydro as new Advanced Meter technology allows.
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Continue to partner with BC Hydro on long-term grid upgrade projects to support electrification of buildings and transportation.
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Work with the Province to establish the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing model so homeowners can finance energy upgrades through their power bill.
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Continue to support Energy Save New West and investments in retrofitting across the city with an increased emphasis on multi-family and rental housing.
- Find innovative ways to add more residential solar and energy storage to our grid.