IN THE MAPLE RIDGE COUNCILLOR’S RACE: Lou Jose

Lou Jose

RUNNING AS AN INDEPENDENT

Sales/marketing manager, age 62

West Maple Ridge resident who’s lived here 50+ years

I have spent most of my life in Maple Ridge, raising a family, coaching, and volunteering at schools and events.

I am running for council, for “one term,” to protect our last remaining commercial zones from being turned into housing.

Working with government and some of the largest companies on the planet for the last 20+ years I have the experience we have lacked on council to attract new companies to bring new revenue, new medical services, and jobs to our city.

We need to attract qualified candidates to run for council, which is why I want to move council sessions to evening hours to allow full-time workers and business owners the opportunity to participate in the next election.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085433716454

Twitter: @loujosesr

Website: www.newMapleRidge.com

Phone: 604-998-8556

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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?

Yes.

2. Do you believe residents of the City feel safe?

Yes.

3. Do you support the City borrowing funds to build a new aquatic centre?

Yes.

4. Are you in favour of development along the Alouette River?

No.

5. Can City hall do more to attract new businesses to open in Maple Ridge?

Yes.

Maple Ridge continues to elect great folks with ideas on how to help the homeless, fight global warming, and build housing for the world.

Unfortunately, few, if any have any experience working with big companies or understanding what they need to be profitable.

While Maple Ridge focused on social issues and approving housing on properties that should have been turned into prime commercial sites, our neighbouring cities have been putting aside commercial zones and attracting large companies to bring jobs to their community, enrich their commercial tax base, and increase city tax revenue to build facilities and offer services we could only dream of.

The issue continues to this day, as the current Maple Ridge council rezones prime commercial property around the city for high-density housing with small ground floor commercial space, which is only usable for small businesses.

6. Should the City borrow funds to build a new arena facility?

Yes.

7. Should Maple Ridge take more direct action to combat the local opioid crisis?

Don’t know.

8. Is the City taking adequate measures to lower carbon emissions?

Don’t know.

9. Are tax levels too high in the City?

Yes.

80% of Maple Ridge’s property tax revenue is from Residents which is close to 20% higher than most cities of our size.

Commercial property owners pay close to 3x the taxes of residential owners and use a fraction of the city services as they do not send children to school, use parks, pools, or other city amenities.

Cities with a low commercial tax base like Maple Ridge are forced to pass on higher residential taxes to all property owners who then pass the taxes onto their renters or tenants.

Maple Ridge has a long history of electing Councilors with ideas on how to help the homeless, fight global warming and build housing. Instead of putting Costco and Home Depot on the Lougheed Hwy at 240th street, they built housing. Instead of approving new medical, office or government buildings on Dewdney they re-zoned commercial property to build housing.

The issue continues to this day as the current Maple Ridge council rezones prime commercial property around the city core for hi-density housing with small ground floor commercial space which is only useable for small businesses.

10. Should the City commit to making a decision on proposed new developments within 12 months or less?

Yes.

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

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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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