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Madsen ready to work after by-election win

Port Moody's newest city councillor wants to get to work quickly to slow things down.
Hunter Madsen
MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS Port Moody's new city councillor, Hunter Madsen, has rolled up his sleeves and he says he's ready to get to work after winning his seat in Saturday's by-election. His 1277 votes were more than double his nearest rival, former councillor Karen Rockwell.

Port Moody's newest city councillor wants to get to work quickly to slow things down.

Hunter Madsen, who won Saturday's byelection by a handy margin, said Monday he has asked city staff to bring him up to speed as quickly as possible so he can fulfill the theme of his campaign: to slow the pace of the city’s growth and development to a more “moderate, balanced” level.

Madsen said he believes that’s the message the 1,277 voters who elected him want to send to city council and he heard similar sentiments from many more as he was knocking on doors and speaking to residents in the community.

“They’re not opposed to growth as long as they keep it balanced,” Madsen said. “They don’t want the city to exceed its targeted population. They’re worried about the downsides of excessive densification.”

Those downsides, he said, include increased traffic, more strain on the city’s parks and services, and the construction of a second road on the north shore to connect to the Ioco lands, which are in the early stages of a redevelopment process that could bring thousands of new residents to the area.

One of the proposed routes would put that road right through the middle of Bert Flinn Park, and it’s Madsen’s vocal opposition and efforts to organize the community against such a route that forged his political identity in Port Moody.

But Madsen said his campaign was about more than saving the park from a road.

“I was really taking a broader view,” he said. “The park fits in the context of our need to make the most of our amazing parks system. I talked a lot about protecting the parks from overuse that comes from population growth.”

Karen Rockwell, a former Port Moody councillor who finished a distant second in her bid to return to city hall with 530 votes, said Madsen’s assertion that the city is on the road to becoming “another Metrotown” of tall towers is fear-mongering.

“These anti-development people seem to think they’re going to wake up next week to a wall of towers,” Rockwell said. “I think we need to take a step back from that. The planning is taking place now to make sure the infrastructure is put in place.”

Port Moody Mayor Mike Clay, who has clashed frequently with Madsen over the future of Bert Flinn Park and the Ioco redevelopment, concedes his campaign resonated with the voters who elected him.

“Development and traffic congestion are the two biggest issues in our community consistently,” Clay said. “We need to continue consulting with residents and making sure everyone understands what council is working on.”

Clay said he expects Madsen will fit into council’s dynamic exactly where the councillor he’s replacing, Rick Glumac, left off.

“It shouldn’t change too much,” Clay said.

That suits Madsen just fine.

“One reason I was happy about the outcome is that we have somebody filling that seat that shares Rick’s passion for extending the liveability of the city,” Madsen said of Glumac, who’s now the MLA for Port Moody-Coquitlam.

The official results:

Hunter Madsen — 1,277

Karen Rockwell — 530

Jeanette Jackson — 240

Cathy Cena —  216

Gerry Kent — 164

Richard Biedka — 147

Shane Kennedy — 89

Sager Jan — 33

Only 12% cast ballots

Only 12% of Port Moody’s eligible voters cast a ballot in Saturday’s byelection and that has the mayor dismayed.

That’s down considerably from the last general civic election in November 2014, when 35.51% of eligible voters went to the polls.

Mayor Mike Clay said despite efforts to make it as easy and convenient as possible for voters to cast a ballot in the byelection — including two advance polls, extended hours at city hall to allow people to pick up mail-in ballots or drop them off at the front desk — “most people didn’t seem to care it was happening.”

Clay said low voter turnouts can amplify the voice of a disenchanted minority.

“When people don’t get involved, they are giving the power to a small minority of the community,” Clay said. “It doesn’t give confidence the majority is being represented.”