"The job is not finished yet.
Thats the pledge of current Richmond mayor Malcolm Brodie, after he officially staked his claim for a fourth full term as head of council in the upcoming fall civic election.
Brodie said he has no intention of handing in the chain of office just yet and cant think of any reason, for the time being anyway, why he would.
Ive been mayor for ten years and Ive enjoyed the challenge and I believe with my experience, not just as mayor, but being Metro Vancouver committee chair and my experience with TransLink I still have something to offer, he told the News.
The job is not finished and I have no idea what would motivate me to call it a day.
With just over a week to go before the official nomination window opens for the Nov. 19 election, there are no obvious candidates circling for a shot at Brodies title.
Indeed, the mayor has pretty much had it all his own in recent elections, winning comfortably each time.
Brodie, however, has no thoughts, one way or the other, as to the caliber of any would-be mayoral hopefuls this time around.
I havent heard of anyone coming forward as yet, he said.
And I cant determine whether there will be a serious challenger or not.
Aside from whom he might face on Nov. 19, Brodie is ready to confront the difficult questions expected to be posed by the voting public as the election draws near, not least the ever thorny property tax increase.
I cant promise the day when taxes will be zero, he said.
Weve worked very hard to keep property taxes down and we have to be cautious with our finances. But we look at the expenses we have each year and we always look to see where we can maximize our revenues.
Comparing Richmond with other cities in the Lower Mainland, the increases in recent years are reasonable, according to Brodie.
Were in the lower end when it comes to tax levies, he said.
What is always forgotten is that half the amount were asking for is for other organizations, such as Metro Vancouver and the school board.
All of those are things that we just have to levy and collect, we have little or no control over.
Brodie added that his position will not change in terms of opposing the suggestion to raise property taxes to pay for TransLink infrastructure improvements.
The city only gets eight cents of every dollar collected and I dont think that its right to edge further into that for transportation, he added.
There are many other means to collect that money, such as gas tax, road pricing and carbon tax.
Brodie said the city has accomplished a lot in this last term, but faces the challenge of managing its growth.
Weve done a good job to this point, and were now coming to a point where we need to enhance the development of our city centre, he said.
That will be our new legacy for the future of Richmond. I hope to continue to focus on these and other objectives as Richmond mayor for the next three years.
