Skip to content

There’s a new council in Mission. Now what?

Voter turnout was a measly 22 per cent
30726783_web1_221021-MCR-council-wrap-election_1

Incumbents ruled the day in the Mission election Saturday night, with only one new face added to council.

Now that that the votes have all been counted, what happens next?

The Record interviewed re-elected Mayor Paul Horn – who won in a landslide with 65.7 per cent of the vote - and several councillors about what they envision in the next few months for council.

First, the results.

Jag Gill, who topped the polls for councillors in 2018, repeated his dominance, beating the nearest candidate by about 2,000 votes.

“When I first ran in 2018, I was just a kid from Mission looking to do something for the community,” Gill told the Record. “Four years later, I have more experience and we have a lot still to do. I’m still so grateful to have the support of voters.”

Here are the final results:

• Incumbent Jag Gill: 4945

• Incumbent Ken Herar: 2959

• Incumbent Carol Hamilton: 2899

• Incumbent Mark Davies: 2889

• Incumbent Danny Plecas:2839

• Angel Elias: 2762

Just missing out was Candace Koch with 2408 votes.

RELATED: You can read more about Angel Elias and her thoughts on being the “new kid on the block on council” in this story.

According to Horn, voter turnout was about 22 per cent. In 2018, according to the site Civic Info, the Mission voter turnout was 31.7 per cent, well below the average of 35.6 per cent. Mission has just over 30,000 eligible voters out of more than 41,000 residents.

But voter turnout was down across B.C., with Burnaby logging just 19.76 per cent.

Horn says he hopes the next four years will show voters that council is headed in the right direction.

The Record asked Horn what he envisioned for the next 100 days.

“Council will begin with strategic planning, and I expect to see some core issues included, such as police and fire, review of our Official Community Plan, and getting traction on our Environmental Charter and Affordable Housing,” Horn said. “Our first housing project will be built soon and our budget will be tackled. That will be challenging given inflation, but people are struggling so we have to keep it reasonable.”

As for long-term he issues he’d like to see take major leaps, Horn focused on jobs.

“People need to spend more time here at home, so more local jobs is priority number one for me,” he said. “That means creating more employment lands and economic stimulus. We need to make headway on our civic facilities and infrastructure. I don’t want to see growth leading to wait lists or more traffic issues. There is a ton of work to do.”

Horn also wants to restore some public confidence in government.

“It’s clear that some people are very angry and distrustful of government,” he said. “Rather than being defensive about it, we need to find better ways of connecting with busy people. If we can do it during a campaign, we should be able to do it the rest of the time too.”

Coun. Danny Plecas said he’s excited to get working on the strategic plan and the waterfront plan.

“Secondly, we need to redesign and implement a new transit system in Mission,” Plecas said. “Thirdly, we need to introduce neighbourhood planning in the established urban core of Mission. There is great deal of pressure in developing in older neighbourhoods and we have yet to have appropriate plans in place to build out these residential neighbourhoods. Fourth, we need to invest in public safety.”

Coun. Ken Herar says one of the first issues to be dealt with will be next year’s taxation rate.

“We should be mindful of the fact that fuel prices, inflation and the overall cost of living has considerably increased in general,” Herar said. “We should be considerate of these factors in deliberating in our approach. I’d also like to see community engagement, early in this term, made a priority in establishing the trust our electorates have bestowed in us. I also hope, moving forward, that all council members, and difference of opinions, are extended the courtesy of equal respecting one another as peers.”

Herar also wants to see council push hard for a new Mission high school.

“We should also have a look at expanding our recreational facilities and options, looking at creating an additional dog park for our residents in north Mission and enhancing our existing dog park,” he said.

Herar had some additional thoughts on what he saw during the campaign.

“I was surprised at how candidate sign placement disturbs the landscape and aesthetic of our community,” he said. “For future elections, it is my personal belief that we should be instilling a sign bylaw, which limits and isolates placement on public, city and common space. There should also be distance guideline from sign to sign which would discourage a cluttered appearance. Another issue brought to my attention is our lack of proper recycling, possibly larger compost style bins and garbage receptacles at high traffic and fast food style restaurants. Moving forward, we should look at a possible bylaw which would facilitate our community having a more environmentally friendly mandate and tidy appearance in cooperation with our local business owners. We should explore other successful communities which have set a standard in enforcing proper placement for volume and practices.”


@shinebox44
chris.campbell@missioncityrecord.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.



Chris Campbell

About the Author: Chris Campbell

I joined the Victoria News hub as an editor in 2023, bringing with me over 30 years of experience from community newspapers in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley
Read more