Coquitlam Snapshot

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Submitted by Anonymous on October 27, 2008 - 3:09pm.

One of the Lower Mainland’s fiercest fights for office is shaping up in Coquitlam, where city councillor and former Liberal MLA Richard Stewart will take on incumbent Maxine Wilson for the mayor’s job.

Stewart is painting the campaign as a battle about leadership in a community where capital projects have gone over budget and suffered from long delays.

He points to a Coquitlam pool that was budgeted to cost $13.8 million, but ended up 18 months behind schedule with a $20-million price tag.

With $200 million worth of capital projects in the works, Stewart says the government needs to make surecity hall is structured to handle them in a cost-effective way.

“The public does not have the confidence that the next project will not go over budget,” he said.“We have to be responsible to the taxpayer to make sure we are spending their money wisely.”

But Wilson says public transit expansion, sustainable growth and immigration integration are key issues in a community where 40 per cent of residents are recentnewcomers, 14 towers are under construction and the population continues to grow.

The ever-pending new rapid transit route, the Evergreen Line, which will connect to Douglas Collegethrough Coquitlam Centre, is a major breakthrough for the city.

“There will be growth and it will be sustainable – and that is why everybody saw the need to get the SkyTrain here,” she said.

She says the city is focused onfighting homelessness, creating affordable housing, preserving the Coquitlam River and building a sustainable financial plan.

On Nov. 15, residents in the City of Coquitlam will vote to elect a mayor, eight councillors and four school trustees.