Langford All Candidates Meeting: October 9

Langford Council likely to remain much the same: incumbent mayor and five incumbent councillors

by Mary P Brooke

Tuesday, October 9 ~ LANGFORD.

The turnout was moderate but positive at the 2018 Langford All Candidates meeting at the Langford Legion this evening, October 9, to hear from candidates who are largely incumbents seeking office again on Langford Council. There was at least one other political meeting in Langford this evening (on housing) and another one downtown featuring various mayors of the region (on homelessness).

Long-time Mayor Stew Young — now 26 years on the job — addressed questions about transit, housing and jobs in Langford.

Five of the current six councillors are running again: Denise Blackwell, Matt Sahlstrom, Lanny Seaton, Lillian Szpak, and Roger Wade. They addressed a range of questions on transportation, housing, affordability, and recreation.

Retiring from public office is Winnie Sifert, who attended in the audience and was given accolades by her fellow council members and the room.

New candidates running for a seat on council are Norma Stewart (active on Langford committees) and Wendy Hobbs (a long-time SD62 school board trustee). Also running for mayor is long-time Langford resident Robert Fraser.

Questions drawn at random by the hosting Chamber of Commerce included transit and transportation as relate to commuting; housing availability and affordability in Langford and relation of that to jobs and development here; the economic and community benefits of recreation development (and inter-relation with West Shore Parks & Rec); sewer expansion; and how the BC Speculation Tax is affecting the Langford economy.

Stew Young thanked his “great council” and commended city staff as “the best anywhere” in Greater Victoria. He looks forward to another four years as mayor to continue building recreation, affordable housing and generating jobs from a robust economy and reiterated his views on how more jobs in Langford (particularly relocating government jobs to the west shore) will reduce commuter traffic and be stabilizing for families. He insists that the E&N rail line should be used for buses, to ease up commuter traffic between Langford and Victoria. Stew Young wants to see more federal dollars directed to Langford for transportation infrastructure and housing. In his closing remarks he asked the voters to “pick people that are going to work hard for the community”.

Robert Fraser, running for mayor, spoke about what he sees as needed improvements to staff, zoning and aspects of sewers and development, but praised Mayor Stew Young and council for keeping taxes low over the years and providing affordable housing and transportation improvements.

Matt Sahlstrom seeks another four years on Council. First elected in 2002 he has been part of the expansion of recreation in Langford and says that recreation makes a city complete. He is pleased that professional soccer is coming to Langford.

Norma Stewart has served on various Langford committees over the past 12 years, including the Planning and Zoning committee. She has seen how well Langford has grown including housing for lower-income and youth having job opportunities without having to move away.

Lanny Seaton, long-time councillor, spoke about the commitment of many volunteers, how key partnerships help Langford to grow, and how Council supports local business. He is keen about the success of pedestrian and cycling trails that — once fully connected by CRD — will allow pedestrian-cyclist access from Langford all the way to Esquimalt. He was chaired the parks committee for several years. He wants to see Langford continue to be vibrant, safe and affordable, with a great quality of life. He says Langford’s success is built in large part on the ability of council to establish key partnerships that help achieve affordability, housing and jobs.

Roger Wade says he’s ‘the newbie on council’, having served 10 years. He chairs the transportation committee and is vice-chair of the affordable housing, planning and zoning committee. Roadway installations and improvements over recent years have included the Bear Mountain Parkway, Leigh Road interchange, McCallum Road extension, Millstream Overpass upgrades, Langford Parkway, West Shore Parkway, and soon the full extension of Leigh Road over to Langford Parkway.

Lillian Szpak has served on Langford council since 2002. She has chaired the Protective Services committee for several years and spoke highly of all first responders with particular emphasis on praising the fire department. She said that Langford is heading to the ‘next level’ with great recreation, state of the art schools, and moving forward on arts and culture. “We’re looking at the wonderful future of Langford,” said Szpak.

Denise Blackwell has long been a driving force on Langford council for the development of affordable housing. She sees Langford as a recreation hub for the region, including Rugby Canada based here. She says Langford creates more jobs because the city is business-friendly. “Development pays its own way,” Blackwell said, which helps keep taxes low. “We are a hard-working mayor and council who work together to get things done.”

Wendy Hobbs is running for council (and also again for school board). She supports the development of more affordable housing for families and seniors, and supports continue support for new businesses. Opportunities for post-secondary “that the current council started” are something she hopes to work on.

TRUSTEES: Ahead of the municipal candidates answering that series of questions, the Belmont Zone candidates of Sooke School District 62 (SD62) had one-minute-each to address the crowd from the podium, who spoke in this order (* = incumbent): Ravi Parmar*, Dianna Seaton*, Wendy Hobbs*, Cendra Beaton, Bob Beckett, Trudy Spiller and Russ Chipps. Of seven candidates, there are four seats to fill.

Various aspects of the WestShore Chamber of Commerce leading the evening were handled by Mike Reilly (president), Julie Lawlor (executive director), and Kelly Darwin.