The taxpayers collective choice for the next Township of Langley Municipal Council will be the most critical decision they will make for decades – good or the bad? The following endorsement decisions are based on independent research, practical in-elected office experience as your mayor, and the known history of each candidate.
What is their potential for achieving 5 votes should they get elected!
To start with, all candidates deserve our thanks for putting their name forward to run for election in this campaign. It is a difficult task and a serious learning experience for most. The unfortunate part is that the vast majority of candidates are offering nothing more than political platitudes (a statement that is boring and has no meaning because it has been said so many times before) or trite remarks (dull and boring i.e., non-specific) in their election material either in print or on-line. The vast majority of candidates are relying on this bogus line of being “independent” as somehow being of significant value. It is just another way of saying I do not have a plan or an idea that I want to see achieved in my community. An example, just because you say you are independent does not mean you cannot come out and show support for the ideas of others, but nobody running as a so-called independent has ventured into that space. That is because it is seen as political, thus the problem 9 independents coming to a decision on anything.
We have had an independent Council for over 20 years, so they say, what has that done for us, nothing other than maintaining the status quo which is only in the interest of developers and local power brokers? Special favors for friends and insiders! I have had first-hand experience of that while in office. They have had a stranglehold on the Township of Langley for decades, let’s break loose from those chains of control.
As I see it there are a couple of candidates for Councillor who are exceptions to that rule which I will outline later in this BLOG Post.
So, getting to our decision in terms of who we support? There are two fundamental guiding principles that should guide our decision 1) What is their platform against what is the community need? (Specifics, not Platitudes.) and 2) How are they going to get the 5 votes needed to deliver on their election promises?
Mayoral Candidate Rich Coleman –I have had a lot to say against Rich Coleman over the past 3 weeks and beyond. For very detailed reasons and arguments against Rich Coleman for Mayor go to go to our BLOG Posts of September 8th, 2022, September 15th, 2022, September 20th, 2022, September 30th, 2022.
Mayoral Candidate Blair Whitmarsh –I have had a lot to say against Blair Whitmarsh over the past 3 weeks and beyond. For very detailed reasons go to our BLOG Posts of September 12th, 2022, September 20th, 2022, September 26th, 2022, September 30th, 2022.
Mayoral Candidate Michelle Sparrow – Michelle Sparrow talks a great deal about collaboration with Council and yet she has served two terms on Council as an independent and has failed to accomplish anything while in office. While on Council Michelle did not show that she has the experience or the leadership skills necessary to sit in the Mayor’s chair. This reality is in line with the performance of all of our other Township of Langley Councils populated by independents. Michelle’s platform again is made up of political platitudes, nothing defined, nothing specific with no plan to make development pay for itself.
Our choice for Mayor is – Eric Woodward – “Contract with Langley”.
Eric Woodward has jumped into this race with the most comprehensive plan that I have seen in over 40 years of being involved in Municipal Politics. It is complete with detailed specifics as well a financial plan on how he we can pay for it – the bottom line, not from property tax but “Getting a Fair Deal from Development!”
Eric’s well detailed published plan covers #1 above – What is the plan vs what is the public need.
Just for the record, I had a testy relationship with Eric up to about 6 months before the 2018 election and I am pretty sure he didn’t support me in 2011 and 2014 campaigns. Quite frankly I do not care, I do not take things personal. Through a friend of Eric’s at the time we met to discuss his campaign as he was going to run for Council. We went on to meet about 4 more times and I challenged him on a number of fronts, liking what he said I endorsed him in the 2018 campaign. He came in 2nd across the Township, only missing top spot by about 400 votes. I have watched Eric closely over the past 4 years and found him to have done an excellent job in preparation on his arguments on an issue. Eric repeatedly brought forward ideas and ways to fund them (i.e., Development and Financial Reform) and yet he was repeatedly shot down on a wide variety of ideas he brought forward. His performance and work ethic was head and shoulders above anyone else at the Council table. This is the reality of politics playing out with 9 independents, recognizing the majority of those independents at the Council table were controlled by the power elite of the Township.
All of this brings us to the next point 2) How are they going to get the 5 votes needed to deliver on their commitments? The harsh reality is that you need support by, hopefully a group on Council that are elected with you who are all committed to support their advertised platform. Now I can assure you, after talking to the Team of candidates running with Eric, they are independent in their general thought, BUT support their platform of ideas – which is key to getting something significant done for the people of the Township of Langley. All of this answers the question as to how they are going to achieve their promise.
