The questions are:
2008 Election Questions for a Better Downtown Victoria
Working with the Province
The mayor and council of the capital city must be able to foster and nurture a new, more collaborative relationship with the province. Are you able to sit down with the province to determine its long-term facility needs, and then protect the future of Victoria's public sector jobs by making sure that we have the capacity (amenities, flexible policies, etc.) to meet those needs? Additionally, we hear rumours of a potential 10-year reduction of the provincial civil service by one-third. Are you acquainted with this information and if yes, what in your view are its implications for the Victoria economy, and what strategies would you propose to mitigate the impacts?
How will you work productively with the province on issues where a partnership is needed such as; the replacement of the Belleville Terminal; substantive progress on the Harbour Walkway; carrying out the goals of the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness; and the creation of a new Central Library?
The Social Health of Downtown
There are 214 Non Profits funded by the United Way in Victoria. Funding Analysis shows that their volunteer base and number of funders is declining. Many of these Non Profits are charged with providing essential services for the social health of Victoria. Now that the economic climate is weakening these services are more important than ever. How would you work to support Non Profits in the community, and what role do you see the City playing in helping keep this sector strong?
We have a Coalition to end Homelessness, we have a plan, but we don't have all of the organizations working together yet. The new mayor and council will be charged in ensuring that this is resolved or the Coalition will not be successful and the problems will only get worse. How do you propose getting all 214 non-profits to come to the table and work together under the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness to provide a more seamless provision of services to those in need and stop providing a duplication of services and therefore a waste of valuable funding?
Making Plans into Realities
The City planning department, in cooperation with community associations and other stakeholder groups has created some excellent plans to ensure the success and vitality of downtown. Unfortunately some of these plans have been "in the works" for many years without much tangible progress on the ground. In particular we are concerned about the following four plans:
1. The Downtown Plan Review - the City needs not just to adopt this plan but also to consider how to activate it, fund it, and make sure things come to pass.
2. The Harbourfront Walkway Plan, which would connect the harbour from Ogden Point all the way up to the Selkirk trestle. Two key areas are the Belleville Terminal and the Blue Bridge.
3. An excellent plan adopted in 1992 entitled the Downtown Beautification Strategy which seems to have fallen into disuse.
4. The Greenways Plan which will make our city a more sustainable, walkable and liveable place. More on Greenways here.
Are you aware of all these initiatives? How will you move these ideas out of the "plans and incentives stage" and towards action and results?
Stewardship of Downtown
Much of the progress downtown Victoria has made over the last few years has been the result of a very strong economic climate. There are signs that this climate is weakening, and the question on our minds is, have we made enough progress to sustain ourselves over the coming times?
What kind of responsibility are you willing to take providing diligence in monitoring the health of downtown retail and services?
Are you willing to take a stand in supporting more residential density downtown as part of ensuring environmental, social and economic sustainability?
Are you prepared to take leadership in ensuring that downtown provides the cultural and educational resources appropriate to it's role as the hub of the provincial capital?
How hard will you work on issues such as building a new and up-to-date Central Library, and encouraging institutions such as the Art Gallery, or University to come downtown?
Are you prepared to support the revitalization of the Belleville Terminal as the Transportation Gateway to Victoria?"