Steve McLay has announced that he is planning to run for a seat on Mission City Council during the October municipal election.
In a press release, sent to the Mission Record, McLay said he grew up in Langley and has been involved in volunteering to improve my community from an early age.
He became a firefighter in 2004, and has been a career firefighter for 13 years. McLay is also a director of a charitable society, for the past six years, and has organized multiple community events and fundraising initiatives.
“ Since moving to Mission, I have been actively involved with MATH (Mission All Together for Healthcare) to raise the much needed funds for the Mission Memorial Hospital CT Scanner,” said McLay.
“I am someone that believes in serving my community to the best of my abilities, and I have the track record to show it. As those that know me, I love to meet new people and hear their stories, concerns and how we can address them together.”
McLay believes there is a need to focus on the long term future of Mission, not just the next four years. He said the community is rapidly growing and with smart planning, can keep its small town feel.
“Let’s work with our developers to include more mixed use properties so we can have walkable communities. So let’s have new apartment developments include commercial units on the bottom and add more parks. This would be great to have near our downtown and in Cedar Valley.”
He also said a basic building permit shouldn’t take a year or more.
“Let’s work on getting these down to a reasonable time by hiring more staff to help streamline the process.”
McLay stressed a need to work together to solve infrastructure issues.
“We are still waiting for a new fire hall in Cedar Valley. Finding the land has proven difficult, but with our growing city, homeless population and the rampant drug overdoses is taxing our only staffed fire truck. Let’s work with the fire chief and staff another truck out of Hall 1 until Hall 4 is built.”
On Saturday, May 21, McLay is holding a meet and greet at HUBco Brewing (33211 N. Railway Ave.) from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
“I would love to meet with you, hear your concerns with issues that’s facing our community, and my thoughts on how we can address those,” he wrote on Facebook.
Those unable to attend but still want to meet or speak to McLay can email him at mclayformission@gmail.com.