IN THE PITT MEADOWS COUNCILLOR RACE: Alison Evans

Alison Evans

911 dispatcher, age 41

Pitt Meadows resident for 14 years

I’m a mom, wife, athlete, coach, and volunteer.

I have lived in Pitt Meadows for 14 years with my husband, Chad, my two teenage sons, and our two Boston terriers.

I hold a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology, and certificate in public relations. I have completed the University of Alberta Indigenous Canada course, as well as numerous emergency management courses through the Justice Institute of BC.

I have worked as a 911 dispatcher for over 15 years.

I coach the Pitt Meadows Secondary senior boys volleyball team, and volunteer on the city’s active transportation and economic development advisory committees.

I want to make Pitt Meadows safer, maintain our livable city, and grow our local economy.

Most importantly, I love Pitt Meadows.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AlisonEvans2022

Instagram: @AlisonEvans2022

Twitter: @AlisonEvans2022

Website: AlisonEvans2022.com

Phone: 604-813-5116

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Have you held office in past? If so, please specify: No.

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Questions:

(These answers are presented as the candidates submitted them)

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1. Should the City switch from a volunteer-based (paid-on-call) fire department to a full-time model?

Yes. Public safety should be the city’s highest priority.

Our city has grown and developed, however development does not work if we cannot provide emergency services to the community.

Compared to other cities with similar populations, we are now far behind with the number of career firefighters needed.

After 6 p.m. in Pitt Meadows, we do not have a staffed fire service.

With the extended response times due to relying on paid-on-call firefighters, mixed with long delays from the BC Ambulance Service, we are no longer safe in our own city.

Additionally, we are unable to retain paid-on-call firefighters because they are offered jobs in other cities.

We are throwing away tax dollars spent training those firefighters who leave to work in another city.

For the safety of our residents, our firefighters, and our properties, we must increase our fire services and I will advocate for a move to a full-time fire department.

While we cannot accomplish this overnight, we need a multi-year plan to get our fire department staffed to appropriate levels.

2. Should Pitt Meadows take more direct action to combat the local opioid crisis?

Yes. As a small city nestled between two large cities, we have inherited some big city problems. Our whole province is currently experiencing a public health emergency with the number of opioid deaths climbing to 4 people a day in BC. Pitt Meadows does not escape these stresses to our health care and emergency services by the increase in overdoses.

Our city is underserved by provincial harm-reductions services and we need to be calling on the provincial government to advance prevention, improve BC Ambulance Service, and streamline connecting people to substance use treatment and recovery services.

3. Do you support the construction of the Harris Road underpass?

Yes. While the Harris Road underpass will create traffic and commuting inconveniences for the short term, the long term benefit of the underpass will greatly benefit the community.

Having seen the underpass design through the City’s Active Transportation Advisory Committee, the design of the underpass will accommodate vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists in order to make it easier and more effective to navigate our city.

The City staff have worked hard on the Environmental Effects Evaluation reports in order to aid the complicated negotiations regarding mitigation for the surrounding homes and businesses. I’m confident that as negotiations progress, proper mitigation can be designed for the surrounding citizens.

4. Should the City set targets for the creation of more low-income and seniors rental spaces, social housing units, and/or co-op development to improve home security?

Yes. By working with Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation on the Non-Market Housing and Child Care Project, Pitt Meadows has taken a great step towards offering more affordable housing in our city. This thoughtfully developed building will provide a facility for families, seniors and people with disabilities, all within walking distance to schools, recreation, shops and the library. Continuing to look for these opportunities helps our city offer affordable housing to more people and appropriate targets should be established.

5. Do you support the proposal for the new CP Rail logistics yard?

No.

I am 100% against the CP Logistics Yard being proposed in Pitt Meadows.

We do not have the public safety capacity for handling the potential for disaster in this community. Housing flammable goods, vehicles and fuel with a limited fire department response is dangerous and irresponsible of CP Rail.

