Adil Awan, Candidate for council, City of Richmond

I’m really excited to be running for city council for the City of Richmond in the upcoming election. I ran in 2014 and had a great experience. I learned that citizens of Richmond were frustrated with council of the day and were looking for change. As I meet with residents, that frustration has grown even more so with the current council. The citizens of Richmond want to elect a councillor who will look after their needs and not the special interest groups. I know that the City of Richmond has issues regarding development, Massey Tunnel project, affordable housing and community and cultural diversity. These issues were important in 2014 and they are at the forefront more so today. In the previous election, the 2 major parties collected almost $250,000 in donations from the development community. These parties have led the way in catering to special interest groups and have forgotten about everyday Richmond residents. Let’s bring city hall and council back to the people of Richmond. I am running independently in order to bring “the voice of the people to city hall and exclusively answer to the residents of Richmond” without being tied to specific party interests. Since emigrating from Uganda in 1974, my family and I have called Richmond home. Currently, I am employed as an air transport pilot based at YVR. In aviation, communicat ion is absolutely critical to a pilot’s work, and I want to bring the same kind of mind set to City Hall where greater dialogue and two-way communication is absolutely necessary. I am an alumni of 655 Air Cadet Squadron and a graduate of Quilchena Elementary, Burnett Jr. High and Richmond Senior High (1984). The values of hard work, persistence and dedication were instilled upon me by my parents, Mahmood and Mahmooda Awan at a very young age. I will bring the same values as councillor to City Hall. I hope to tackle the city’s housing crisis, transportation and infrastructure and advocate for increased transparency at city hall. Please check my website as I will be posting new information about the issues and current events. Thank you for your support