Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart struck a conciliatory tone in his inaugural address Monday night, acknowledging that the recent election was an acrimonious affair but it was time for council to put their differences behind them.
Finding consensus among the nine council members has not been difficult in the past, he said, noting that most votes have been unanimous. Stewart added that cooperation will be necessary if the city is going to be able to accomplish the goals he set out in his inaugural speech.
"We are nine people with nine different views," he said to a packed council meeting, which opened with bagpipes and a procession of firefighters, RCMP officers and the council members. "And I've spoken to all eight of my colleagues and all of them have expressed the same interest -let's move forward working together."
He also took the opportunity to congratulate all of the candidates who participated in the election, including defeated councillors Lou Sekora, who challenged for the mayor's job, and Neal Nicholson plus newcomers Teri Towner and Dennis Marsden.
The mayor took the opportunity to outline a series of priorities for the year ahead. For example, neighbourhood planning processes will be discussed for Burquitlam, Lougheed and northwest Burke Mountain.
The city's work to mitigate the impact of Evergreen Line construction will continue with the Pinetree Way Enhancement Project, which he said will make the corridor more safe and aesthetically pleasing.
In Maillardville, he said the city will continue its effort to preserve the history of the neighbourhood with the creation of the Heritage Management Plan, a priority for 2015.
The biggest portion of his 3,106 word speech was dedicated to the preservation of the Riverview Hospital site.
Stewart discussed his own family's issues with mental illness and said the city needs to remain committed to seeing the property transformed into a "state-of-the-art psychiatric hospital."
"We've seen services re-established in Hillside and Brookside is renewed and set to reopen with new patients as well," he said, referring to facilities on the Riverview site. "And we're speaking with government about additional investments on the site."
