2022 was a year of reset and recovery at Richmond City Hall.
COVID-19 brought with it shutdowns of some city facilities, working from home, Zoom calls and streaming of city hall public meetings — as the public wasn’t allowed to attend.
So, this year, as things reverted to a more normal state, it was time to reflect on lessons learned during the pandemic, explained long-time Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie. Some permanent changes are live-streamed council meetings — including committee meetings — and a more hybrid office/home working situation for city staff.
New top administrator hired
City hall also saw a shift in leadership with its long-time chief administrative officer retiring. George Duncan retired in June and was replaced by an internal hire, namely, Serena Lusk, after a national search.
“George was a big believer in succession planning,” Brodie said, adding Lusk is a product of his mentorship. Their leadership styles might be different, but Brodie said he feels good about the choice.
While Brodie was confident in city hall operations, a challenge to a mandatory vaccination policy by three city unions was a “low point” for the city.
City council brought in a mandatory vaccination policy for its workers — and for council itself — but this was grieved late last year by 36 city staff members, including nine fire fighters, who were put on unpaid leave for refusing to show their vaccination status. The city ended up having to give backpay to the unionized workers.
'General malaise' around elections
Brodie was also perplexed by the low voter turnout during the October municipal election — about 25 per cent of Richmond voters cast a ballot, compared to 36 per cent in the 2018 municipal election.
He said it feels like there was a “general malaise” around the election.
He wondered what more the city could have done to encourage voter turnout, noting COVID-19 precautions were in place and there were three ways to vote — in-person, at advance polls and by mail.
“Nobody had an excuse really from that point of view, in my mind, not to vote, they just didn’t,” Brodie said.
Two long-time city councillors didn’t run for re-election, Linda McPhail and Harold Steves. Historically, incumbents have a better chance of being re-elected, and this time all six incumbents and the incumbent mayor, Brodie, were re-elected.
Two new faces joined council: Laura Gillanders who has been involved with farming issues in Richmond, and Kash Heed, former VDP police officer, former Chief Constable of West Vancouver Police and former solicitor general.
Almost two months into their mandate, Brodie said the new council is starting to “gel.”
This election, for the first time, Brodie endorsed a roster of candidates for city council, including the Richmond Community Coalition (RCC), Coun. Chak Au’s slate.
RCC came out during the election in “principled opposition” to safe-injection sites. Early in the previous council’s term, Au was the only city councillor to vote against a rainbow crosswalk on Minoru Boulevard.
But Brodie said Au is someone he’s always got along with well on city council.
Previously, Brodie has noted a “divisive” tone on city council, but he said that doesn’t mean councillors can’t disagree.
The best councils, however, will come to meetings prepared to listen and compromise, he added.
Communication with province impresses mayor
City councils across the province complain regularly about services being downloaded on them from the provincial government and sometimes the federal government.
In fact, Richmond and Delta are both facing a challenge in the south arm of the Fraser River as it desperately needs dredging, something that is under federal jurisdiction.
Brodie, however, said he’s so impressed with the communication between city hall and the provincial government – in fact, he said it’s never been better and he’ll regularly receive phone calls from cabinet ministers to ask his opinion on local issues.
Looking forward to 2023, city hall will launch a review of the plan that guides all development in the city — the Official Community Plan (OCP).
As for what is missing from Richmond, Brodie joked the city could do with some hills. But, on a more serious note, he said he wishes there were a memorial garden for Richmondites who pass away, something that’s been discussed over the years but has never materialized.
“It’s something we need for a complete city,” Brodie said.
