Victoria Votes sat down with Barry Hobbis on Monday. Hobbis is a former police officer, consultant, and now owner of the Esquimalt Harbour Ferry. He also ran in 2008 for Victoria City Council.
Victoria Votes: This term is shorter than usual, what can we accomplish in a year?
Barry Hobbis: First of all, this is an opportunity to get that learning under your belt. If I get in there for a year, I have a chance to build my understanding of City Hall. Secondly, I want to take the time to encourage others to run in 2011. We need a big change at City Hall, we need to look at getting fresh minds. Frankly I don't think anyone should be running after 3 terms, and we're seeing a lot of that on Council right now.
V V: What's one thing everyone should know about you?
B H: My life experience sets me apart [from other candidates]. I look at everything I've done as connected and apply it to what I'm doing now. I think I can understand public engagement because I've been doing it for years. You don't go from being a police officer into legal publishing to First Nations consulting to running a little ferry company without learning a few things.
I think I'm qualified based on the breadth and depth of my experience. I've done a lot of community work, and that's really what makes me tick, but I'm not a career politician. I just want to get some fresh people in there and get out of their way.
V V: Talk about an issue.
B H: I don't see a lot of people talking about fiscal responsibility. They talk about a lot of important things, but not about how to keep your financial house in order. We talk about tax increases as 3% this year, 4% next year, 2% the year after that, but pretty soon we're looking at a 20% tax increase over the next five years. Take policing as an example. Everybody's policing problems fall into the downtown core and we have to deal with it, but we seem to just accept our rising taxes anyway. We can't stay in that direction – if you spend more than you earn, you go broke. Simple as that.
V V: So what's your solution?
B H: First you go into City Hall and talk to the people who are in charge of spending the money and ask them – what can we do to spend less? Then I think you engage people, you go out into the community and ask them how we can stop spending more than we're earning. You never know where you're going to find the next cost-reducing idea, and that's why we need to go ask.
Then we need to get out of the framework that says taxes are where we increase our revenues. You've got to step outside the box, ask the community what kind of revenues we can find that won't increase taxes. City Hall needs to remember that they're playing with someone else's money, not theirs.
Endless thanks to B Channel News for letting us use their fantastic in depth interviews.
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