The key – They need your support to get elected in support of their promise. A group of 9 independents will not achieve this goal or our goal of building the necessary infrastructure. All of these candidates are long time residents of the Township of Langley and are extremely professional in their regular lives.
By running a TEAM of 7 candidates (Mayor and 6 Councillors) Eric answers 2) How they are going to get the 5 votes needed to deliver on their commitments?
Through my research and in discussion with all of these Candidates I firmly believe all of them will make Township of Langley residents proud of their Municipal Council and will fully live up to all commitments they have made in this campaign!
Our Choice for Township of Langley Councillors –
“Contract with Langley”
Tim Baillie – Retired Surrey Fire Department Captain – South Langley
Barb Martens – Constable Vancouver Police Dept. 20 yrs. – Walnut Grove
Steve Ferguson – Retired School Teacher (8 Term Councillor) – Brookswood
Misty Van Popta – Project Management Professional – Fort Langley
A J Cheema – Small Business Owner, Coach – Salmon River
Rob Rindt – Farmer, Small Business Owner – Rural Langley
“Independents who we see reflect a new vision and relative youth”
Brit Gardner – Community Activist, Transit Activist – Fort Langley
Michael Pratt – Community Planning and Housing Activist – Willowbrook
Our Choice for Township of Langley School Board – There is an absolute need for coordination between our Municipal Council and our School Board in support of
new school locations and facilities to meet our school district needs.
“Contract with Langley”
Holly Dickinson Surrey School Teacher Murrayville
Joel Neufeld Surrey Firefighter Fort Langley
Sarb Rai Federal Public Servant Brookswood
Platform Detail for the “Contract with Langley” Team – We will be publishing, up to the day before the election, all on-going news of the election campaign plus all of the Contract with Langley platform detail that have been published and guaranteed by the Contract with Langley Team. Stay tuned!
“Election Alert” – While it might be hard to believe for those who have not been involved with Municipal Politics in the Township of Langley “Multi, Multi, Multi Millions of DOLLARS are at stake with respect to who wins this election. That threat is playing out during this election campaign through the dissemination of here say, gossip, innuendo and the spreading of fictitious stories on-line by a small cabal of Fort Langley residents with a personal grudge. Now there is a campaign of stealing and destruction of many Contract with Langley election signs. Looking around, it does not take a rocket scientist to see who is responsible and the power brokers that are feeling threatened. We cannot let them prevail unless you want to see your community sold out. If you see anything or know anything, please contact us immediately.
“Advance Voting Information” for residents of the Township of Langley 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Willowbrook – Wednesday October 5th, 2022 – Civic Facility / City Hall 1st floor – 20338 65th Ave.
Fort Langley – Thursday October 6th, 2022 – Fort Langley Community Hall – 9167 Glover Rd.
Walnut Grove – Frid. Oct. 7th, 2022 – Walnut Grove Com. Centre/Gym – 8889 Waln. Grove Dr.
Willoughby – Saturday October 8th, 2022 – Langley Events Centre/Gym 2 – 7888 200th St.
Aldergrove – Tuesday Oct. 11th, 2022 – Ald. Credit Un. Com. Centre – 27032 Fraser Highway
Murrayville – Wed. Oct. 12th, 2022 – W.C. Blair Rec. Centre/Studio 4 – 22200 Fraser Hwy.
Brookswood – Thursd. October 13th, 2022 – G. Preston Rec. Centre/Rm B&C – 20699 42nd Ave.
Please remember to VOTE – nothing will happen without your support!
RG
More interesting 2022 Municipal Election News coming soon!
Protect your Democratic Rights – Protect your NEIGHBORS Democratic Rights – stay informed, stay involved and VOTE!!!
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langleywatchdog.... and more! 
I enjoyed reading your post and thank you for doing the leg work to expose exactly what I have been thinking is needed going into this election. I hope more people not just read but think about what it is going to take to invoke change, and change to the areas that need it most… you can not get change with status quo, or scared political candidates.
Thank you for your input. The sad reality is that a large part of our population don’t realize what is happening in their community. We are doing our best to get the real message out there.
I think Eric has a lot of potential; he needs a more comprehensive environmental management plan though. He really does. I’m a fan, but it is a weakness in their current platform.
Thank you for your response. Their’s is an ambitious but doable plan and I know it is built to correct a long standing and serious infrastructure deficit. I know they are very aware and supportive of a number of environmental initiatives which they plan to initiate but I also know that they have a very strong public vetting process on all initiatives. This will be a great change from the past. I am confident that their environmental initiatives will show up through their first term in government.