IN THE LANGLEY TOWNSHIP COUNCILLOR RACE: Petrina Arnason

Petrina Arnason

RUNNING AS AN INDEPENDENT

Full-time councillor, no age provided

Murrayville resident who’s lived in Langley 20+ years

I have been proud to serve as an independent full-time Township councillor on your behalf for two terms.

I have championed a number of initiatives to protect the environment, and advanced a climate mandate for our community, supported more greenspace and more tree canopy coverage.

If re-elected, I will advance initiatives to expand park space, build new infrastructure, and advance the interests of seniors.

I will also support and collaborate on the new SkyTrain initiative in the redeveloped Willowbrook area, and work with the new council on the development of our community with the environment, infrastructure, affordable housing, and public safety being my primary priorities.

Website: www.petrinaarnason.com

Phone: 604-427-2993

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Have you held office in past? If so, please specify: 2014-2022

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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. The Township should adopt an inclusionary housing policy so that all new development contains below-market housing and rentals with a fixed percentage of units for those requiring options to address housing insecurity and growing homelessness in our community.

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

Yes. The Township has conducted many studies and worked collaboratively with community groups and other stakeholders further to the development of a performing arts centre. This should be identified as a priority, however, initiation of such a project will depend on budgetary considerations and partnering in order to reduce the property tax burden on current and future residents.

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

Yes. The Township is a growing community and has a five-year plan to steadily expand the number of full-time firefighters according to Work Safe and other regulations. This policy includes purchasing new equipment and proactive reserve funding for future needs. Decisions around fire hall siting and prioritization are currently being assessed based on planning undertaken through Council direction and relevant staff.

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

No. I don’t support the rate of inflation as being the benchmark for deciding what tax increases should be implemented on an annual basis. Departmental recommendations based on the prioritization of need forms the basis of the current budget process. I support the principle of growth paying for itself, with an annual assessment of the overall economy and market conditions based on real-time conditions informing the tax rate for citizens.

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

No. The consideration of further density needs to be qualified through a process and not through spot zoning. Communities have been designed by planners with specific principles and adjacencies to create walkable communities enhanced by heightened densities. However, safety and traffic congestion potential needs to be balanced with transportation options to support more density.

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

Yes. Priority funding should be given to new infrastructure with sidewalks, bike paths, and other emission-friendly approaches prioritized in alignment with our climate action goals. Multi use path infrastructure helps to ensure safe travel and the optimization of opportunities to use a number of modalities instead of single occupancy vehicles.

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

Yes. Priority funding should be given to new infrastructure with sidewalks, bike paths, and other emission-friendly approaches prioritized in alignment with our climate action goals. Multi use path infrastructure helps to ensure safe travel and the optimization of opportunities to use a number of modalities instead of single occupancy vehicles.

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

Yes. I would support a review of our current contract with the RCMP based on financial and other interests. As a growing community, we hear a number of concerns related to crime and local priorities. If re-elected, I would support a review to consider both municipal and regional policing bodies as an alternative.

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

No. I feel that the current Recreation, Culture, and Parks Master Plan needs to be updated. Specifically, the formula for creating more funded parks needs to be enhanced to give our expanding population more outdoor recreation and green space. Public spaces are necessary to create a liveable and inclusive community and more resources need to be invested into this infrastructure.

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

Yes. I believe that the Township needs to take proactive measures in order to ensure the timely processing of development permit applications and other initiatives which currently have an unacceptable backlog.

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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