I want to make sure that Mission remains a place where my son can raise his family.
Mission is a wonderful community, surrounded by physical beauty and friendly neighbours. In the coming years, we'll need to address challenges and opportunities associated with growth. These will include housing and affordability, jobs, traffic and transit, public safety, environment and climate. With the right leadership, you will be empowered to have a say in how we address these things. I believe strongly in partnerships and teamwork. I don't subscribe to partisanship or angry politics because we need everyone working together if we are to succeed.
We need a strategic approach to local issues such as public safety (fire and police), employment, housing, transportation and utilities infrastructure. That's why I have worked hard (along with the current council) to develop realistic master plans that will guide us into the next decade. These include our Fire Master Plan, our Employment Lands Strategy, our Affordable Housing Strategy, and our Transportation and Utilities master plans. A great deal of the work in the next term will be the implementation of these key strategies.
In addition to implementing the above, we will need to continue or complete work that was begun in the last four years, including our Community Wellness Strategy, a review of our facilities needs, and a plan governing our parks and recreation amenities.
We also need to address efficiency issues helping people to deal with City Hall in a far more efficient and clear manner. Some of this will be a product of new enterprise software that will be implemented in 2023, but much of it will come through simplification of existing policies and opportunities for community input.
My aim is to make sure that the culture of our City Hall matches that of our community; we must all take care of one another. When we do so, we honour the tradition of those who've built our community, and we build a solid future for the next generation.