THE ALBION COMMUNITY CENTRE WILL BE RUN BY COMMUNITY WORKERS Thank you Maple Ridge Council for keeping our Albion Rec Centre run by community workers! Because of letters from you, and other Maple Ridge residents, the new Albion Community Centre will not be contracted out! Send a thank you message to Maple Ridge City Council for their unanimous vote to keep the new Albion Rec Centre run by public workers. TAKE ACTION NOW: Use the form letter below to thank Mayor and Council for keeping our rec centre public, and please feel free to add or change elements if you’d like to customize your letter, or you can just click to send the letter as is. First Name * Last Name * Email Address * Postal Code Representatives Judy Dueck (Councillor), City of Maple Ridge Mike Morden (Mayor), City of Maple Ridge Chelsa Meadus (Councillor), City of Maple Ridge Gordy Robson (Councillor), City of Maple Ridge Kiersten Duncan (Councillor), City of Maple Ridge Ryan Svendsen (Councillor), City of Maple Ridge Ahmed Yousef (Councillor), City of Maple Ridge Your Letter * Thank you for your recent decision to directly operate the new Albion Community Centre and not contract out this important public facility. Thank you for also taking the public’s comments and concerns into account in coming to your decision. I appreciated hearing council report on their receipt and consideration of correspondence and that our elected leaders take seriously the input received from voters. There were a number of important points made by members of council at your February 25th meeting, and I would like to highlight several that resonated with me as a citizen and taxpayer: - Residents should not be forced to take out memberships or provide their personal data to private third parties in order to access public services; - There has been no public demand for third-party private operations of our public services; - Maple Ridge offers cutting edge, internationally recognized and award-wining recreation and leisure programs; - The very model used by the YMCA was developed by our own staff in Maple Ridge, and we should not contract a third party to sell us back our own ideas and programming; - The services provided to youth and marginalized communities change and save lives, and these programs are vital for community health and wellbeing; - Union jobs are better for our community because they provide family-supporting wages and benefits, and contracted-out jobs do not; and - Contracting out services means losing control of those services to contractors who are only accountable to terms of reference and are unable to reflect the values of the community in their service provision. In closing I want to reiterate my thanks to Mayor and Council for your February 25th decision to uphold public operation of the Albion Community Centre. I am confident that our services and community will be stronger due to your leadership on this issue. Your signature will automatically be added to your letter. Leave this field blank This campaign is hosted by Canadian Union of Public Employees. We will protect your privacy, and keep you informed about this campaign and others. Powered by New/Mode This campaign is hosted by Maple Ridge City Workers, CUPE local 622. We will protect your privacy, and keep you informed about this CUPE campaign and others.