Future Ready Coquitlam, Growth with Guarantees
A City Built For Tomorrow That Leaves No Resident Behind
Hello,
I'm Madhavee INAMDAR.
Coquitlam must grow, but growth must be matched by infrastructure, accountability, and compassion. I envision a city built for tomorrow, one that plans responsibly, protects its natural assets, supports affordability, and leaves no resident behind.
Cast Your Vote on Saturday, October 17th
Coquitlam needs to grow smarter, not simply larger. We need infrastructure to keep pace with development, transparent value from every tax dollar, and practical support for seniors, families, renters, businesses, and vulnerable residents.
My background in public sector leadership, policy, and ethical governance has prepared me to ask difficult questions, build partnerships, and turn priorities into measurable action.
After speaking to hundreds of residents while door-knocking, I was convinced that Coquitlam's challenges require more than individual council interventions. The city needs new leadership and not more of the same. True leadership is not about maintaining a status-quo or protecting continuity. It is about delivering change for the better with our communities placed squarely first. It is time for change.
Why I'm Running for Mayor of Coquitlam
ABOUT
My Coquitlam Story:
Roots, Resilience and Community
With 22 years of Coquitlam roots and an active community member who logs over 200 kilometers a month walking Coquitlam's trails, I bridge high-level, future-ready Coquitlam with grounded, neighbourhood-first empathy. Over more than two decades, I have worked across public sector and institutional settings, including the Government of B.C., Surrey RCMP, Fraser Health, the University of the Fraser Valley, and the B.C. Lottery Corporation. My experience includes policy design, organizational accountability, ethical frameworks, and bringing community perspectives to city and public-library committees.
I hold post graduate degrees in Strategic Studies, International Relations, and Political Science, alongside certified auditor credentials in AI Management, Ethics of AI from London School of Economics and Oxford Executive Leadership Program from Saïd Business School.
Coquitlam has a strong foundation, but the next phase requires a higher standard. Growth can bring opportunity, but only if infrastructure, affordability, green space, and public services keep pace. I am running for mayor to bring executive leadership to that challenge. Growth with Guarantees, City Hall Accountability, and a City that leaves no resident behind.
Coquitlam is where my family built its life, where I bought my first home, and where my child started school. Coquitlam is not just where I live. It is the community that shaped my Canadian journey.
I am not just a community advocate. I am a forward thinking public sector leader with experience in governance, budgets, technology, and policy. I bring both deep Coquitlam roots and the professional expertise needed to serve our communities well.
A Leadership in Action.
A Career Built on Integrity, Service, and Innovation
LEADERSHIP JOURNEY
From 2006 to 2024, I worked across several B.C. Ministries and public agencies on various initiatives that strengthened public institutions.
20 Years in the Provincial Public Sector
My work with the B.C. Lottery Corporation, Fraser Health, the University of the Fraser Valley, and Surrey RCMP helped advance equity, accountability, and public trust.
Driving Institutional Change
I helped create a B.C. based non-profit focused on ensuring technology serves people, not the other way around.
Co-Founder, Inclusive AI Foundation
I am one of the few certified AI Systems Management and Auditing professionals in North America. As cities adopt digital tools, data systems, and automation, this expertise ensures Coquitlam can innovate safely, ethically and transparently.
Ethical Artificial Intelligence Expertise
SERVING COQUITLAM
Over 20 Years of Local Advocacy
My first fight, the Vanier school closure in Central Coquitlam, was only the beginning. For two decades, I have worked to strengthen Coquitlam’s community life.
Inclusive Municipal Governance
In 2006 for four years, I served on Coquitlam’s first Multicultural Advisory Committee and helped launch the city’s first Multicultural Strategic Action Plan.
Accessible Public Spaces
As a member of the Coquitlam Public Library Advisory, I supported the creation of welcoming, accessible learning spaces for our growing population.
Investing in
Community
As a former Director of the Coquitlam Foundation and Chair of its Multicultural Committee, I helped direct local funding to grassroots community initiatives.
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Describe the service and how your customers or clients can benefit from it.
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MY PLATFORM
A Future-Ready Coquitlam: Growth with Guarantees
#1 GROWTH THAT PAYS ITS FAIR SHARE
Comprehensive plans for every growth area covering roads, water, parks, prospective schools, transit, childcare, and emergency services.
POLICY INITIATIVES:
Annual Infrastructure Scorecard
Tree Canopy & Climate Resilience
Regional Advocacy
Publish an annual infrastructure-capacity scorecard.
