Grover Telford
RUNNING AS AN INDEPENDENT
Self-employed, age 70
Kanaka resident who’s lived in Maple Ridge 34 years
I am a long-time resident of Maple Ridge for 34 years. It has been a privilege to raise two families.
My first wife passed away in 2002.
My present wife, Barbara, has two sons, Alex and James.
It has been my opportunity to be involved in local politics for many years, as well as youth soccer and football, in which I was a youth coach. It was amazing impacting their young lives with my knowledge and love of sports.
My ambition to run for a council seat is based upon the love of my city and the people who live here.
Maple Ridge needs a change and I want to be part of that change.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/grover.telford
Instagram: @telfordcouncil2022
Phone: 604-808-5461
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Have you held office in past? If so, please specify: No.
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CLICK TO CHECK OUT OUR FULL ELECTION GUIDE ONLINE
Questions:
(These answers are presented as the candidates submitted them)
1. Does the City have a handle on the problems created by homelessness?
No. We need more subsidized housing for people on fixed incomes who are at risk of homelessness including many of our seniors. I will work with the Provincial Government to ensure we do everything we can do to accomplish this.
2. Do you believe residents of the City feel safe?
No. Property crime is the problem. It does depend on the area. The downtown core is the worst area due to the drug and opioid crisis. We need to increase police bicycle patrols and CSO officers. Homeless and drug issues would be my fist property. I would collaborate with the Provincial Government to find workable solutions.
3. Do you support the City borrowing funds to build a new aquatic centre?
No. Not at this time. We do not need to go into more debt and increased taxes as a result. Let’s get our house in order first by attracting more commercial and retail businesses.
4. Are you in favour of development along the Alouette River?
No. There are many other areas available for development. If we destroy sensitive rivers, stream and fish habitats there is no going back. We need to protect the integrity of these areas for future generations.
5. Can City hall do more to attract new businesses to open in Maple Ridge?
Yes. I believe that attractive tax benefits would stimulate new business starts. Bylaws must be encouraged to remove unnecessary rules. Also concentrating efforts in areas like Albion Flats and removing it from the ALR for developments would attract Big Box stores similar to other communities that our citizens drive to do their shopping.
6. Should the City borrow funds to build a new arena facility?
No. Not at this time, we need to get our financial house in order first.
7. Should Maple Ridge take more direct action to combat the local opioid crisis?
Yes. This is a public health crisis. Drug users shouldn’t be treated as criminals. Meet them where they’re at without judgment so we can help them gain access to treatment. Drug use is a public health crisis and not a criminal issue. Ten thousand people have died from drug overdoses since 2016. The face of drug use is people that look just like all of us. It has touched thousands and thousands of families in B.C.
8. Is the City taking adequate measures to lower carbon emissions?
No. Increased shopping, options and more employment opportunities would reduce the traffic in and out of the City. It is time to open up the Albion Flats to a major development in terms of retail, commercial and industrial expansion. Along with infrastructure upgrades and improved safe cycling routes. Carbon emissions would be reduced substantially with less driving in and out of Maple Ridge and staying local.
9. Are tax levels too high in the City?
Yes. The fact that development applications are not dealt with in an expeditious manner, this contributes to developer’s costs. The City offsets this by not charging adequate development cost charges and community amendment charges, this is then passed onto the taxpayers resulting in higher taxes. Furthermore Maple Ridge has a low percentage of retail and commercial development that pays higher taxes that would ease the pressure on residential taxpayers.
10. Should the City commit to making a decision on proposed new developments within 12 months or less?
Yes.
If this is not possible with the current staff, then the city should either need to hire more staff or explain why developers don’t want to business in Maple Ridge.
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EDITOR’S NOTE:
How the questions were presented to each candidate
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows news readers have 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 Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows make their choices on election day, The News 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 News 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.mapleridgenews.com.
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Have a story tip? Email: editor@mapleridgenews.com
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