Community - PoCo Pride - Report Card

The priorities on these pages are directly related to my work as the Mayor, and therefore may differ in some ways from the City’s corporate priorities, which are set out in the Corporate Strategic Plan. The City is currently developing a new Corporate Strategic Plan called 2020 Vision. Visit the 2020 Vision webpage for more information about this process and how you can be involved.

Priorities

Rebuild the reputation of our community.

• Introduced Council Community Connections program to showcase local grounds and initiatives.
• Town Hall meetings were held in April and October of 2009 at Westwood Elementary School and Kwayhquitlum Middle School
• Worked with the Port Coquitlam Spirit Committee to leverage opportunities associated with the 2010 Olympics and celebrate Port Coquitlam. Click here to learn about the projects and successes we achieved.
• Civic engagement is key to rebuilding our communities reputation, the City of Port Coquitlam was awarded a prestigious award by Union of BC Municipalities titled "Best Practices, Civic Engagement." Read the details in the City's Press Release (PDF). 
• Invite the Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay to Port Coquitlam, A community celebration will greet the Rick when it rolls through Port Coquitlam on May 17, 2012. City Press Release

Eliminate sport user fees-by 2015.

• The City of Port Coquitlam, along with School District 43 and the sport community, released a new Port Coquitlam Community Sport Strategy in December 2010 that provides a new direction for sport in Port Coquitlam. One of the next steps will be to work with the new Sports Alliance to determine how user fees should be administered and charged.

Create a Heritage Housing Strategy to encourage and maintain the retention of our built history.

• Launched Heritage First program to coordinate and support initiatives intended to support the City’s built heritage and development of a Heritage Strategic Plan.
• The City engaged the community in 2009 and early 2010 in developing a Heritage Strategic Plan that will provide focus and direction for the management of heritage issues, initiatives and resources in Port Coquitlam.

Establish off-leash dog parks on the north and south sides of town.

• The City opened the Shaughnessy Park Dog Off-Leash Area on the north side of the community in February 2010.
• Several new dog off-leash areas are being considered for existing parks in north and south Port Coquitlam, as funding becomes available. Click to read the staff report on this subject.
   

Implement Smart Growth principals to foster neighbourhoods where all amenities are within a 10-minute walk.

• Established Smart Growth Committee with focus on smart growth principles.

Implement a framework to allow Development Cost Charges to be used for affordable for non-market and public seniors housing.

• Established a Bonus Density fee for developers who would like to add additional density to their developments, the fees paid to the city will contribute to affordable and social housing.

Work with School District #43 to develop a strategy to make schools the centre of a neighbourhood, which will also ensure we do not have to go through future school closures.

• We have created a new working relationship and open dialogue with the School Board.
• Working closely with SD43 on the two new school developments in Port Coquitlam, James Park and Pitt River Middle School. Both schools with be communities schools, which will allow for better community engagement at the schools.
• This item will be ongoing.

Eliminate property taxes for non-profit housing organizations by 2015.

Create a strategy for more ice time for our sports groups and recreational users.

• This is the Parks and Recreation Department’s # 1 priority. The City of Port Coquitlam applied for applied for infrastructure funding but did not gain approval. As part of that funding requests we have done up a business case for the expansion. I anticipate that again in 2012 we will be forwarding to Council a similar request for consideration. At last years budget meetings, I asked staff to develop a strategy that we could use to start saving for the facility as well as look at land sales as a way to fund the expansion.

Develop a strong and respectful relationship with the Kwikwetlem First Nations.

• First official meeting after taking office was with Kwikwetlem First Nations Chief Percy Cunningham and his council. My first official meeting as Mayor was with Chief Cunningham and his council. This will be an ongoing process that will be beneficial to both communities.
• In Spring of 2009 a new Chief and Council was elected, since this election Greg has had regular meetings with Chief Giesbrecht to discuss common issues.
• Due to the strengthened relationship between the Kwikwetlem and the City, the Kwikwetlem re-opened a section of the Traboulay PoCo Trail through their lands in 2009. This three-year agreement included interpretive signage and picnic tables to allow everyone to enjoy the environment and learn more about the traditional territory of the Kwikwetlem First Nation. Click to view the video of Chief Giesbrecht and Mayor Moore on the Traboulay PoCo Trail.
• For the first time in over two decades the City of Port Coquitlam hosted a community to community dinner at City Hall. The goal is that this is the first of many dinners and meetings to establish friendship and respect for each others community.

Hold town hall meetings to allow residents opportunities to participate in the future of our community.

• The City held Town Hall Meetings in April (Press Release PDF) and October (Press Release PDF) of 2009 at Westwood Elementary School and Kwayhquitlum Middle School.
• The City has hosted many community meetings in new and innovative formats.  For example, in 2010 a budget input meeting was held at the Port Coquitlam Recreation Centre on a Saturday morning. This encouraged parents and seniors who were using the Rec Centre and Wilson Seniors Centre to provide input into the budget.
• The City has used online engagement as a cornerstone to reach out to the community, this has provided to be an overwhelming success.
• In an ongoing effort to reach Port Coquitam residents and engage them, the City of Port Coquitlam launched the First in Metro Vancouver mobile phone web site. Read the details in the Press Release (PDF).
• Technology is making it increasingly easy for Port Coquitlam residents to do their civic duty. More than 380 residents so far have completed the online survey for the City’s new Corporate Strategic Plan, making it Port Coquitlam’s most popular online survey to date.
• The City of Port Coquitlam has hosted numerous open house meetings on a variety of Strategic Plans, such as the Heritage Strategic Plan, the Enviro Plan and the Corporate Strategic Plan.