Richmond Sentinel host, Jim Gordon (JG) sat down with Mayor Malcolm Brodie (MB), City of Richmond to talk about the past year and plans for the new year.

JG: Mr. Mayor, when the Richmond Sentinel started filming the ‘Richmond Stories’ you were there with me from the beginning when the city was in a pandemic lock down, since then, it’s become a yearly get together.

MB: Lots has happened since our meeting in 2022 and it’s a good time to look back.

JG: Let’s start with something that you and I have discussed before, a concern that is discussed at home or out in public places, with friends and family and that is, community safety. It’s a growing concern and tends to lead most media stories. What are your thoughts because from what I see on the news Richmond is safer than some other communities in the lower mainland.

MB: We think that Richmond is a pretty safe community but, the challenge is always the same. If you are a resident of Richmond and something happens to you, you don’t want to hear statistics that you are about 99 per cent safe. You don’t feel safe so it’s a matter of working together with every resident, every service provider 365 days a year to make sure everyone feels as safe as possible.

JG: Every time I’ve talked to you, you’ve brought up things that address reinforcing the safety element within the city. I want to talk about the publicly open 10,000 square foot community centre.

MB: It actually was finished during Covid time, but only opened in the last year. It is the City Centre Community Police office. We originally had the RCMP office in the building next to city hall. After the Olympics we got a new facility on No. 5 Road south of Steveston Hwy. and we moved the RCMP there. That worked out very well, but one of the weaknesses of that approach is that when people wanted to go to the police station for routine matters and in terms of response time by the RCMP it’s that much farther out of the way. Organization and co-ordination with the airport aspect of the detachment is that much more difficult, so what we did with a building which was originally a courthouse on the corner of Granville and Gilbert was, we redeveloped it into a community police office and in the last year we were finally able to reopen it.

JG: Mr. Mayor, can you break down this good news for our readers, you’ve welcomed 16 additional police officers and 27 new firefighters tell our readers how important this is and how does that affect the city. 

MB: We committed, a number of years ago that within the next number of years we would increase a compliment of RCMP officers by 91 officers and we would increase a compliment of firefighters by 36 to keep up their response capability. Last year was the last part of that commitment, it completed our increase in person power, so now we can go into the future.

It doesn’t mean we won’t have to add another body, I think for the RCMP our police to resident ratio was pretty low and we’re basically the lowest in the region so that brought that right up. In terms of the firefighters, we hadn’t added anybody to the compliment for probably 20 years. So again as you say, it’s a matter of making people feel safe in their own community. Unfortunately it costs money, I think the people support it. 

JG: Let’s talk about the Fox 80 Mental Health Car program. 

MB: We know that within the last 20 years people without homes has increased dramatically, street incidents have increased and traditionally that was considered a police incident. Yes it is a police incident but, in the last number of years everyone realized, there’s a component involving mental health or substance abuse. Following a number of other cities, we now have a program called Fox 80 which is, a specially trained RCMP officer will work with a social worker when there seems to be a component involving mental health then that car with two people will respond. That has been very positive.

JG: You’ve been mayor since 2001, you’ve seen this city grow. Every time we talked, planning and development infrastructure comes up. Can we talk about plans for 2023 and into 2024.

MB: One of the big projects is the Steveston community centre, we are committed to rebuilding the centre, the shovels are now in the ground. That’s a $95 million project, one that is overdue and will meet the approval of the people in Richmond. 

In north Richmond, where a lot of re-development is taking place in the Capstan Way area there is a new community centre and we’re hoping it will be completed this year. Also in the same area, we have a Capstan Canada Line station under construction. That’s important because when we started to develop north Richmond there were thousands of units being developed in that one area. A levy was placed on every unit that was sold in that particular area and when we had $29 million it was given to Translink for construction to begin. By the end of the year or early 2024 we expect the Capstan Canada Line station will be finished.

JG: In the past, we’ve talked about improvement and level of options for rental properties, is that something you are still focused on.

MB: Last year there were a number of large projects totaling 2,500 living units that we approved and about 40 per cent of those living units are for rentals whether at market rates or it could be something below market, there are a number of categories. People are talking about how much they need rental units, so we’ve focused on that and going into the future, it will continue. 

So if you want to redevelop property in the city centre, 60 units or more, the developer has to contribute at least 15 per cent for below market rentals and another 15 per cent for market rentals so hopefully that will bolster the stock of rental properties that are available. In return for developing those rental units, the applicant is able to get a density bonus. 

JG: Do you find people in their 20’s and 30’s are getting to a better place with better options in terms of renting. Buying is tough so they need rental options.

MB: When we get those rental units there will be a mix of studio, one, two and three bedrooms, so it will cater to all demographics, and we do believe the people coming into their careers do need those rental options so to have the stock available for them is a big bonus. 

