136 replies to this topic

[Sparky]

^ Good point.

[Victoria Watcher]

My own community is changing very quickly. My neighbours and I didn’t sign up for that, it’s being forced on us. And the residents around here are starting to wonder why Sooke has to grow so fast and add so much density, but Metchosin doesn’t, East Sooke doesn’t, neither does Highlands, etc. That’s eventually going to put more pressure on low density areas of the urban core by virtue of development exhaustion in other communities. And believe me, there are many parts of the CRD exhausted by what’s happening on the construction front. It’s making a lot of people very upset, and this election could very well deliver an anti-growth message.

 

Interesting.  The Sooke Mayor is indeed hell-bent on growth.  The two Metchosin mayor candidates and it looks like every council candidate wants to preserve the rural aspects of the municipality.    

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 03 October 2022 - 06:58 AM.

[Mike K.]

About 25,000 people rely on Sooke's very limited commercial services now. Isn't that crazy? That's a bigger population than Port Alberni, which has about 18,000 people. But PA has a very well developed commercial base, proper road network, in-town transit, in-town jobs, and so on.

 

The other issue is, Sooke can't accommodate the growth it has set out to pursue. There aren't enough planning staff to handle the applications, the sewage plant is at capacity, and the road network is for a town of 10,000 people. People around here are not happy by how the growth has been managed, but it's happening.

[Victoria Watcher]

Well the voters have some choices:

https://www.vicnews....2-whos-running/

[lanforod]

I have no idea how we can even begin to solve this problem when we have 13 different municipalities and sub parts within those municipalities that all have differing desires. Mike raised a very good point. If we focus hard on building up in the core, people who don’t want to live like that will want to move to where they do want to live. Which means demand for more suburban style SFH. That puts pressure on landowners in rural areas like Metchosin, west Saanich, blenkinsop valley, and east Sooke. I do not get the “we must preserve the rural areas” argument when it comes to land close to a major regional core. We need parks, not rural land in the middle of a city.

[dasmo]

This is why I am grateful we are fractured into 13 different municipalities. Hyper localization is how we can defend ourselves from globalism where one desire is being force upon all….
I love parks but we really have no shortage. Rural areas produce and provide different things than parks. Food, other forms of recreation, a lifestyle, etc.

[Mike K.]

Don’t forget though, the 13 are surrounded by water and the urban containment boundary. Eventually everything within will become densified as more and more people arrive here.

If we as a society truly value the lifestyle that is our rural communities, then we have to open up development beyond the current confines. Otherwise, if this is ‘it,’ it’s only a matter of time before rural Saanich goes the way of Gordon Head.

[Sparky]

Especially if Eby has his way.

https://assets.natio...ackgrounder.pdf

[Mike K.]

Especially if Eby has his way.

https://assets.natio...ackgrounder.pdf

 

The spelling mistake in the title bodes well. A little rushed, maybe? There are grammatical goof-ups all over the place. Could this be a fake doc, Sparky?

[Sparky]

I got the link from David Eby’s housing page at the bottom.

https://www.davideby.ca/housing

[Mike K.]

Yikes. They need to polish that up a little.

[Sparky]

…or delete it all together and forget trying to be everybody’s landlord ….and get back to fixing and providing government services.

[Nparker]

They need to be voted out as government ASAP.

[AllseeingEye]

Unlike the vast majority of the candidates who have done little more than stuff our mailbox with flyers, current Esquimalt councillor Tim Morrison actually took the time to knock on our door last Sunday to introduce himself and ask what was important to me/us in the upcoming municipal election. To date he is the only candidate to take the time to engage directly.

 

In addition he hung around long enough, about 20 minutes, to happily answer a few questions I had specific to our property re: tree pruning. Very nice, very congenial fellow. As a result and after perusing his bio on the municipal site, I'll very likely vote for the man.

 

Note to other candidates if the very best you can do is simply clog my mailbox with your mailouts its highly likely the only attention I am going to pay them is when I retrieve and toss them into a blue recycling box. Unread.

[Victoria Watcher]

TC reporter listens to CFAX for an hour, writes article about it.    

 

 

https://www.timescol...saanich-5923847

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saanich mayoral candidate Dean Murdock accused ­incumbent Fred Haynes of foot-dragging on garden suites, affordable ­housing and a ­citizens assembly on amalgamation in a fiery debate on Thursday.

 

Murdock was a three-term councillor over a decade until 2018, while Haynes was elected mayor in 2018.

 

The debate was hosted by CFAX radio and moderated by Ryan Price.

 

Haynes defended his record as mayor and his leadership during the pandemic. Murdock painted the current mayor’s leadership as one that puts excessive planning and studies ahead of action.

 

Murdock also raised the issue of council’s costly firing — including a $600,000 payout — of former chief a­dministrative officer Paul Thorkelsson in November 2021 so council could “go in a new direction,” saying he has seen no evidence of what that direction is.

 

Murdock said he experienced as a councillor how “traumatic” the firing of a previous CAO was to the organization, arguing that taxpayers expect council and staff to co-operate and that “adults can work together to get the job done.”

 

He pointed to an eight-year process on garden suites, a housing strategy that has yet to produce housing, a nine-year development of the Shelbourne ­Valley Action Plan, as well as the ­yet-to-be-established citizens assembly on amalgamation or service integration between Victoria and Saanich, first proposed in 2018.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 October 2022 - 04:07 AM.

[Sparky]

^ Murdock came across as a spoiled brat running for a high school student council.

 

He didn't talk much about how he was planning on accomplishing his platform of building affordable homes and walkable neighbourhoods. The affordable ship sailed long ago and I have no idea of how to make the area's largest municipality walkable. Dean's idea is to add more coffee shops.

 

https://www.deanmurdock.ca/

 

Fred has bigger goals for parks, garden suites and rental suites on the same property and commercial ideas such as a film school.

 

https://fredhaynes.ca/

 

Watch the debate here https://www.iheartra...bate-1.18601715

[lanforod]

I wish there was a better option than either.

[Victoria Watcher]

It’s standing room only at the Oak Bay all candidates meeting on the Friday evening before the long weekend.

 

That’s typical for Oak Bay, says moderator and political scientist Michael Prince. Voter turnout in the 2018 municipal election was 53.5 per cent, a reflection of the community’s commitment and interest in citizen participation.

 

Kevin Murdoch, who served two terms on council before running for mayor in 2018, has been acclaimed. His priorities are to continue the work on financial planning — the district won the Canadian Award for Financial Reporting — housing reforms and developing plans to revitalize Oak Bay and Estevan villages. He also wants an outdoor pool for the region.

 

The next council will have the chance to make plans and set priorities for the areas around Willows Beach and Cattle Point, areas of extreme importance to the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations, said Murdoch.

 

Council will also be responsible for negotiating a long-term plan for Turkey Head, the Beach Drive property operated by the Oak Bay Marine Group.

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...riority-5941704

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 October 2022 - 05:04 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Esquimalt voters face a classic election dilemma: Shake it up or stick with what’s familiar.

 

With two candidates campaigning for mayor and seven candidates vying for six council seats, only two contenders will find themselves on the outs come Saturday.

 

Incumbent councillors Ken Armour, Jacob Helliwell and Tim Morrison, and newcomers Andrea Boardman, Duncan Cavens, Chris Munkacsi and Darlene Rotchford are on the ballot.

 

Barb Desjardins is hoping for a fifth term as mayor but will have to beat out challenger Sonya Gracey.

 

 

https://www.timescol...quimalt-5941709

[Mike K.]

I bet you Gracey is now hoping she ran for council, where she stood a chance of getting elected.