Coquitlam wants a say at all Metro Vancouver committees next year.
Tonight, Oct. 30, city council was expected to return Couns. Craig Hodge and Teri Towner as board of directors — positions that each represent four votes at the regional table — as well as advance the following names for committee appointments:
- Coun. Brent Asmundson: Invest Vancouver Management Board
- Coun. Matt Djonlic: Climate Action, Electoral Area, Flood Resiliency
- Coun. Craig Hodge: Regional Parks, Regional Planning, Water, Zero Waste
- Coun. Steve Kim: Liquid Waste
- Coun. Trish Mandewo: Indigenous Relations
- Coun. Dennis Marsden: Finance
- Coun. Teri Towner: Housing, Regional Culture
Currently, Coquitlam is represented on nine committees for Metro Vancouver.
According to its remuneration bylaw, the chairpersons for regional committees get $525 a month while board and committee members receive $525 for a meeting up to four hours and $1,050 for a longer meeting. The daily cap is $1,050.
So far this year, Hodge has charged $10,044 in expenses to Metro to attend conferences in Boston and Helsinki, while Towner has billed $162 for a board strategic planning session in Harrison Hot Springs.
Below, other 2023 expenses for Tri-Cities politicians that were charged to the regional district:
- Anmore Mayor John McEwen = $29,694
- Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West = $16,235
- Port Coquitlam Coun. Darrell Penner = $5,079
- Port Moody Mayor Meghan Lahti = $144
