Municipal Council & School Trustee races on the West Shore of Vancouver Island: toward the October 20, 2018 election
Friday, September 14 ~ WEST SHORE.
ELECTION WATCH by Mary P Brooke
West Shore Voice News
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Nominations for municipal councils and school boards across BC have closed (as of 4 pm today, September 14) and the races are on! The general election date is October 20.
In the west shore, there is a fair amount of turnover in most of the six municipalities. Even where some mayors are uncontested (Metchosin, Highlands, View Royal), there is a swirl of change at the council level, which could be seen as a desire for change on broader social issues and direction of community. Here’s the rundown (I = incumbent):
LANGFORD: A last-minute candidate for mayor is Langford resident Robert Fraser running against long-time powerhouse mayor Stew Young. Fraser is a computer programmer who says he is responding to concerns in his neighbourhood about rapid growth and housing density. There are eight council candidates vying for six seats: Denise Blackwell (I), Wendy Hobbs, Rick Johal, Matt Sahlstrom (I), Lanny Seaton (I), Norma Stewart, Lillian Szpak (I), Roger Wade (I). Denise, Matt, Lanny, and Lillian have served for several terms, and Roger for two terms. Norma has served on the planning/housing committee for 12 years. Wendy has been an SD62 trustee for over 18 years.
COLWOOD: Well-established mayor Carol Hamilton is being challenged by two-term councillor Rob Martin. Both are well-known to the community. Martin has chaired the Westshore Parks & Recreation board and more recently the Greater Victoria Public Library board. For council there are 11 contenders (three are incumbents) running for six seats: Michael Baxter, Cynthia Day (I), Dean Jantzen, Doug Kobayashi, Gordie Logan (I), Scott McDonald, Eve Millington, Jason Nault (I), Misty Olsen, Stewart Parkinson, and Aaron Weisgerber. Baxter is a former Colwood staffer (engineering). Day has served several terms. Jantzen is a police officer in Saanich. Logan has served two terms. Nault has been strong on environmental issues. Weisgerber is a former View Royal councillor.
SOOKE: There’s a three-way mayoralty race in Sooke. One-term Mayor Maja Tait is being challenged by two-term councillor Kevin Pearson, and local activist Mick Rhodes. Tait is presently on the executive of the Union of BC Municipalities.
>> For council there are 13 candidates (three are incumbents, and two candidates have served on Sooke Council before the 2014-2018 term) vying for the six seats: Rick Armour (served prior), Jeff Bateman, Al Beddows, Doni Eve, Herb Haldane (served prior, two terms), Peter Jonassen, Rick Kasper (I), Ebony Logins (I), Megan McMath, Brenda Parkinson (I), Phil Rossner, Tony St-Pierre, and Jeff Stewart. Bateman ran in 2014 and lost by only a few votes; he is active in Transition Sooke initiatives. Beddows has strong connections in the Lions community. Doni Eve (a recently retired government communicator) is married to Rick Kasper. Haldane ran for mayor in 2014 against Tait. Logins has served one term. St-Pierre operates a farm and is strong on sustainability.
>>Issues in Sooke include growth, housing, and a continued need to keep up with infrastructure and services in their semi-rural location.
METCHOSIN: John Ranns (I) stands uncontested.
>>For council’s four seats there are eight contenders (two of them incumbent): Darren Brown, Brian Domney, Sharie Epp, Norm Hardy, Kyara Kahakauwila (I), Marie-Terese Little, Andy MacKinnon (I), and Jenny Millar. Metchosin with its large tracts of land and rural properties stands proud in its defense of protecting natural greenspace, and works cooperatively with Langford for access to recreation and jobs. MacKinnon ran in 2017 for the BC Green Party.
HIGHLANDS: Ken Williams (I) is running for mayor without competition. Six candidates are running for four seats on council: Leslie Anderson, Ann Baird, Gord Baird, Marcie McLean (I), Karel Roessingh (I), and Rose Stanton.
VIEW ROYAL: David Screech (I) is uncontested as mayor. >> For the four seats on council there are six candidates: Nathan K Daisley, Adam Flint, Damian Kowalewich (I), Gery Lemon, Ron Mattson (I), and John Rogers (I).
>> Lemon has done writing for the federal Liberals. Mattson served on the WestShore Parks & Rec board.
>> View Royal’s central location in Greater Victoria positions the municipality squarely in transportation issues and faces a need for housing density. Victoria General Hospital is within View Royal.
CAPITAL REGIONAL DISTRICT – Juan de Fuca: Mike Hicks is running again to be regional director (incumbent). Also on the ballot is Daniel Yates.
SD62 (Sooke School District 62): The SD62 school district covers a vast geographical area from within View Royal, through Highlands, Langford, Colwood, Metchosin, Sooke, and Juan de Fuca all the way up to Port Renfrew.
>> Depending on which part of the municipality they live in, some View Royal residents vote in SD62 and others in SD61.
>> Voters in SD62 cast their ballots for a subset of candidates in two zones: the Belmont Zone (four seats) is essentially drawn from all west shore areas except Sooke and Juan de Fuca which are in the Milne’s Landing Zone (3 seats).
>> The Belmont Zone race sees three incumbents and five new candidates, therefore eight candidates vying for four seats: Cendra Beaton, Bob Beckett, Russ Chipps, Wendy Hobbs (I), Ravi Parmar (I), Dianna Seaton (I), Blair Sloane, and Trudy Spiller. Beaton was the parent advocate for French in SD62 schools for several years. Beckett is Langford’s former fire chief. Chipps is the chief of Beecher Bay. Hobbs is also running for Langford council in this election. Parmar has served as Chair for part of the 2014-2018 term. Seaton is a long-time Langford resident and has served as Vice-Chair.
>> In the Milne’s Landing Zone in Sooke there are six candidates vying for three seats (three are long-time incumbents): Bob Phillips (I), Neil Poirier (I), Britt Santowski, Margot Swinburnson (I) and Allison Watson. Phillips is currently vice-chair and has been chair of the board; he is retired from a career in social work. Poirier has served two terms. Santowksi is active as online media in Sooke, which could be seen as a conflict of interest. Swinburnson is recently retired from her health care career. Watson ran in a previous school trustee election. [Note: Marian Cvitkovic has withdrawn her nomination]
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