Patrick McCarthy (TCCTV) sits down with Port Coquitlam City Council candidate Glenn Pollock. Glenn has lived in Port Coquitlam for 41 years and says the community is changing. His background is in sports and he still advocates for sports. His focus however has shifted to housing, homelessness, and poverty reduction. Glenn is currently MLA Farnworth’s constituency assistant.
COVID affected everyone in the City. Port Coquitlam is underserved for transit. COVID allowed a lot of people to work from home and they have not returned since COVID. Challenges existed with people not getting vaccinated. A lot of people were laid off and the City is having difficulty enticing them back.
Glenn says the completed Recreation Centre is exactly what was expected. He says the glu-lam beams, the grand corridor, pickle-ball, community gardens, playgrounds, open grass- and plaza-areas and diverse activities are highlights. The third ice sheet is taken out early in the year so kids can start lacrosse trials. Glenn is proud of the hockey rinks and says the pool is a success, despite not being a ‘lengths’ pool.
Street safety has been enhanced by adding curb-bulges, elevated cross-walks, flashing pedestrian lights, and street-lights. The City took some ‘heat’ on removing Cherry trees in front of City Hall, but in Glenn’s ‘opinion’ they were at end-of-life and there was a desire to open up Veterans Park, McAllister Ave, and Leigh Square for Remembrance Day and festivals. Glenn says they are planting new trees, after removing the big trees and the small trees will grow. He says expect to see a lot more trees come down when towers are constructed on Westwood, but some trees will be planted elsewhere.
Glenn says it takes time and thought to rebuild the burned-out buildings downtown. Dean Washington leads the file on downtown redevelopment. He says it’s great there is nothing but medium-sized apartment buildings between downtown and Hawthorne St. This will make restaurants successful.
About 500 units of affordable housing are coming to the City. Glenn worked with a team on affordable housing for women which will be opening soon, along with daycare and health facilities on Flint Street. We also need affordable home ownership, including rent-to-own and other options. Skytrain is also in the plans.