Protect and expand tree canopy through measurable replacement and preservation standards, with infrastructure timing/funding plans accounting for extreme weather.
Advocate for provincial and regional funding where municipal tools cannot cover the infrastructure burden.
Development Impact Transparency
Require major growth proposals to identify infrastructure timing, funding sources, and service impacts.
Balanced Housing
Prioritize townhomes, co-ops, rental housing, and family-sized units alongside high-density development.
KEY COMMITMENT
Work with council to ensure that major discretionary growth decisions include a publicly documented assessment of infrastructure capacity, timing, funding, and community amenities prior to approval.
Communities before Big Tech
Public review of high energy AI data facilities.
#2 A CITY HALL: RESIDENTS CAN SEE AND TRUST
Every major program should have a public purpose, a cost, an owner, and a measurable result.
POLICY INITIATIVES:
Independent Value-for-Money Review
Appoint an independent reviewer through a transparent selection process with public Terms of Reference.
KEY COMMITMENT
Within the first 100 days, bring forward terms of reference for an independent City Hall Value-for-Money Review, with the final report and council’s response published within the first 12 months.
Comprehensive Scope
Review management structures, consultants, procurement, overtime, vacancies, technology, and service outcomes while protecting frontline service quality.
Accountability Timeline
Public response issued within 60 days of the final report, followed by annual follow-up reporting for three years.
#3 AFFORDABILITY AND BELONGING
A future-ready city must be affordable and usable for the people already living here.
POLICY INITIATIVES:
Advocate for and design legally viable property-tax relief for qualifying low-income seniors.
Senior Property Tax Relief
Age-in-Place & Inclusive Infrastructure
Business & Wage Standards
Expand accessible recreation, social hubs, shade, seating, and age-in-place infrastructure.
Establish a small-business permitting service standard. Seek council support for Coquitlam to become a recognized living-wage employer with a phased, costed, and transparently reported transition for applicable municipal contracts.
Evidence-Based Rental Policy
Conduct a feasibility and cost review before promising municipal rental top-ups.
Make childcare space a standard consideration in civic and major development planning.
Childcare Standard
KEY COMMITMENT
Work with council to ensure that major discretionary growth decisions include a publicly documented assessment of infrastructure capacity, timing, funding, and community amenities prior to approval.
#4 CONNECTED, SAFE, RESILIENT NEIGHBOURHOODS
Shorter trips, safer streets, and faster help during crises.
POLICY INITIATIVES:
First/Last-Mile Mobility
Develop a first/last-mile transit pilot with TransLink and regional partners.
Extreme Weather Safety
Expand heat-refuge, drinking-water, shade, and extreme-weather response plans.
15-Minute Neighbourhoods
Plan for vibrant 15-minute neighbourhoods supporting small local businesses with shade, water, green space, and climate-resilient public spaces within walking distance of home.
Accessibility Priority Map
Publish a priority map for sidewalks, crossings, cycling connections, and accessible routes.
Integrated Crisis Response
Advocate for provincial responsibility at Riverview while supporting practical local crisis-response partnerships and evaluating integrated outreach teams on response times, repeat calls, housing connections, and safety measures.
“Sue the Big Oil” class-action lawsuit
Join with several other BC Municipalities.
KEY COMMITMENT
Within the first year, publish a city-wide Connected Neighbourhoods Action Plan identifying priority pedestrian, cycling, accessibility, transit, heat-response, and crisis-response improvements with designated partners, costs, timelines, and annual progress reporting.
A City Built For Tomorrow That Leaves No Resident Behind
səmiq̓ʷəʔelə / RIVERVIEW COMMITMENT
Formal Multi-Government Advocacy
Plan (Municipal, Regional, Provincial,
Federal, Health Sector, Indigenous
Partners)
Quarterly Progress Reporting
Long-Term Mental-Health and Addiction Services
Public Funding Ask
In 135+ years of Coquitlam's incorporated history, our city has elected only one woman Mayor. Representation isn't just about breaking barriers, it's about bringing executive oversight, diverse lived experience, empathy, and modern collaborative governance to City Hall.
As Mayor, I wouldn't hesitate to ask tough questions and advocate fearlessly for the resources our community deserves. True leadership requires the courage to stand up for equitable policies and systemic accountability.
I will continue building meaningful partnerships and shared decision-making frameworks with local First Nations (Kwikwetlem First Nation), building awareness and action among the non-indigenous communities beyond offering Land Acknowledgements.
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