31 replies to this topic

[yodsaker]

I was happy to see him announce. Hopefully he will bring some youthful energy and enthusiasm to a pretty moribund council.

[smasuch]

Corey Burger made fun of my colecovision collection. If he can't treat colecovisions with respect, I have grave concerns for his professionalism in office.

[Bernard]

Corey Burger made fun of my colecovision collection. If he can't treat colecovisions with respect, I have grave concerns for his professionalism in office.

This is Oak Bay council we are talking about, professionalism is not of the scale of a serious municipal government

[Layne French]

I'm glad to see Corey take another run at office. I met him when I was still attending Camosun, and had the opportunity to have decent conversations with him. Good luck Corey.

[skeptic]

This is Oak Bay council we are talking about, professionalism is not of the scale of a serious municipal government

That's not very fair--the Oak Bay councillors take their jobs seriously and spend a lot of unremunerated time on it. The council is not immune to councillors pushing political agendas but then neither is any other municipality (Dean Fortin, anyone?). Nils Jensen seems to be on a "green" kick--pushing densification of Oak Bay (aka legalizing secondary suites) and in my view that is a provincial NDP agenda--he wants to try for the NDP leadership again with a "look at my green achievements stuffy old Oak Bay" platform.

[Bernard]

I may have been snide, but the I think the comment if very fair. There is rational reason for Oak Bay council to meet as often as they do.

Ultimately Oak Bay is an artificial construct that is not a whole community and seems to primarily exist to give municipal staff and the elected politicians jobs.

[yodsaker]

I may have been snide, but the I think the comment if very fair. There is rational reason for Oak Bay council to meet as often as they do.

Ultimately Oak Bay is an artificial construct that is not a whole community and seems to primarily exist to give municipal staff and the elected politicians jobs.

Bernard, you have a mad on about Oak Bay. Is it because you can't afford to live there?
Stuff the bovine feces, please. Enough already.

[Bernard]

Bernard, you have a mad on about Oak Bay. Is it because you can't afford to live there?
Stuff the bovine feces, please. Enough already.

I dislike it because it means we have a lower quality of governance in the whole region.

If Oak Bay had some rational geographic boundaries, if it was an actual legitimate community, I would be fine with it. But as it stands, James Bay would make a lot more sense as a local government than Oak Bay.

I have the same complaint about View Royal.

A local government to work effectively needs encompass the area where you work, live and shop. If it does not do that for the majority of people, it should not exist because it hinders good governance and good planning.

[Bingo]

I dislike it because it means we have a lower quality of governance in the whole region.

If Oak Bay had some rational geographic boundaries, if it was an actual legitimate community, I would be fine with it. But as it stands, James Bay would make a lot more sense as a local government than Oak Bay.

I have the same complaint about View Royal.

A local government to work effectively needs encompass the area where you work, live and shop. If it does not do that for the majority of people, it should not exist because it hinders good governance and good planning.

Why aren't you running for office somewhere, and see how far you can go with your brand of logic?

[skeptic]

A local government to work effectively needs encompass the area where you work, live and shop. If it does not do that for the majority of people, it should not exist because it hinders good governance and good planning.

In other words you are promoting amalgamation of all of southern VI into a single municipality, a move that would completely eliminate municipal accountability and be a boon for career politicians and municipal employees (whose pay grades would all rise to the whatever was the highest in the unamalgamated region).

By the way Oak Bay councillors get $5K each per year (if memory serves) so I don't think you can really accuse them of wanting Oak Bay to continue so they can keep their "jobs" as councillors.

[jklymak]

In other words you are promoting amalgamation of all of southern VI into a single municipality, a move that would completely eliminate municipal accountability and be a boon for career politicians and municipal employees (whose pay grades would all rise to the whatever was the highest in the unamalgamated region).

Presumably you'd need a lot fewer municipal employees. Does it make sense that OB, Victoria, and Saanich all have separate engineering and planning departments?

[skeptic]

Presumably you'd need a lot fewer municipal employees. Does it make sense that OB, Victoria, and Saanich all have separate engineering and planning departments?

How would you get that past the unions? As for non-union employees, I lived in Ottawa during amalgamation and two years later staffing was 20% higher than the sum of the staffing of the pre-amalgamation municipalities. The efficiency drum is banged often to support amalgamation but the reality is large empires strive to get larger, and the lack of local accountability in monster municipalities makes empire-building a whole lot easier.

[Mike K.]

If there is appetite for discussing the redundancy of or praise for small municipalities in the CRD we can create a separate thread for the issue, but let's focus on Mr. Burger's campaign in this thread.

[Bernard]

Why aren't you running for office somewhere, and see how far you can go with your brand of logic?

I could not find a campaign manager and get commitment of enough money - which is yes still off topic

[Coreyburger]

Wow, I get busy with work for a few days, forget to check VV, and saw this. Amused.

On a more serious note, it should be an interesting campaign, with three open seats.

Anyway, back to work...

[VicHockeyFan]

What's his take on the Tinto rocks?

Can this still be a viable rock band?

[Mike K.]

Corey, just curious what are your thoughts are on the lingering infrastructure deficit and would you support rezoning applications for commercial developments and/or higher density developments to help deal with the upcoming surge in taxes?

[Bernard]

I am curious what the state of infrastructure is in Oak Bay. Some of the streets in South Oak Bay have been ignored long enough that I suspect they will need a full rebuild at some point and not just a new paving job.

[Coreyburger]

One all candidates debate done. One more this Tuesday.

to answer the two questions above

Corey, just curious what are your thoughts are on the lingering infrastructure deficit and would you support rezoning applications for commercial developments and/or higher density developments to help deal with the upcoming surge in taxes?

I am curious what the state of infrastructure is in Oak Bay. Some of the streets in South Oak Bay have been ignored long enough that I suspect they will need a full rebuild at some point and not just a new paving job.

Infrastructure deficit: The Municipal Engineer isn't all that worried about the state of the sewage insfrastructure, largely because all the lining work they have been doing. However, he is worried about the roads. I want to see a total inventory of all the roads in Oak Bay, which all-mode traffic volumes and current state, to allow staff and council to develop a priority list, that we can then make public. And then we can say "we can afford to repave X km of roads each year". It would also allow us to more systematically apply for grants for road rebuilding and active transportation infrastructure,both of which Oak Bay has done quite badly in the past (especially grants for active transportation).

Density: I completed support targetted density in urban villages, such as Estevan, the main Village, and a few other places. I also support more townhouses and apartments along major corridors. An example of a project that I would have supported would be the failed development attempt in Estevan Village a few years ago, for a four story building on the SE edge.

[Bingo]

I am curious what the state of infrastructure is in Oak Bay. Some of the streets in South Oak Bay have been ignored long enough that I suspect they will need a full rebuild at some point and not just a new paving job.

What streets are you referring to?

Many of the residents are happy with some of the roads that have a country feel. They don't want sidewalks or the removal of trees to widen the road and make it more of a speedway. Oak Bay also has many back lanes, that are just fine.

Because much of Oak Bay is bounded by the ocean, there is less traffic speeding through the neighbourhoods to get to the next municipality.