Doing things better: collaboratively, sensitively, respectfully and creatively is why Delta Coun. Anne Peterson says she has decided to seek another term in office.
“I’ve learned much and want to learn more. I’ve done much and know I can do more. There is work to be done. That’s why I ran in 2008 and why I’ve decided to run again.”
Peterson is the liaison, member or chair of numerous local and regional committees and commissions. Locally, Peterson’s hard work has led to a Heritage BC Award of Honour for the Delta Heritage Commission. She has established a working relationship between the Delta Child and Youth Committee and the city leading to a needed drop-in after-school program at a North Delta Elementary with possible expansion to other schools in the new year. Peterson was the founding chair of the Delta Seniors Planning Team.
“There is the potential to do much more together – to identify overlaps in service to avoid wasting resources and to share resources where the need is great but the money isn’t,” says Peterson.
She is working to create a steering committee to address the needs of non-profits and service providers in Delta.
In her first year on council, Peterson was elected to leadership roles on the executives of both the Lower Mainland Treaty Advisory Committee and the Lower Mainland Local Government Association. Further, the Fraser Valley Regional Library board made Peterson their representative at the provincial BCLTA. Of particular note for Peterson was chairing the organizing committee for May 2011’s LMLGA conference, “Challenging the Status Quo.”
“We sought to challenge the fiscal reality of only eight cents of every tax dollar going to local government. Further, not much more than half of every property tax dollar collected stays in the municipality – school tax, which is a misnamed provincial property tax, takes just over a third. Translink hits us hard, as does Metro Vancouver expansion plans for both water and sewer. Property taxes should not be the default go-to for all projects and services that the province and the federal governments require us to provide but don’t want to pay for. The status quo doesn’t work. We need to do better.”
Peterson, first elected to council in 2008, has degrees from UBC and SFU in the social sciences and is a life-long advocate for communities. She is a 16-year resident of Delta with her husband and two daughters.