Candidate profiles for Port Moody mayor were published to our website in alphabetical order.
Steve Milani
- Age: 57
- Years as a Port Moody resident: 24
- Occupation: Designer goldsmith and music industry professional
- Most recent civic/volunteer work? City councillor
- Website: stevemilani.ca
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook/Instagram: @stevemilaniformayor
Steve Milani says it’s time for Port Moody council to stop sniping at each other and start listening to the city’s residents.
What they’ll hear, he adds, is a community that’s hungry for more family-friendly and seniors housing, as well as a city that’s environmentally and financially sustainable.
It was Milani’s willingness to listen to the concerns residents expressed to him on their doorsteps that first got him elected as a city councillor four years ago. And it’s that gum-shoe work ethic he hopes will elevate him to the mayor’s seat on Oct. 15.
“I think people came here to be closer to nature, and live in that small, well-balanced community,” Milani said. “I would like to be the mayor that provides the leadership to get us there.”
For the journey to bear fruit, though, the tensions and acrimony of the past have to stay in the past, he said. Council — and the city — has to move forward.
“There’s no point for personal attacks, or going off topic. Let’s be professional at work.”
Keeping ears open to the desires of the community and cultivating a spirit of collaboration will be key to determining the direction the city takes over the next four years, Milani said.
“I think if you’re representing the views of the residents, there shouldn’t be as much tension and as much conflict on council,” he said, adding Port Moody is at a crossroads and it has only one chance to take the right turn.
Milani said in the next four years, council has to focus on finding partners who will provide more opportunities to attain affordable housing.
Co-ops and non-profit provider would be goods choices, he said. “This should be an inclusive society.”
The city also needs to rebuild its economic engine to make up ground lost when major industrial employers — and tax generators — like the Burrard Thermal plant and Flavelle sawmill closed.
Miliani said the Moody Centre neighbourhood around the SkyTrain and West Coast Express station presents the city with a golden opportunity to do just that, Milani said.
“Right now we’re using SkyTrain and West Coast Express to bring everyone out of town,” he said. “We should maybe be using it to bring people into town so that they can work and rebuild our daytime economy.”
Milani said, “The next council will be determining the direction of the city,” pointing to its review and update of Port Moody’s official community plan that’s already underway and will be completed by the next council.
Other pressures being felt include a need to update and expand civic facilities like the Kyle Community Centre and provide more amenities like park space and seniors housing.
Those things take money, though, something that’s dear in Port Moody, admitted Milani.
“It’s not easy financially,” he said. “We have to tighten up and find a way to finance these things.”
But none of those ambitions will be realized if council doesn’t have an open mind and ear to residents’ desires and if members can’t work collaboratively for the greater good, Milani said.
“People have to know that they can approach you and talk to you openly about their concerns and that you’ll listen and respond with the caring attitude. If you’re in tune with what the residents want, you’re going to vote that way.”
