Municipal Election Watch – West Shore of Vancouver Island, BC
Updates on Rob Martin in Colwood, Herb Haldane in Sooke, and Mike Hicks in Juan de Fuca
As published in the June 8, 2018 issue of West Shore Voice News
This week, Colwood Councillor Rob Martin was the only one on council who voted against 2nd reading of the 2nd draft of the City of Colwood Official Community Plan (OCP), aka Bylaw 1700. A 2018 Colwood mayoralty candidate, Martin has for a few months now voiced his concerns about the draft OCP still causing concern for the west shore development community. Developers feel that some of the sections in the OCP could lead to pushing up housing prices in Colwood. Housing prices in Colwood are already higher each month than in Langford or Sooke. “The development community has clearly stated that unless material changes occur within Colwood’s OCP, we have essentially closed Colwood to business,” Martin told West Shore Voice News this week. Martin operates his own business, Precise Surgical. He serves as Chair of the Greater Victoria Public Library board.
It’s not often that you see one candidate run for two positions in the same election. But coming up this fall, former District of Sooke Councillor Herb Haldane is back in the game with a footprint in two camps: running for a council seat in the District of Sooke and also for the position of Juan de Fuca Electoral Area (JDFEA) director. To the Sooke council he would bring two terms of experience (2008-2011 & 2011-2014). He says his run at the JDFEA position is so he can have a seat at the CRD board table, as he sees problems with regional governance. In 2014 Haldane ran against Maja Tait for mayor; Tait achieved a 2-to-1 win. In JDFEA, Haldane will be up against 3-term JDFEA director Mike Hicks. Haldane is a home builder in the Sooke area.
JDFEA director Mike Hicks says he is running “for the last time” in the upcoming October 2018 election. Hicks has stood up for water rights in the unincorporated JDFEA and over the years helped guide the preparation of official community plans in the area, toward the CRD’s finalization of the Regional Growth Strategy which finally occurred around the end of 2017. JDFEA includes East Sooke, and areas west of Sooke out to/ including Port Renfrew. Hicks has also served as the chair of the SEAPARC commission for the past few years; he produced a successful referendum to see SEAPARC get some expansion renovations (soon underway). Hicks and his family operate a B&B in the Sooke area.
>> As first published in the June 8, 2018 issue of West Shore Voice News (page 4)
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