Public safety and enforcement

This is one of the most troubling issues facing Langley, and our whole region. I had an office for years just off Fraser Highway in Langley City where the problems were really concentrated. It was so hard to see out my office window, the impact of addiction on people’s lives. But I also have two very close friends who came from lives of addiction, and have recovered, and are now incredible leaders not just of their families but of organizations and businesses. On our Langley Strong team, we have two amazing council candidates with real experience on the frontlines of these situations: Barb Martens, a retired VPD officer used to work on the Downtown Eastside, and Teresa Townsley, who was an ER nurse at St. Paul’s Hospital. They have been pivotal in shaping my thinking around this. The first step to addressing the problem is to quit pretending it doesn’t exist in Langley Township. It’s here, it’s in every neighbourhood. Early on in our term, we will put together a table of Township council and staff, RCMP, Township fire, bylaws, Fraser Health, local NGOs and service providers, business groups, and (if they accept the invitation) Langley City, to talk openly about how we are handling these situations and what we can do better.

It is disappointing that the union ignored several Langley Strong candidates who, throughout their time on Council, have voted consistently and vocally supported staffing up the fire department. But that’s politics. I’ve met with both the fire chief and the union leadership. We have great relationships and I know we will work together very well to address and continue the advancement of the Department. Our public safety plan commits to continuing to add firefighters, including some new inspectors and public educators, to help prevent fires before they start. We are also looking to enhance supports for first responders who witness traumatic incidents, to make sure they are taken care of emotionally and mentally. Due to the tremendous debt and massive tax increase the current slate has left us with, this will have to be done in a measured, prudent way. But our commitment is more firefighters.

Penalties that aren't looked at as the "cost of doing business" and exceed the profit of an illegal dump or fill, the ability to revisit after issuing a ticket for bylaw officers: True enforcement More bylaw officers trained in soils, currently only 2, and enforcement on illegal truck parking.

So I've in the past been on the Surrey Crime Prevention Society, and I've also been a community representative for the Surrey pre-trial. So I've seen some of the downsides of what's going on. At the pre-trial, and people think that's not a full prison and that at the time that I was on that the Bacon Brothers were imprisoned in there and saw that the situations that evolved like throwing cocaine and that over the top and that. So I worked in Whalley when the SkyTrain came in and I saw firsthand and I dealt with firsthand the results of what's going on there. Surrey Crime Prevention Society had a very, very comprehensive program of dealing with the businesses in the area, Whalley BIA and the Board of Trade and that was a very integral part of how they were able to manage what was going on. Lookout is an organization that was dealing and is still dealing down in the Whalley corridor and those are vital discussions that you've got to have and they've got to be on the ground and you've also got to involve your bylaw officers, your firefighters, and your police. Thank you.

By hiring more bylaw officers that are specifically trained in areas like soil, ALR restrictions and proper usage, direct and fast actions should be the goal of TOL, possibly a direct complaint line to speed up compliance and enforcement, easy access to rules for possible users and advocate to the province for faster ALC rulings and fund enforcement.

I align and support the above platform that my Langley Strong team shared so far. Review the Soil Deposit and Removal Bylaw with the AAC, the LFI and other stakeholders. Rural enforcement team (focus on soil, ditch filling and truck parking)

Absolutely. Failing to plan is like planning to fail. We, with the Township of Langley, have a plot of plan for dealing with these things. We've introduced more by-law officers, more RCMP, more fire people, but we also have to work with the courts, the BC government, addiction services, we all have to work together as a team because this thing is not solved overnight. I believe in some ways the province has left us with a lot of challenges. Regardless of that, … We have to work on solving these problems. Nobody likes, I walked by somebody at Tim Hortons today lying there. I felt bad. I didn't know what to do. I continued on my way, but as I drove home, I felt I should have done something. I think every single one of us feel a bit that way. Thank you for the question.

Thank you for the question, Cory I think a couple of aspects to it. The first is that we need to increase enforcement. We need to work with the RCMP. And we need to ensure that the hot spots where crime is happening, they are addressed. Second thing is we need to work with the province. We need to identify the root cause that has been causing, address the addictions issue. For example, CAR 67, that's one of the things in which we can mitigate those things. Third thing is we need to have discussions. We need to have businesses, by-law officers, RCMP, everyone at the same table come together. And we design a strategy. And then we have a public tracking. We can have a public safety committee, which we are proposing. Have And then we can track how the crime reduction has happened over the passage of three months and going forward and then we can track it to make sure our businesses feel safe, residents feel safe going, completing their shopping and Langley becomes an attraction where more businesses can grow. Thank you.

