A Maple Ridge chiropractor has stepped forward to put his name into the race for seat on council, Nov. 19.
Robert Masse says he’s got the time, energy and business experience for the job.
Masse says that growth of Maple Ridge’s suburbs has not been matched by growth in the retail and business sectors. “As our population has grown, we have become more and more a bedroom community of Vancouver with most people having to commute each day to find jobs that allow them to afford home ownership in Maple Ridge.
“I would like to see our city hall foster an environment conducive to the creation of higher paying jobs in the technical and light industrial sectors,” he said in a news release.
In the same vein, Masse says thousands of people leave Maple Ridge every day because there is not enough shopping.
That has a higher environmental impact than developing shopping closer to home, he points out.
“If we provide a combination of more good jobs, through encouraging business growth and we provide the type of shopping people are leaving Maple Ridge for, we will build a more livable, prosperous and environmentally responsible community.”
The reason Maple Ridge’s taxes are so high is because of a lack of commercial and industrial base, he adds.
The District of Maple Ridge also should reconsider its household garbage pickup system and hire a single contractor and provide the service like every other city in the Lower Mainland, he says. Presently three different companies do this, leading to more air pollution as well as people dumping garbage in ditches and rat infestations caused by people holding on to their garbage.
He pointed out that in Pitt Meadows people pay $235 a year for garbage pickup and recycling while he pays a total of $351 for garbage pickup and the district’s recycling charge.
Masse has lived in Maple Ridge since 1981 and has served on the Downtown Maple Ridge Business Improvement Association, Ducks Unlimited and the B.C. Chiropractic Association.
He was also race director for the Vistas Run from 2005 to 2009 which raised “significant funds” for the Ridge Meadows Hospice.