Hello friends,
This newsletter is less of a Council recap and more of an election campaign look at August and what is ahead. We don’t have meetings in August- neither Council nor any advisory committees. This August, you’ll have likely seen many posts about the upcoming election on October 17. And hopefully, I have either seen you on the doorstep or I will soon.
If you want to come door-knocking with me, or want a lawn sign, please fill in this volunteer form .
Over the course of door knocking, here are some common themes I’ve heard:
Ioco pedestrian and active transportation infrastructure
Need to upgrade and make it safer for people trying to cross the street, especially near the rec centre
Infrastructure concerns – these are mostly related to the hospital and our schools
I’ve written about the underfunded hospital and lack of an MRI here .
Funding for schools is always after the fact, and both the current Council and the school board are in close communication about expected growth and the plans for our city and school-aged children.
Traffic – what’s the plan?
Traffic calming on St George St: see below.
Traffic on St Johns St: read the details on my website, Ask Sam, under Traffic and Transportation
Less common are complaints about taxes and towers.
If you are interested in taxes and how the rates have changed over the last four years, please read this blog: Tax Rates Over Time
If you are interested in housing and affordability, I’ve written two blog posts on this subject: Part 1: Housing and Affordability in Port Moody and Our Region and Part 2: What are we building and for whom?
Traffic Calming on St George St St. George Street is identified as a neighbourhood bikeway that uses a traffic-calmed, shared-road approach for cyclists and motorists, and the City currently has several initiatives underway along the corridor that are intended to improve safety and help manage vehicle speeds and volume.
One of these initiatives is the planned upgrade of the Hugh Street and Williams Street intersections, which will convert the existing two-way stop control to a four-way stop-controlled intersection. The project also includes the installation of delineators, roadway signage, crosswalks, and pavement markings to improve pedestrian safety and reduce potential conflicts between road users. The project is partially complete and is currently awaiting design updates to address field conditions identified during construction.
Traffic calming measures have also been implemented through a combination of City and development-related improvements. A development-related improvement incorporated speed humps into the road upgrades between Buller Street and Williams Street, as well as between Hugh Street and Moody Street. Through the City’s Speed Hump Program, the Transportation Committee endorsed installing speed humps between Hugh Street and Williams Street, as well as between Albert Street and Douglas Street. The City completed installation of speed humps between Hugh Street and Williams Street in 2025, with the Albert Street to Douglas Street section completed in 2026. These corridor-wide traffic calming measures are intended to reduce operating speeds and improve safety for all road users. The remaining section of St George Street to be considered in the speed hump program will be between Douglas Street and Elgin Street.
Staff are also reviewing opportunities to incorporate additional traffic-calming features on the section of St. George Street adjacent to Kyle Park as part of the Kyle Centre Redevelopment project. Given the significant recreational and pedestrian activity associated with the park and community facilities, the project is being viewed as an opportunity to further enhance safety and encourage lower vehicle speeds in this area.
Collectively, these projects represent a coordinated approach to improving traffic operations and road safety along the St. George Street corridor. Staff will continue to advance these initiatives and monitor conditions as the various projects move forward.
Side note: Road murals also work as traffic calming, as demonstrated in many other cities. Check out this guide: Asphalt Art Guide – How to Reclaim City Roadways and Public Infrastructure with Art
Campaign Campaign kick-off was July 11, and it has been busy ever since. A huge thanks to all my early donors who have helped get this campaign off the ground.
I still believe that elections should be publicly funded. Provincial parties receive public funding after all. There are examples of cities (usually much larger ones) matching small donations, but I think there is a lower-cost way for this to happen by providing access to the same resources, e.g. like how VoteMate provides a platform with the same format for all candidates. A quick back-of-the-envelope calculation based on 2022 election spending shows that this would cost us approximately $20 per household per year. I believe it would open the door to more diverse candidates. Unfortunately, my joint motion with Cllr Knowles on publicly funded elections was not supported by our peers at the 2023 LMLGA conference
I am especially proud of all the motions I’ve advanced over this term, many in partnership with my colleagues. Topics range from protecting rental housing to asking the province to share gaming revenues to motions aimed at making our daily lives a little better.
If you want to get involved in my campaign or can donate, I would be very grateful. Campaigns require money, and any assistance you can provide is welcome.
How to help Everything helps, no matter how big or small. $25 helps buy some stickers for my lawn signs that I am re-using. $50 pays for printing 83 postcards.
Thank you for all your support. ❤️
To get involved , please fill in the Volunteer Form .
To donate by cash or cheque, please get in touch with my financial agent, Marshal, at fa@samantha-agtarap.ca .
To donate by e-transfer, please complete this form and send the e-transfer to fa@samantha-agtarap.ca
Other Things Do you need a doctor? Register at the Health Connect Registry . The ministry uses this to measure need in a region. Signing up helps to demonstrate that primary care physicians are needed in specific areas.
Have you signed up for the Port Moody Events Newsletter ? If not, email pomonewsletter@gmail.com . (I am not affiliated with the newsletter, just sharing a community resource.)
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