Abbotsford’s longest standing councillor has announced that she is seeking re-election on Oct. 15.
Patricia Ross, who has served on council for 28 years, said her focus will be on sustainability.
“Caring for the environment, being climate-resilient, while ensuring a strong economy and creating a home community that all feel welcome, respected and cared for has always been the way I approach decision-making – and always will be,” she said.
“Environment, economy and social issues are not, in fact, in conflict. We cannot be a strong community without attention to all three.”
Ross, who was first elected to council in 1994, is vice chair of the Fraser Valley Regional District and president of the Lower Mainland Local Government Association. She said this has provided her with a good knowledge base of issues as well as excellent relationships with municipal, provincial and federal representatives.
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Ross is also a fellow of Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD) International, a research and training institute committed to fostering leadership in sustainability worldwide.
She graduated from the program in 1996 and has helped train subsequent students and has spoken about sustainability at forums locally and internationally.
Ross said the LEAD training has provided her with “the knowledge to use forward thinking with balanced decision-making skills considering the economic, social and environmental impacts.”
Prior to being elected to council, Ross ran a successful business providing recycling collection services to businesses and multi-family complexes. She is chair of GroYourBiz Fraser Valley, a mentoring and advisory board for women in business and is also a published author.
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Ross has been given many awards for her community work, including from the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce, the Abbotsford Rotary Club, the Soroptimist Club and the Youth Commission.
She has also received the Queen’s Jubilee Medal and was named Abbotsford’s Woman of the Year in 2009 from the Business and Professional Women’s Club.
Ross has been voted Abbotsford’s favourite politician every year since 2018 and has topped the polls in every election since at least 2002. She can be contacted at 236-380-1942.
Ross joins 15 others who have so far announced their intention to seek one of the eight council seats in the municipal election on Oct. 15. The others are: incumbents Dave Sidhu, Les Barkman, Dave Loewen, Sandy Blue and Kelly Chahal, as well as Dao Tran, Tom Norton, Bharathi Sandhu, Steve Pimm, Alex Mitchell, Simon Gibson, Patricia Driessen, Reann Gasper, Mark Warkentin and Gurnoor Sidhu.
Two people – Manjit Sohi and current councillor Ross Siemens – have announced they are running for mayor.