Name: John Clancy
Age: 37
Occupation: owner, Blackwater Consulting Services
Facebook page: John-Clancy-4-Pitt-Meadows-City-Council
Q1. What have you personally achieved, or what initiative have you personally led in recent years that qualifies you to be elected or re-elected as a Maple Ridge councillor?
1. The demands of owning and operating a small business and also being a stay-at-home dad for three young daughters has limited the time I have spent developing new initiatives in Pitt Meadows. Annually, I have organized a neighbourhood potluck Mother’s Day event and I am currently coaching my fifth soccer team with our local soccer club. However, I believe the greatest qualification for someone seeking an elected office is more deeply rooted in that individual’s principles. The desire to make a positive contribution to one’s hometown, serve honestly and openly to strengthen our citizens’ trust and respect and to use one’s abilities effectively in their efforts to safeguard the future well-being of our community – these attributes I will continue to hold above any initiative or achievement as councillor.
Q2. How would you act on your top priorities as Pitt Meadows councillor?
2. My top priority is reigning in the incredible property tax increases we have witnessed over the past three years. Mine increased nearly 30 per cent. Our city’s financial navigation has been taken off course and I want to bring it back onto a sustainable path. As Councillor, one of my first tasks will be the introduction of a taxpayer protection bylaw that would penalize the mayor and councillors with a 15 per cent cut in pay if we raised your property taxes above the regional rate of inflation.
Q3. What is your position on the construction of the North Lougheed Connector and what kind of development should it serve?
3. I am in support of the North Lougheed Connector and I think the final developed project will make a key contribution in shaping what our city’s future will look like. Agricultural reserve land make up 86 per cent of Pitt Meadows, and this project represents the last major one-of-its-kind in the city for many years to come. That is why it is so critical that the city’s leadership get this one right. My support is behind concept C of the land-use study, but I propose we go a step further and look at an anchor for this development that would make it a destination for the entire Lower Mainland, not just Pitt Meadows. I propose that a casino be the anchor for this development, as one could help fund projects such as an indoor swimming pool and tennis courts, enhanced cycling routes and additional turf fields.