 | Saturday, January 08, 2022
Reading this online? Sign up to get this delivered to your inbox every Friday. | | Jonathan Cote’s departure from Metro Van politics could have plenty of spillover effects | | |  | | | The mayor of a province’s 18th largest municipality announcing he won’t run for re-election usually isn’t big news.
But Jonathan Coté’s decision to not seek a third term leading New Westminster could create an enormous hole in several areas of governance in Metro Vancouver.
First, he’s the influential chair of the TransLink Mayors' Council, which oversees all TransLink policy. As such he has the delicate task of shepherding 21 municipalities, often with very different opinions on where transit funds should go, in the same direction.
Second, for those that believe municipalities are the place for innovative urban policy, New Westminster has been a model under Coté’s leadership, pushing forward on affordable housing and climate change policies in a way few cities in B.C. actually have. Every New West councillor has supported his tenure, and he personally won last election with 73 per cent of the vote.
In other words, Coté has been a powerful politician, but he’s departing with very little of the public criticism that most politicians with his level of power tend to accumulate.
Part of that is New Westminster is, as mentioned, a much smaller city — it makes it harder for its political debates to get sucked into the broader ideological battles on social media the same way that Vancouver and Victoria often do.
However, part of it is that Coté is seen as someone that works hard to create relationships with all politicians, who tries to achieve what is plausible given the people at the table, who avoids saying things that could alienate others.
Those sorts of political traits aren’t particularly in vogue at the moment, something he alluded to in an interview with the New Westminster Record.
“I think my kind of consensus leadership style is not really in style these days,” he said.
“You are either an ally or an enemy in a lot of politics these days. Unfortunately, that’s not the best environment for me to thrive. I think that’s been a challenge for me.”
Whether you agree with Coté's views on governing or not, it means there’s a period of uncertainty in New West politics for the first time in several years — and it could have spillover effects. | | |  | | | | | In past real estate booms in B.C., the increases in assessed property values were heavily concentrated in municipalities around Metro Vancouver, Greater Victoria or the Central Okanagan, but not this time.
“There's been just a huge influx of people moving to the community. And of course that's been driving up the real estate sales,” said Port Alberni Mayor Sharie Minions, whose town saw the typical assessed value go up 47 per cent in the last year.
It’s what’s been noticed in many communities since the pandemic began: an increase in people from big cities purchasing property in small towns. And these booms bring opportunities to towns — Minions talked about increased investment and construction jobs for people renovating their new properties — but they don’t bring extra money directly to municipalities. And there’s the real risk that renters and younger people in town become suddenly priced out from affording a place in their own hometown.
“It puts the emphasis on how important it is that we need different housing models even here locally in a small town,” said Mayco Noel, the mayor of Ucluelet, where the typical assessed value went from $494,000 to $705,000 in the last year.
For municipalities, it means creating more rental housing and density than a small town might be used to (particularly if, like Ucluelet, they’re constrained by geography). But Noel also said towns had to work to make sure new arrivals and longtime residents form a common bond.
“I wouldn’t say that they fit the typical Ucluetian bill,” said Noel.
“With all the disruptions and distractions going on and different people moving here for different reasons, we really need to make sure that that sense of community, and that small village feel is more protected than ever.” | | |  | | | 1. Pandemic layoffs | | | Most city councils have not started business yet in 2022, but that doesn’t mean municipalities haven’t been in the news. Primarily, it’s been about the pandemic and either having to cope with a huge number of sick employees or dealing with the ramifications of the deadline for employees needing to be vaccinated. One expects it will be an ongoing issue in many cities this month.
Read more in the North Shore News | | |  | | | 2. Surrey | Another ongoing issue in Surrey? Mayoral speculation. With Doug McCallum less appealing to some stakeholders given his criminal charge, others are being recruited to enter the municipal arena — including NDP MLA Harry Bains, who publicly declined a run on Friday. Dominos likely still to fall include fellow NDP MLA Jinny Sims and Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal.
Read more in the Surrey Now-Leader | | | |  | | | 3. Vancouver | | | | | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
forwarded to you. | | | | That's it for this week! In the meantime, check out the latest headlines at cbc.ca/bc and follow our municipal affairs reporter Justin McElroy on Twitter. And if you have any questions you might want answered in a future mailbag, drop Justin a line at metromatters@cbc.ca. | | | |