Trucks on Kennedy Road at Lougheed will increase to 746 average daily truck trips. This increase in truck traffic will also result in more motor vehicle collisions for our fire department and RCMP units to attend.

It appears that CP aims to discourage active transportation instead of coming up with solutions to improve the dangers for active users in the area. I worry about the impact to cyclists and pedestrians crossing Kennedy Road at Ferry Slip Road in order to use the paved multi-use path that runs parallel to Lougheed Highway with so many trucks, and no traffic calming measures.

Lastly, the truck traffic increase from Kennedy Road onto Lougheed Highway, and vice versa, will create huge impacts for people traveling in and out of Pitt Meadows on Lougheed Highway.

Surely there is a better location for the proposed logistics park than in a small town with limited public safety capabilities.

6. Should the City be offering more tax breaks, rebates, and other incentives to entice new businesses to town?

No, I do not think Pitt Meadows should offer tax breaks to new businesses. Our city is growing and developing, we need a diversified tax base to help pay for the infrastructure and public services needed in the city in order to take the tax pressure off residents.

There are many ways we can support existing and new businesses in the city without giving tax breaks. A directory, both online and printed, could be create to increase awareness of the businesses operating in the city. It would benefit the businesses at a much lower cost to the city.

We can also increase the tourism exposure of Pitt Meadows in order to bring more visitors to our beautiful city. This would generate more revenue for the businesses in Pitt Meadows and not impact our tax base.

7. Do you think residential property taxes are too high in Pitt Meadows?

No. In 2021, Pitt Meadows had below average property taxes when compared to other cities in the Metro Vancouver area. In fact, there is only one city with lower residential taxes than Pitt Meadows.

Unfortunately, some previous councils committed to a zero tax increase policy, limiting our ability to pay for much needed infrastructure, recreation and public safety. So instead of smaller increases that are easy to adjust to, we are left trying to catch up, creating larger increases to keep our city liveable, safe and functional.

A balanced and diverse tax base will help prevent any large jumps to residential taxes. We must also continue to call on our provincial government for legislation of fair taxation of rail operations and industrial parks to ease the burden they place on city services.

8. Does Pitt Meadows need an indoor swimming pool?

No. Pitt Meadows does not “need” an indoor swimming pool. An indoor swimming pool would be a lovely addition to our community, however it comes with a hefty price tag and an even larger operating budget.

In times of increased interest rates and inflation, committing our tax dollars to a “want”, not a “need”, seems fiscally irresponsible.

With proper studies, preparation and financial planning, I would love to see Pitt Meadows get an indoor pool in the future, but I do not think right now is the right time.

9. Do you support the City creating a separate RCMP detachment, exclusively serving Pitt Meadows?

Yes.

I do support the Pitt Meadows Autonomous RCMP Detachment. We are a unique community and having our own police force that can be tailored to our specific needs is important.

Our tax dollars were going to solving Maple Ridge problems, but now they can go into policing our city and our problems.

Currently our RCMP members must transport any prisoners to the main detachment for processing in Maple Ridge. This takes the officers out of Pitt Meadows. When we have a detachment in Pitt Meadows, our officers will remain in our city for their entire shift. I believe we will have much more effective and engaged police force because of this presence in the community.

We also now have our tax dollar going into a building owned by Pitt Meadows, as opposed paying for the upkeep and inevitable replacement of a building that Maple Ridge would own.

10. Should Pitt Meadows parks and nature areas be protected at the cost of future development opportunities?

Yes. Nature is such a vital part of Pitt Meadows. It’s in our city slogan: The Natural Place. We must prioritize the protection of parks and nature areas for the environment, our wellbeing and to keep this city liveable.

With increased climate change emergencies, now more than ever, an emphasis must be placed on protecting our natural spaces.

While we must grow and develop, but development must be thoughtful, well-planned and with a significant effort to preserve our beautiful, nature-filled city.

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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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