Rural enforcement team, fines higher than taking a load to fill, right enforcement resources trained and expertise on soil and other issues, provide alternate to truck parking and enforce those bylaws, work with community to get feedback on enforcement and improve, officers need to follow up on ticketing

We need stronger bylaw enforcement, with the ability to revisit rule breakers. And a dedicated team to cover our rural areas.

I support stronger enforcement. My background is in public service safety, and I believe rules only work if enforced. That means enough bylaw officers trained in agricultural issues including illegal fill, illegal dumping and truck parking, and the follow up and follow through. Dedicated rural enforcement so they know the area, the properties and the repeat offenders.

Establish new bylaws that address the rural challenges of today. Update Rural Plan. Plan to reflect the reality of ALC and coordinate enforcement with provincial agreement.

Work with ALC to create pathways for delegated enforcement capacity. Equip bylaw enforcement to address illegal dumping, parking and other core issues.

Thank you very much for the question. Very generic question and I want to answer the generic way. You know, If more people are coming in with the TransLink and SkyTrain moving into our area, There's obviously going to be more vandalism, more crimes, And we need to get ready for that right now. And one of the ways we can do is increasing the staff in a police department. I think we have 19. Am I right? Yeah, … 19. Probably, we're aiming to have 30 during our term. It's just that something that we cannot ignore and we cannot prevent. You know, Business moving in, new way of transportation moving into Langley, population is coming into Langley. That's all happening right now and that's the reality. What we need to do is we need to find the right candidate who's actually going to listen, talk to residents, talk to businesses, and make the real decision with an accountability. Not just talk about numbers, false promises. Look at what we have done in the past four years. All there. We say what we're gonna going to do and we did it. And that's our next four years. Thank you.

Township culture comes from the tone set at the top. Langley needs a Mayor and Council that respects each other and the rules we operate under.

Well, I certainly don't want to repeat what happened in Surrey and Burnaby in the first two years that they had their SkyTrain. And I think we can move around that. And I think the way we move around it is by having a proactive safety plan in place before we actually cut the ribbon and open the doors on the new train. And that's going to require collaboration around several tables, including Township bylaws, RCMP, transit police. It's going to require discussions with our neighbors to make sure that our plans are all coordinated. So that's the number one thing that I think should be done. I do believe that is an issue that the Chamber has highlighted and I thank you very much for highlighting it for us as candidates. Thank you.

More planning staff to update bylaws, more bylaw enforcement and fines to regulate ditch filling, soil deposits, truck parking.

Continue expanding enforcement, update Rural Plan to help with areas of enforcement that are challenging, look at proactive enforcement, not just complaint based

Update Rural Plan, Establish proper bylaw enforcement that is well trained and educated. Rules apply to everyone. Create fines that will actually mean something and enforce them. Include farmers in the conversation.

So right now in Langley I feel like we've already had an increase in crime because our RCMP is very expensive to fund and they haven't been funding to the point where our population is growing. We really need to be funding our RCMP. The other thing is we need to be working with our provincial and federal stakeholders, our provincial and federal government because the issue is, and you can talk to any RCMP officer, every day they catch the same people. They book them into jail and the next thing you know they're getting a slap on the wrist and they're out in society just doing it all over again. Every store that you go to ask them about the shoplifters. They know who they are. They're probably on a first-name basis. We need to do more to invest in our crime fighting we need to do more in getting our provincial government to fund mental health so that people get the help that they need and we need to make sure that Langley becomes a good place to do business because when you're a business, you shouldn't be worried about whether people are going to steal your assets. You should be worried about operating your business. So I think we need to do more in investing in public safety. We need to make sure that we keep our taxes in line while doing all that. Thank you.

Support establishing an ALR commission with enforcement power. asking province to open up a community charter to give municipalities new powers and ability to give fines above $500 (bylaw limit), more support for education and deterrence of violators, active patrol and invest in infrastructure

Bylaw enforcement has to have meaning. From ditch filling, truck parking, and soil dumping can displace land ag use. I support stronger enforcement, meaningful fines and follow up to ensure compliance. At the same time, we need to distinguish between farmers doing legitimate work and activities that use rural and farm land inappropriately. Use a light touch for real farming and firm enforcement for abuse.

Specialized training and Agri background, education, updated bylaws with enforcement that has teeth and revisitable.

Stronger enforcement of Ag bylaw infractions, develop a dedicated rural enforcement team.