N E W
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2014
W E S T M I N S T E R
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◗ THE AFTERMATH
Generosity flows for fire victims BY THERESA MCMANUS REPORTER tmcmanus@royalcityrecord.com
Local agencies have been flooded with donations to help victims of Friday’s devastating apartment fire on Ash Street. Within hours of the blaze, residents were contacting local agencies and area schools inquiring how they could help. By the end of the day, the Salvation Army in New Westminster, St. Barnabas Church and the Hospitality Project at Shiloh-Sixth Avenue Church announced they were accepting donations to assist those impacted by the fire. Kary Movers in Surrey also held a donation drive on Sunday to collect clothing and household items. “We have more than we can handle to assist the tenants,” said Kimberly Hayek, triage coordinator at the Hospitality Project. “It’s wonderful.” The City of New Westminster ◗Fire Page 9
For photos of the fire, scan with Layar
Jason Lang/THE RECORD
Building new lives: From left, Rev. Shannon Tennant and Kimberly Hayek, triage coordinator for the Hospitality Project, with the donations that have been dropped off at Shiloh-Sixth Avenue Church to help those who lost everything in the Ash Street apartment fire. The city says support from the community has been overwhelming.
Campaign costs deter potential politicos BY NIKI HOPE REPORTER
nhope@royalcityrecord.com
The cost of campaigning can deter people from running for civic office, according to New Westminster school trustees. The board of education recently responded to a survey from the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development on local election spending and noted that the price to get elected can be a hit to the pocketbook. “I would really like to see us go back to the 1990s,” board of education vice-chair Michael Ewen told trustees at the Jan. 28
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meeting. Ewen wanted to return to the days when school trustee candidates pooled their funds and shared the cost of campaigning. Ewen, along with his fellow labourendorsed trustees, Jonina Campbell, James Janzen and David Phelan, received campaign contributions from unions. Meanwhile, Voice New Westminster trustees, Casey Cook, MaryAnn Mortensen and Lisa Graham, raised money through individual contributions in the last election. The board was asked to provide feed-
back on the expense limits issue last month. Paying for media advertising, pamphlets and postage are among some of the most significant cost pressures for candidates. Raising funds is another challenge, according to trustees. One of the questions on the survey was whether campaign finance issues are different in small communities versus larger ones. Trustees said it is difficult to get elected in a large community as an independent. A potential candidate would have to spend more money because there are more peo-
Stephen Gorrie CELL
ple to reach out to, they noted. In a small community, candidates may spend less and there is likely better name recognition, however, there are more challenges to get their name out if they are not a long-term resident, according to trustees. The other question related to whether finance issues were different for those running for school board versus municipal elections. The board noted that finance issues are different for the two camps, namely because municipal elections generate more interest and more people vote.
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