My path to being elected to the Vancouver park board wasn’t exactly traditional. As a single mother involved in youth advocacy through groups like the Environmental Youth Alliance and the Vancouver Skateboard Coalition, party politics was most definitely not on my radar.

I was involved in my community because of some fundamental objectives I held true: my desire to improve the community for my son, my hope to bring voices that aren’t traditionally heard to the table, and my enthusiasm for getting young people involved in broader decision making.

Founded in my activist background, I am interested in getting things done. I am proud of the fact that the efforts of our coalition were able to be a driving force behind the development of six new skate parks. This is just one example of how I and others were able to speak about issues that were important to young people and achieve some success in advancing their causes.

When I was approached by Gregor Robertson in 2008 to run for the Vancouver park board, I was hesitant because I wasn’t sure that I would be any more effective in getting these types of issues onto the agenda.

Well, it is now three years later, and in my campaign to once again serve as your park board commissioner, I am fully convinced of the power for change that can come from elected office.

My vision for Vancouver is green, artistic, open, diverse, and, most importantly, community driven. The park board has the potential to embody these principles, and Vision Vancouver has done a fantastic job of harnessing the energy of our neighbourhoods in moving forward.

The Greenest City Action Plan and, more specifically, the stewardship plan begun for Beaver Lake in Stanley Park, the commitment to sustainable practices in urban agriculture, and the locally designed renewal of neighbourhood parks like Collingwood, Grandview, and Oppenheimer are leaving lasting legacies for the next generation.

I am proud of a motion that I forwarded and was passed which will allow vacant field houses across the city to host a new artist-in-residence program.

I was excited to take part in the most extensive public consultation in the history of the park board to design the upcoming strategic plan. Public input into the future of the park board has never been more active and robust than in the first three years of Vision Vancouver’s time in office.

At the end of the day, this is the path that I am devoted to continuing. Reaching out to those segments of Vancouver’s population who have never had a foothold in park board business, or have had little exposure to all that the park board has to offer, is so very important.

There needs to be advocacy amongst park board commissioners so that these voices are always listened to. In my view, it is our obligation to go out and seek the opinions, issues, concerns, and questions of those who don’t always have the know-how or opportunity to make an impact.

I have been on the outside, and experienced the frustration and overwhelming nature of dealing with the city in the past.

What I and Vision Vancouver represent is a new approach premised on outside of the box ideas, the initiation of positive legacy projects that are changing the face of our city, and a willingness to move forward with as many perspectives involved as possible.

It has been a privilege to serve as your representative over the past three years, and I humbly ask for your vote on November 19 to continue to serve and represent the best interests of Vancouver residents.

Sarah Blyth is seeking reelection as a Vision Vancouver park board commissioner.