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Brad Dinwoodie: Dedicated volunteer

#PMvotes2018: Priorities are transportation, arts and culture
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Brad Dinwoodie, council.

Occupation:

Professional artist/business owner

Political experience/qualifications for running in this election:

I have been an active volunteer in Pitt Meadows for over 18 years, and have routinely attended council meetings for three years. I currently sit on the municipal advisory committee for accessibility and inclusiveness, Malcolm Knapp Research Council for the UBC Research Forest, Citizens for Open Government Committee and have attended the transportation round-table discussions.

Reason for running:

I am a community volunteer and I will continue to volunteer whether I am elected or not. The city has been a wonderful place for my family to live and grow in. We love Pitt Meadows and I need to give back in a different way. The city is changing and I feel that I have the energy and desire to help move us forward into an exciting future. We have much to offer and I want to be part of shaping Pitt Meadows for the next four years. I hope you will honour me with your vote. You won’t be disappointed.

What do you consider to be the top two issues this election and how would you Address them?

Transportation has and will continue to be our most important challenge. In the next 20-25 years, the population of Metro Vancouver will increase by another one million people. How we move them and the goods they need around our region will increasingly challenge our leaders and define our quality of life.

No longer is each city separate from the others. We rely on our neighbours in Metro to offer collaborative ideas to enable us to build a seamless transportation system that includes roads, buses and rapid transit.

In Pitt Meadows, we must continue to build on our regional transportation plan and continue to push TransLink for our share of local buses and B-line stops in Pitt Meadows.

In addition, efficient transportation has both environmental and social benefits. We must reduce our carbon footprint and enable our residents to spend more time with our families and less time in traffic.

Arts and culture help create a healthy community. We are blessed with many artists, musicians and actors both young and old. Let’s give them a “stage” to show us and others what they can do.

Consider themes such as the murals in Chemainus, chainsaw carvings in Chetwynd and Bard on the Beach in Vancouver. We already use Spirit Square to showcase Shakespeare plays, big band music and put on swing dances in Osprey. Let’s build on that.

The arts need not be expensive and can pay impressive returns. We should also partner with the development community to help pay for street art installations or become sponsors of performing arts in Pitt Meadows.

Since Pitt Meadows separated from the joint service agreement with Maple Ridge, our arts and culture and parks and recreation departments have flourished. I have heard it was suggested that the new Pitt Meadows council should share services with Maple Ridge again. Maple Ridge is proposing $49.5 million to complete improvements to swimming pools, building two all-weather sports fields, an Albion community centre, a new ice rink, two small parks in Silver Valley, renovating Hammond Community Centre.

Under shared services, are we going to pay 20 per cent of the operating costs for all these projects. We need to keep our services here with a made-in-Pitt-Meadows model.



Neil Corbett

About the Author: Neil Corbett

I have been a journalist for more than 30 years, the past decade with the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News.
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