IN THE LANGLEY TOWNSHIP COUNCILLOR RACE: Karen Moraes

Karen A. Moraes

RUNNING AS AN INDEPENDENT

Social services worker, age 53

Walnut Grove resident who’s lived in Langley 14 years

Karen Moraes is Tsimshian, Haida, and Yupik. She was born and raised in Metlakatla, Alaska.

She attended the University of Washington school of medicine and graduated with degrees in laboratory medicine, medical microbiology, and social psychology.

She is an active mother of seven children and finds time to volunteer. They include being on the board of directors for the Langley Arts Council, Fort Langley Arts and Jazz Festival, treasure of the Red Jam Slam Society in Vancouver, vice-president of Dorothy Peacock Elementary PAC, vice-president of WGSS PAC, advisory committee of the BC Child and Youth in Care. She believes in giving back to Langley.

Karen was awarded the Canada 150 award in 2017 for her work with the homeless, and a new car from Basant Motors’ Cars For Compassion in 2019.

She works full time at Metis Family Services and always takes Sundays off for church and family.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ganhadakaren

Instagram: @Karen._moraes

Website: www.fortlangleyjazzfest.com/who-we-are

Phone: 604-363-7881

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Have you held office in past? If so, please specify: No.

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CLICK TO CHECK OUT OUR FULL ELECTION GUIDE ONLINE

Questions:

(These answers are presented as the candidates submitted them)

1. Should the Township set targets for the creation of more low-income and seniors rental spaces, social housing units, and/or co-op development to improve home security?

Yes. This Group that includes the elderly and low income are falling through the cracks of trying to find housing. The current rates of housing are too high for these individuals to find a decent living space. Most have to take on roommates or shared housing in order to afford living in a house let alone an apartment.

2. Should the Township create a performing arts venue within the next council term?

Yes.

I feel having a performing arts venue would be perfect for the Township of Langley, as we will have extended transportation out here with a new skytrain. This is a good time for us to start having gallery shows in the new museum as well as more arts, crafts, and performing arts within the township.

I personally have been ensconced in the high end Indigenous art for 22 years as an executive manager to a local artist, and we would love to see more shows like the ones I have attended regularly in Vancouver starting out here in the Township Langley.

3. Does the Langley Township fire department need to be expanded in terms of crews, equipment, and/or halls?

Yes. If the Township of Langley’s current council is pushing for higher towers to be built within Langley, then the fire departments need to be expanded with more firefighters, fire engines equipped to reach high-rises, and the training that would come to them to use this equipment.

My father was a fire chief in the state of Alaska for many decades.

I grew up in the firehalls and was around the firefighters growing up. And my oldest daughter, Rebecca, is 24 and an active firefighter in the state of Washington.

I hear about the finances lacking for proper training.

4. Should property tax increases be restricted to the rate of inflation or lower?

No. Why would we have to raise property taxes in order to follow the increase of inflation. Property taxes should be lowered as it is the current residences who bought into the township of langley before the massive growth, and I don’t think that they should have to pay the higher prices for having chosen the township as their home.

5. Should the Township encourage greater housing density in new and existing neighbourhoods?

Don’t know. This question has an upside and a downside to it. The upside with higher density population in new and existing neighborhoods would mean that it would lead to new schools, more RCMP being hired, and more fire departments and firefighters.

And the downside to this growth would be a massive influx of population that are current grocery stores, and post office says, and schools may not be able to keep up with in the beginning. With increase population you also get the increase of crime, the increase of theft, and all the other mishaps of a massive growth community.

6. Should the Township do more to build and upgrade roads, sidewalks, and bike paths in fast-growing areas?

Yes.

7. Is the Township’s population growing too fast?

Yes. We just need a much better counsel that can be involved in the planning and layout of a new Township of Langley as we hope to see it in the future. We need to be able to keep up with the growth that is happening exponentially in the Township of Langley.

8. Should the Township consider switching to a municipal police force, instead of using the RCMP?

No.

9. Does the Township have enough parks and public spaces to meet the needs of its growing population?

It’s argued that asphalt, hard scraped streets should be counted as public space right alongside our leafy parks and landscaped plazas. Together, they should make up 45-50% of a city’s land area, with 30-35% of the area occupied by streets and 15-20% open space.

10. Should the Township commit to making a decision on proposed new developments within 12 months or less?

No. A lot of thought has to go into a proposed building site. How would they accommodate the occupants, the parking, the waste, the schooling of those that are families that move into an area, and accessible transportation for anybody living in those places. Is it feasibly affordable.

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CLICK ON OUR ELECTIONS 2022 TAB TO FIND A WIDE VARIETY OF RELEVANT STORIES

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EDITOR’S NOTE:

How the questions were presented to each candidate

Langley Advance Times readers have repeatedly told us how much they value this important, straight-forward reference guide that helps orient them with the range of choices on the ballots – both at the council and school board levels.

Towards that end, we have attempted to make this package available (along with the following instructions) to each of the candidates in a timely fashion ahead of the Oct. 15 election.

Please read carefully before you start to fill this out.

To help voters in Langley make their choices on election day, the Langley Advance Times is asking local candidates 10 issue-based questions.

You must provide a ‘yes,’ a ‘no,’ or a ‘don’t know’ (Y, N, D) response to EACH of these questions.

Each question MUST be answered with yes (Y), no (N), or Don’t Know (D). This will be published in a grid in the Oct. 6 edition. Any questions not answered will be LEFT BLANK.

Candidates may also expand on ANY OR ALL of these questions (to a maximum of 200 words each). Please note any responses longer than that will be cut off at the 201-word mark.

Due to space limitations, we can only guarantee to run one of these answers in the Langley Advance Times print edition ahead of the election. You must CLEARLY indicate which expanded answer you want to see published in print. If you do not specify, we will choose. Any and all expanded answers provided will be published online at www.langleyadvancetimes.com.

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