JG: One of the things I love about this city are the events, arts and culture and festivals, these were not present when we first sat down three years ago and now that the city is opening up is that something that you and the council are working to improve upon.

MB: Every year we look at how we can gain the interest of the residents of our city and around the region. The most obvious events are the big ones: Canada Day, the Salmon Festival, Maritime Festival, Doors Open, Culture Days, there’s a whole range of opportunities where people can enjoy Richmond and all it has to offer. All of it is important to us. 

JG: How important is it to compete and you obviously do it well, to get big events like the CARHA Hockey, how important is that to the city. 

MB: It’s important for a number of reasons. There’s an economic benefit to the city to attract people and events. They rent hotels, eat in restaurants, patronize shops and shopping malls so financially it’s important. Equally important is for people to learn about our city. There’s a lot of excitement that’s created.

JG: Let’s talk about city’s resilient economic strategy and post-pandemic growth. I understand that new business licenses rose 20 per cent in 2022, that’s a good sign.

MB: That is a good sign that things are coming back. We are always searching for new ways to connect with businesses and the people. For instance, we have a new APP that allows people to go in and renew a business license called ‘My Business’. Those are the things that are prevalent in our planning process we’re trying to develop better online and virtual ways to continue with the planning process. It’s that much more efficient. Yes, coming out of the pandemic it’s been a matter of growth and re-energizing our business and our personal base.

JG: You have been the mayor for over 20 years as mentioned earlier, so you’ve seen ways to change communication. You are very pro-active when it comes to social media, how important has that been?

MB: In terms of communicating with people you want to use every tool that you have in your arsenal. Social Media is accepted by so many people in our community so it’s an opportunity for us to communicate what’s going on. In a most positive sense, it enables the city to reach out and get a message across.

JG: There’s another subject that we have talked about in the past when I sit down with you, and that’s climate change. How do you and council and your team look at what’s been going on the last 2 years.

MB: Foremost on our list for analysis and impact is the environment. We have an overall goal under the environmental plan that by 2030 we are going to reduce greenhouse gases by 50 per cent compared to 2007 and by 2050 it will be a neutral situation. There’s lots of things that go into that, the biggest being district energy. So instead of using fossil fuel resources we are using natural resources and they are sustainable and renewable. 

Right now, we’ve got about 5 million square feet that’s on the district energy grid by 2040, 2050 that will go up tenfold. One of the major things that we did this past year because we worked with a private company on the district energy, we got a commitment from Canada Infrastructure Bank for funds, at a very favourable rate so the ability to grow into the future, in this area is assured. Another area we are concentrating on is the city’s fleet. Last year, half the vehicles we purchased were either full electric or hybrid electric. We’ve won awards for that and again we see that as a way of the future to get away from greenhouse gas emissions and to become more sustainable.

JG: Another issue for the citizens is childcare. Can you share any updates in that area.

MB: If you want the young families to live in your community they have to have access to child care. As new buildings are developed, and the city gets amenity space, very often it is used for child care. We added two child care centres this last year and we are about to open another one. We have in the neighbourhood of 600 childcare spaces that are in city owned facilities, private operators but city space. We believe it is helping to provide for the young families. You’ve got one or both parents working and they need that child care. And, working with other levels of government regarding the $10 a day program, what a difference that makes to the working family.

JG: I’d like to put my notes aside and talk about you, for our viewers what do you like to do in your spare time. I don’t sense you have a lot of spare time because I see you at a lot of events which, I know that you have to do in your position. 

MB: Well, a lot of my spare time is private family time and like so many people during the downtime caused by the pandemic it enabled me to return to playing tennis and, I have added a dog to the family. It’s only because of COVID and the shutdown that enabled me to have time to think about either one of them.

JG: When the city re-opened were you out talking to businesses encouraging them, that we will get through this.

 MB: That message was done in a lot of different ways. When everything was shutdown, we did a number of videos talking about what was happening, what our plan was, and how we were going to get through this. 

Attending Richmond Chamber of Commerce and other business and interest group events via Zoom we were able to reassure everyone “we will get through this, and we will get to the time when this will be a thing of the past.” 

JG: You are that rare thing sir, and I put this in perspective you were elected into office a month after 911. If you could go back in time, what is one thing you would tell yourself as a new mayor in 2001?

MB: When you are a new mayor, the learning curve is very significant. I was a councillor for 5 years prior and when I was elected into this position I found that it was very daunting indeed. One’s ability to work with the city comes from the contacts with the city, the residents, the businesses, and the various groups. To go to the events to be part of what’s going on in your community is really the essence of what you’re doing. You have to get out there and work with the entire community and you’re building a rapport. I think any new mayor would understand that. 

For video interview go to richmondsentinal.ca/videos