LangleyAdvance Your community newspaper since 1931
Tuesday, November 4, 2014 Breaking news, sports, and entertainment: www.langleyadvance.com
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Audited circulation: 40,026 – 32 pages
In service to others Sgt. Henry Hwang of the 2277 Army Cadets and several others were in front of Real Canadian Superstore Nov. 1 collecting donations and giving out poppies. The Royal Canadian Legions in Langley and Aldergrove rely on poppy sales to support veterans.
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Election
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Seniors want to boost votes
Which municipality can raise voter turnout the most, the City or Township? by Matthew Claxton
mclaxton@langleyadvance.com
A group of Langley seniors advocates are challenging local voters to hit the polls this Nov. 15 and increase turnout above the recent very low levels. In 2011, turnout for a highly contentious Langley Township election was 25.9 per cent. In the City, it was just 20.9 per cent. With the first four-year terms coming up for local leaders, this is an important election, said Marilyn Fischer of Triple A Senior Housing. Triple A is a coalition of local volunteer and advocacy groups that spends much of its time campaigning for affordable, accessible, and appropriate housing for seniors. Fischer pointed to a number of local challenges, most notably in Squamish, where council candidate Peter Kent, a stuntman, has vowed to set himself on fire (non-fatally) if voter turnout tops 2011’s 40 per cent. Triple A isn’t going to volunteer anyone to do a dangerous stunt, but they are encouraging a little rivalry between City and Township, to see which can increase their voter turnout the most. There are no prizes, but Fischer encouraged others to offer incentives to help out with the friendly contest.
Local election
Development stoking Unelection’s efforts An opposition group seeking change on council is hosting a forum for Township candidates. by Matthew Claxton mclaxton@langleyadvance.com
www.stampede.ca
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Despite the imposing name of Unelection Langley, a local organization is hoping to attract all of the Township mayoral and council candidates to its debate this Friday. Unelection Langley was founded earlier this year by a group of residents upset at a number of the decisions of the current council. “Obviously, there’s a lot of people out there feeling that they’re not being heard,” said Andy Schildhorn, the spokesperson for the group. Over the summer, Unelection posted a “report card” of the current council, giving five incumbents a grade of F, two more Cgrades, and two Bs. It is considering endorsing a list of candidates,
said Schildhorn. hood, said Schildhorn. The group’s issues are a colIn addition to prepared queslection of the controversies that tions, the meeting will have an have hit the Township over opportunity for questions from the past three years, includthe floor, said Schildhorn. ing the Brookswood Official The Unelection group is a relaCommunity Plan process, growth tively new concept in Langley in Willoughby, land sales in Glen Township politics. Valley, the Wall development, In the past, when there was and the Coulter Berry building in anger at an incumbent group of Fort Langley. councillors, most efforts have Despite being highly critical focused on building a slate to run of the majority of the council against them. and many of their decisions, Most such efforts have failed. Schildhorn said he In the late 1990s, hopes to see most then-mayor John “Obviously, there’s a of them at the all Scholtens and his candidates meetlot of people out there Langley Leadership ing. group confeeling that they’re not Team “Our moderator, trolled four of the being heard.” it’s going to be then-seven council his forum,” said seats. The Langley Andy Schildhorn Schildhorn. Citizens Coalition The moderwas formed to ator will be Peter Holt, a former oppose and run against Scholtens Surrey Board of Trade CEO and in the 1999 election. moderator of sustainability diaThe vote left most members of logues for Metro Vancouver. both slates out in the cold, with With the meeting to be held in the independent Kurt Alberts the George Preston Recreation winning the mayor’s chair. Centre in Brookswood, there will The next major attempt to form be questions about the future of a slate was undertaken by thendevelopment in that neighbourmayor Rick Green in 2011. After
a term of feuding with the incumbents on his council, he tried to bring in a team of seven candidates. All of them lost. Schildhorn was an early member of Live Langley, the only slate running in this election, with just two members. He left the group as he was spending too much time on other issues. While he said Live Langley has carried on under candidates Clint Lee and Kerri Ross, Schildhorn acknowledges that some past attempts at slates “just left a really bad feeling with the general population.” Instead of a large slate, opponents of the direction of Township council have linked up, through meeting in person and through social media, said Schildhorn. “I feel that momentum is growing,” he said. He won’t know if it’s enough to change the composition of the council until election day. “Is the message getting out?” he said. The all-candidates meeting is at the George Preston Recreation Centre, 20699 42nd Ave., from 79 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7.