A fresh new look for Port Moody city council.
A recount triggered on Monday (Oct. 17) has now confirmed the candidates that earned the top six voting totals when the polls were initially counted for the 2022 civic election.
Councillor-elect Diana Dilworth will be the only returning incumbent, winning a seventh term in local office, as chief election officer Philip Lo confirmed Amy Lubik lost out on the sixth and final seat by two votes.
This means that as of today (Oct. 19), there will be five new, but somewhat familiar, faces at Port Moody city hall for the next four years.
The councillors-elect are officially as follows:
- Callan Morrison (4,740 votes)
- Diana Dilworth (4,101 votes)
- Samantha Agtarap (3,802 votes)
- Kyla Knowles (3,787 votes)
- Haven Lurbiecki (3,681 votes)
- David Stuart (3,595 votes)
Port Moody’s chief election officer Phillip Lo said, while a recount for such a small margin isn’t required under the city’s local government election bylaw or the provincial Local Government Act, it was the “right thing to do.”
"[It] supports our values of fairness and transparency, and our commitment to democracy," he added in an earlier release.
All six will soon join Meghan Lahti after she was elected the first female mayor in the city's 109-year history on Saturday (Oct. 15).
Lahti told the Tri-City News she wants to rebuild relationships with Port Moody’s residents and bring them into discussions about the city’s future.
"The community has a right to be involved in those conversations," she said following her victory. "We have to be open to hearing what the community wants; we can’t manipulate it, craft that input so it steers in a certain direction."
In total, voter turnout in the city was 36.3 per cent — that's 8,989 residents who cast ballots this year out of 24,775 eligible voters.
Port Moody election officials involved in the recount reviewed the preliminary results as counted by the 10 ballot machines used at each polling station, including votes cast on advance dates, through mail-in ballots and on general voting day.
They were then compared with paperwork submitted by all poll supervisors to check for any irregularities.
Though results were declared official today, recount requests can still be made by candidates, a candidate's representative or an eligible elector through an application to BC Provincial Court.
The period for such applications begins as soon as the results have been declared official and ends nine days after general voting has closed.
It's not clear, as of this publication, whether there will be any further challenges Port Moody's election results.
— with files from Mario Bartel, Tri-City News
Let's meet Port Moody's next city council (in order of votes earned):
Callan Morrison
- What is your No. 1 issue and why?
"I truly believe that we need to get back to good governance and working for the benefit of all Port Moody. In order to be effective and to fully serve our community we need a council that is willing to work together, collaborate, and most importantly listen to our residents. Your council should be serving you by making decisions for the best of all Port Moody. Without collaboration and teamwork our council cannot effectively tackle the important issues to our residents such as providing affordable housing, tackling traffic, and enhancing and expanding our parks."
Diana Dilworth (incumbent)
- What is your No. 1 issue and why?
"Housing and affordability is an issue across the country. Interest rates and inflation, which Council doesn’t have control over, pile upon the cost of land and of building new homes. The BC Government has challenged our City on lack of development at our two SkyTrain stations. We need to negotiate in good faith with home builders. We need to focus on partnering with CHMC , BC Housing and non-profit and cooperative housing organizations for affordable housing in Port Moody. To provide affordable housing, we need to be a true partner in the provision of land and waiving of development fees."
Samantha Agtarap
- What is your No. 1 issue and why?
"Livability and sustainable development: The livability of our city depends on our ability to strike a balance between building homes for young people, singles, families and seniors; investing in our amenities and community spaces to preserve our unique neighbourhoods; and appropriately planning and investing in the infrastructure to support increased population growth across the region. As our community grows, our amenities must reflect the changing needs of our community. We need a variety of forms of development — not only residential with ground floor retail, but also light industrial, other commercial land uses and institutional (education and health care) forms."
Kyla Knowles
- What is your No. 1 issue and why?
"Development is of primary concern to residents, and I get it. The traffic, the noise, the fear of losing our small town charm. But we need to build homes, including purpose-built rentals, homes for downsizing seniors, homes for kids leaving the nest who want to stay close to home, and homes for people all along the income spectrum. The last four years introduced significant challenges to our working relationships with other municipalities and regional organizations. Managing the challenges of development will require robust cooperation with Metro Vancouver to address common goals and problems like traffic, transportation, healthcare, and climate change."
Haven Lurbiecki
- What is your No. 1 issue and why?
"Our next council will determine the future of growth in our city. Development approved over the last few years alone will bring Port Moody’s population close to 50,000 residents — the maximum growth level we had set for 2041. With another 24 high-end condo towers being proposed near Rocky Point Park we are now at risk of over-development — growing too big and building the wrong type of housing for our community. My top priority is to complete our new Official Community Plan, focusing on quality of life as guided by residents, and when we have our plan, stick to it."
David Stuart
- What is your No. 1 issue and why?
"The issues facing municipalities cannot be reduced to “one issue.” Development pace and density, housing affordability, transportation, urban parks capacity, local employment, financial sustainability and climate action are all important, complex and interconnected. If I was to reduce it to one issue, it would be maintaining and improving quality of life for current and future residents in Port Moody. The Official Community Plan can spell out the community’s vision for dealing with these issues and therefore I want to make sure that the current process of completing the review of our OCP is our number one priority."
