# Introduction
We live in a representative democracy. In a mythical world that means that all elected members make choices primarily based on what their constituents tell them. However that breaks down a lot in modern times - if it ever worked. Significantly, we have something close to 17,000 residents - and council also represents "non-resident property owners" since each property gets 1 vote if owned by a non resident. It is obviously impossible to talk to that many people about every decision. So mostly that means that people with either free time or deep interest come to the open floor at council meetings, but that may or may not be representative of opinions of the community at large for any given meeting.
So knowing what your representative thinks about issues is critical for making an informed vote. Below are my priorities.
- Pass a new OCP. This should have been the first priority of the new council when elected in 2022, procrastination has so far won the day. Our current OCP is from 2010, and due to provincial governance changes, OCP is the end of public input for many developments. Having an OCP from 15 years ago is extremely bad.
- Traffic. There is no issue that impacts residents on a day to day basis more than traffic. Direct ability to control this is limited due to Highway 14 being a provincial responsibility. That said as a district we can do things:
- More long term planning (see below).
- Work with province/school board to return to having school buses be free. If the majority of currently driven kids where switched to busses, it would eliminate the secondary 9am/3pm rush hours.
- Work to increase commercial space in Sooke. More commercial space in Sooke mean less commuting necessary.
- Improved Council Efficiency. As a regular council goer, there is a lot of inefficiency in most meetings - and things that bounce to multiple meetings. For example, this by-election was debated for 15-30 minutes at four different council meetings (including a special council meeting). A lot of delay and time used for no benefit over doing it immediately and not having multiple council meetings with quorum problems. There were potential reasons - federal election related seat(s) and Throup referendum that potentially could've been combined, but that didn't materialize.
- More long term planning. Throup road connector and any other potential borrowing level capital investments needs a referendum to be done. This should've been done years ago not in 2026. Referendums held at the same time as elections are very low cost. We should be using them to get pre-approval and clear community opinion on important topics.
- More parks/infrastructure. Fishy (Broomhill) Park water feature has been closed for many years. It is yet another thing that causes more traffic to have parents taking their kids to Colwood and Langford for water park. Additionally, when that happens, it removes dollars from our community - already next to cheaper big box stores might as well stop there vs taking the time and effort to drive there for no other reason.
We need to prioritize additional parks/green space in the core, more ocean access points and more picnic and child friendly features.
# How would I vote?
All the big picture stuff and my personal priorities are great but most things before council won't be my priorities if elected as 1 out of 6 councillors. So a lot of what matters is how I will make decisions on things before council for voting. There are many factors influencing every single vote. This is my internal prioritization:
- Safety: Example, theoretical future 2nd Sooke river bridge. It is absolutely unsafe we don't have a second route if Sooke rd is blocked so that has to be a priority even though in fiscal terms that is going to be at best not great. Also will encourage more driving and all the negative externalities there. But that lack of a secondary exit in case of fire, car accident, or earthquake is a very large weight on the pro-side of any decision.
- Long Term benefits
- Community Opinion. We aren't doing a referendum or talking to every resident for every vote so it is impossible to be 100% certain but must listen to those that speak up. Listening does not always mean agreeing.
- Fiscal prudence. Long term thinking demands fiscal prudence. As does safety. At the same time, I have no concern about spending money if there is clear worthwhile benefit. Like moving to 3 shift/24hr paid firefighting staff? yes costs money but safety makes that an easy choice. It also isn't just about reducing direct district costs. It is about costs we charge being reasonable and not causing negative effects - such as increasing housing costs.
- Environment. Significantly covered by safety, long term benefits and fiscal prudence (and sometimes community opinion). Anything that reduces fire risk for example is good for a lot of points - but that's not a blank cheque, for example turning the whole of Broom Hill into a gravel covered wasteland would reduce fire risk in the short term but every other aspect would be horrible.
Here are some real examples and how I would have voted and why. (Mostly chosen based on being contentious issues)
- Lions/Sea to Tree development proposals/rezoning of the lot on Murray road. In favour. To me there are a few things here. We are desperately short on commercial space. Yes the property is zoned Public Recreation, but it is privately owned and for many years has been a pile of gravel at one end and trees/grass at the other. So either the city should buy it and make it an official public park (great location for that), or the owner should be allowed to build on it. Currently the Lions could build on it as a clubhouse taking all of the green space if they wanted, but a proposal was made to maintain the greenspace and have a better use on the gravel end - mental and allied health services.
- 2025 By-election. I would have voted to hold this in January/February. Before the federal election. This would have given the new councillor 6 additional months of the term/council meetings and (presumably) entirely ameliorated the federal election period quorum challenges.
# Promises
Promises are dangerous but important. I will only promise that which I'm confident I can and will do. I won't promise to vote a specific way on a specific bylaw. What I can promise is:
- I will seek out community input on relevant matters
- I will listen to the community
- I will do my best to balance growth and our small town way of life
- I will be available and communicative
- I will prioritize safety
- I will work to increase government transparency