It's a rainy Tuesday evening and the line-up for the Giggle Dam winds halfway down Shaughnessy Street and around the corner.
But the crowd isn't queuing for a night of dinner theatre.
Inside, guests are greeted by Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore and his wife, Erin Moore. They shake hands, hug, pat backs and trade jokes with the 190 guests who have each paid $40 to be at his re-election fundraiser.
There are many familiar faces: All city councillors are present, as are a few current and past candidates. There's also a smattering of business people and labour support as Moore has union backing from CUPE Local 498, representing PoCo civic workers, and the city firefighters' local.
But "mostly it's just people from the community," he said.
The sold-out fundraiser is a testament to Moore's popularity in PoCo, where the 43-year-old former city planning technician was a councillor, then became mayor and, this year, the person acclaimed to be board chair for Metro Vancouver.
Last month, he touched on what he believes are successes and challenges, and talked about how he wants to see his hometown grow in the next four years if he's re-elected.
The Fremont connector to Coquitlam's Burke Mountain is the first issue to be raised, with Moore re-iterating his preferred route for the multimillion dollar inter-municipal arterial: Devon Road. A right-of-way is available to the city, he said. Cedar Drive, by comparison, has too many homes while a route under the Fremont power lines would separate farm land into smaller parcels, Moore argued.
Recent rumblings from Coquitlam city council about PoCo "moving the goal posts" for Fremont don't faze Moore.
"We've been pretty clear with Coquitlam all along," he said. "Frankly, this road is going to benefit their residents."
But when pressed on the tax base benefits for PoCo - especially in the commercial sector - Moore responded: "Our retail is doing just fine without having Burke Mountain being developed. If it were my preference, you wouldn't build on Burke Mountain, but it's not.
"I live in a regional system and we have to accommodate Coquitlam's growth."
Moore is also asked about the length of time it has taken to make a decision on the Fremont alignment. A decision has been delayed, he said, in part because the city updated its master transportation plan last year.
"We took out the Fremont connector because it was too important of a linkage to not have its own study and own evaluation done," he said. "But we know the road itself isn't needed for 10 to 15 years so we're trying to do it as proactively as we can to let people know what the length of the road is going to be."
The slow uptake on the new recreation complex - a capital project on the books for years - is also brought up. Last year, council budgeted $250,000 to study a possible rebuild "and, over the last eight months, we've been working really hard, really fast, to develop what that plan needs to look like and how to pay for that, capital and operational [costs]. Now, we're at the goal line to move over that."
As for the municipal staff - many of whom have had to contend with larger workloads following a recent efficiency review of programs and services at city hall - Moore acknowledged there are vacancies that haven't been filled for a year.
"I think we need to look at the service levels that council has requested. Sometimes, I think our staff wants to deliver a higher service level than what we're willing to fund - and that's a good thing because they're passionate about their community - but council is trying to balance the budget with the fiscal responsibilities."
Moore points to council's decision to reduce property taxes last year as an achievement. At the same time, it hired six new firefighters after nearly 20 years of no new hires.
But for the RCMP detachment PoCo shares with Coquitlam - PoCo has 66 officers for a population of 60,000 - Moore said work needs to be done in terms of boosting police presence in the community. Eventually, he would like to see PoCo have its own precinct.
As for bigger tributes for hometown hero Terry Fox, Moore said he wants the new annual run route past Terry Fox secondary, over the Coast Meridian viaduct and around the Terry Fox Library to be made permanent and decorated with markings along the way.
@jwarrenTC
Website: gregmoore.ca
