The Richmond Sentinel sat down in June with Mayor Brodie to talk about his annual report. We filmed the interview which can be viewed on richmondsentinel.ca/videos and in print Volume 7, Issue 10. This interview contained so much valuable information we chose to re-publish a shorter version, highlighting the points raised. 

Community safety

Richmond is a pretty safe community, but if something happens to you personally, you don’t want to hear statistics how safe your city is. It’s important that we work together with every resident, every service provider, every day of the year to make sure everyone feels safe.

Addition of a city centre community police office

The station was finished during COVID-19 but only opened in the last year. The RCMP was originally based next to city hall until a decision was made to relocate the station to No. 5 Road near Steveston Hwy. The distance of relocating to the south part of the city created a challenge servicing YVR and was inconvenient for the public to visit the station for routine matters. This new additional location at the former court house at Granville and Gilbert was re-developed into an additional police station.

Additional police officers (16) and firefighters (27)

We committed a number of years ago that, within the next number of years we would increase a compliment of RCMP officers by 91 officers and we would increase a compliment of firefighters by 36 to keep up their response capability. Last year was the last part of that commitment to increase in person power, so now we have completed that commitment and can move forward into the future.

Fox 80 mental health car program

People without homes and the street incidents occurring, have increased in the last 20 years with a component involving mental health or substance abuse. Specifically trained RCMP officers will work with a social worker when there seems to be a component involving mental health and they will respond together through the Fox 80 program, which is proving to be very positive.

Development of infrastructure

One of the big projects is the Steveston community centre a $95 million project. In north Richmond at the Capstan Way, a new Canada Line station is being built, along with a new community centre that is being built which we hope will be completed by the end of 2023.

Arts, culture, festivals

Every year, we review how we can gain the interest of the residents of our city. The annal events like the Canada Day, the Salmon Festival, Maritime Festival, Doors Open and Culture Days are events the people of Richmond can once again enjoy.

Economic strategy

A good sign that things are coming back is that new business licenses are up 20 percent in 2022. The city has a new APP that allows people to go on line and renew a business license called “My Business”. We’re trying to develop better online and virtual ways to continue with the planning process. Coming out of the pandemic has been a matter of growth and re-energizing our businesses.

Importance of social media

In terms of communicating with people you want to use every tool that you have available. Social media is accepted by so many people in our community, so it’s an opportunity for us to communicate what’s going on in a positive sense.

Climate change

Foremost, on our list for analysis and impact is the environment. We have an overall plan to reduce greenhouse gases by 50 percent. One of the major things we did this past year, because we worked with a private company on the district energy, we have a commitment from Canada Infrastructure Bank for funds at a very favourable rate so that we have the ability to go forward into the future. Another area is the city’s fleet, half the vehicles we purchased were either full electric or hybrid electric so we can become more sustainable.

Childcare

If we want young families to live in our community, they have to have access to child care. As new buildings are developed and the city gets amenity space, very often it is used for child care. We added two child care centres this last year and we are about to open another one. We have in the neighbourhood of 600 childcare spaces that are in city owned facilities but with private operators.

During the pandemic, did you connect with the business community?

When everything was shut down, we did a number of videos talking about what was happening, what our plans were, and how we were going to get through this together. Zoom events with chamber of commerce and business interest groups assisted us to reassure everyone “we will get through this and we will get to the time when this will be a thing of the past.”

In closing, interviewer Jim Gordon said, Mayor Brodie “you are that rare thing sir, and I put this in perspective, you were elected into office a month after 911. If you could go back in time, what is one thing you would tell yourself as a new mayor in 2001?”

“When you are a new mayor, the learning curve is very significant. One’s ability to work with the city comes from the contacts with the city, the residents, the businesses, the various groups and the entire community. I think any new mayor would understand that,” said Mayor Brodie. To watch the full video interview, go to richmondsentinel.ca/videos