Basics for Babies PAGE 44
TUESDAY December 16, 2014 • www.langleytimes.com NEWS Gifted With a Place to Park
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ARTS & LIFE Standing Up For the Little Guy
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SPORTS Chevrier Joins Clan
Langley mayors vote for transit tax
She’s the girl who saved Christmas NINE-YEAROLD SPARKED CAMPAIGN TO SAVE WILLIAMS PARK DISPLAY
TOWNSHIP MAYOR PR EDICTS IT WILL PASS, CITY MAYOR LESS CERTAIN DAN FERGUSON Times Reporter
DA N F E R G US ON Time s Re po rte r
Langley Township Mayor Jack Froese thinks a majority of Metro Vancouver residents will vote for a sales tax increase to fund transit improvements while Langley City Mayor Ted Schaffer thinks it will be a tough sell. “I am optimistic that it will pass,” Froese told The Times Thursday after Metro Vancouver mayors, including Froese and Schaffer, voted 18-3 to hold a referendum on hiking the provincial sales tax within the region by 0.5 per cent to fund a $7.5-billion package of transit upgrades. “I don’t think it’s going to be an easy yes vote,” Schaffer said. It is the first Canadian referendum on transit funding. Froese said cities in the United States, like Seattle, have found voters will support a higher sales tax if it means better public transit. JAC K Froese said the vote came FRO E S E down to three options; a carbon tax, a vehicle tax or the sales tax increase. The carbon tax and vehicle tax would cost the average household about $230 a year, while the sales tax would cost about $125 which “comes out to the least impact to Langley residents” Froese said, adding it would also have even less impact on low-income residents. A vehicle tax would be especially unfair to Langley residents, who have to rely on vehicles due to a lack of public transit in the area, Froese told The Times.
Sara Walmsley now has a tree named after her. The lights on “Sara’s tree” were turned on with thousands of other lights and Christmas decorations at Williams Park, less than a month after the nine-year-old started a campaign to restore the annual event after it was cancelled because of theft. Thieves had made off with around $10,000 worth of lights stored at the park some time in October. It was the second theft in two years. Sara’s campaign to replace the stolen lights and save the event started the ball rolling. As donations and offers of help flooded in, Christmas in Williams Park Society president Barb Sharp announced “a leap of faith” and said the park would light up from Dec. 11 to Dec. 21. On Thursday, the lights were officially turned on. Township Mayor Jack Froese introduced Sara to her tree. “It’s really cool,” Walmsley said as she watched the lights flicker. The park will be open to visitors to drive through and admire the lights from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. each night. The event is free, but donations are welcomed to support next year’s volunteer-run event. Williams Park is located at 238 Street and 68 Avenue.
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DAN FE R GUS ON Langley Time s
Sara Walmsley, 9, stands next to “Sara’s tree” at Williams Park. It was named to honour her campaign to save the Christmas light display, which opened Thursday night. For a complete list of light displays in Langley, see page 39.
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