Sunday, October 31, 2010

B Channel Interviews

Tired of waiting for us to finish our candidate interviews? B Channel News has been kind enough to provide something interesting to tide you over!

Satiate your hunger for interviews by checking out these awesome videos, where B Channel talks to candidates about their thoughts on poverty.

Victoria Votes will be interviewing Barry Hobbis and Pedro Mora tomorrow, so stay tuned!

V V

Interviews with Paul Brown

We sent our questions to Paul Brown via email, and here are the answers! Also, as usual, the B Channel News and Monday Magazine interviews are at the end.

1. This term is shorter than usual, what can we accomplish over the next year?
To be realistic, greater Accountability for Results, Due Diligence and Transparency on all files and issues.

However one feels about refurbishing or replacing the Blue Bridge, it has been a fiasco and cost us, the taxpayers, dearly. It came out of left field with no warning, there was a lack of due diligence demonstrated exploring all of the viable options and their costs, and as far as transparency, the only thing that was truly transparent was council’s determination pursue their preferred option. If it had been done properly, we would in all likelihood be already on our way to refurbishing or replacing the Blue Bridge and not wasting time and money on a referendum.

Our City’s infrastructure is aging and much of it will soon need to be refurbished or replaced. We cannot afford another Blue Bridge fiasco. 

2. What is one thing that everyone should know about you?

For the past 22 years, I have been a partner in a knowledge based company providing advice, counsel and training on accountability, due diligence, governance and transparency to public servants in provincial, territorial and state governments across the Pacific Northwest.

I want to believe members of council have the best of intentions though are struggling with these principles. I will work with council to integrate these principles into all files, issues and decision making processes.

3. Is there any issue you want to talk about, and what are your thoughts about it?

I do feel strongly there is one particular issue that needs to be at the forefront yet is receiving scant attention and is costing us financially – Regionalization.

I recognize the issue has been kicked around for years, the provincial government is not prepared to step in without an invitation from the municipalities and our neighbouring municipalities for the most part are less than enthusiastic.

Regardless, the fact is the City of Victoria has been and continues to struggle to fund many of the Capital Region’s issues such as policing, homelessness, poverty and transportation with a municipal budget. The most recent example is the comment by the Mayor of Esquimalt that they are unwilling to fund the two police officers to be stationed at the new Rock Bay shelter because it is a regional issue – not an Esquimalt issue.

Particularly frustrating is when I see other candidates saying Victoria needs to take the lead championing the regional transportation issue. This is not an issue that is high on the list for most citizens of Victoria. Few of us experience the daily frustration of the Colwood crawl or the congestion on the Pat Bay Highway. Yes, we should be at the table, however only if our neighbouring municipalities are prepared to come to the table on our regional issues such as policing, poverty and homelessness – and perhaps even the Blue Bridge fits into this category.

I also take note that another candidate states one of their priorities will be to develop better working relationships with neighbouring municipalities. I question this. Yes we need to be at the table and collaborative, however we need to insist they no longer take us for granted.

In summary, our City is facing challenging economic times ahead. We need to show financial prudence and stand up for ourselves on regional issues.

Read Paul Brown's interview with Monday Magazine here

Victoria Votes never gets tired of thanking B Channel News for allowing us to use their videos:

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Interviews with Marianne Alto

Hoo boy, few days since our last post! Rest assured, we will try to do a post every day or two from now on to give you as much information as possible before the election in 3 weeks!

Yesterday, Victoria Votes met with Marianne Alto for an interview. Marianne ran previously in 2005, and was also on the Sooke Town Council several years back. She currently works as a facilitator for businesses as non-profits.

Victoria Votes: This term is shorter than usual – what can we do in the next year?

Marianne Alto: We need to be practical. Assuming that you only have a year, you have to be really precise, you have to understand what can be done at a civic level, and I think that there are two things we can reasonably accomplish over the next year. The first is to organize the relationship between the electorate and civic government. We have more than enough resources available to us to create opportunities for affordable and easy feedback between the electorate and the city, and to accomplish this sets us up to be more effective in 2011. Secondly, I think we can make a significant dent in coordinating people in need, various levels of government, and service providers to accomplish a measurable increase in the number of affordable and transition housing units. I also think we need to look at not just providing housing, but also helping people transition into that housing and build community there.

V V: What's something everyone should know about you?

M A: I have a unique and proven ability to bring extremely opposite people together. You can't put me in a room with any group of people who I can't work with to find a common goal. I think that's a unique skill, and probably something that's needed right now in City Hall.

V V: Anything you want to get out there about an issue?

M A: There are lots of specific issues – Transportation, housing, poverty, the quality of the economy, and so on, but overarching all of that is the need to redefine the relationship between local government and the electorate. Local governments have the most impact on your day to day life, so they MUST have a way to easily include the people they serve in conversations about that service.

With my work as a facilitator, I can't provide a service to my client without constantly connecting with them and checking in to make sure I'm heading in the right direction. Having said that, my client hires me because I'm good at something and they want me to give them the best advice possible. I can't give a client everything, but you work with your client to figure out what you want, your resources, and what you can do.

It all goes back to dialogue, building that relationship, but also being brutally practical about the reality of the situation. You never set your client up to fail, and in this case the city is my client. In the end, we [City Council] are public servants, and overarching all of the specific issues is this relationship. 

Read Marianne Alto's intervie with Monday Magazine here

Thanks yet again to B Channel News  for allowing us to use their fantastic video interviews. You guys continue to rock.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Interviews with Saul Andersen

Victoria Votes did an interview with Saul Andersen, our second candidate interview to date. Andersen is a local cab driver and volunteer, and has been running for office for the past few years, because as he puts it "Apart from being the world's greatest cab driver, I don't know what else to do!".
The questions in bold are what we will be asking every candidate.

VV: This is a shorter term than usual, what do we need to do this year?

SA: Victoria needs to step up and say “Hey, we're a metropolis too!” The first thing I would do is open a fixed site needle exchange, because it's not just for a few people, it's a public health issue. We also need to make this a provincial issue.

VV: Why is a needle exchange a provincial issue?

SA: Because it's a health care issue, and it's not just Vancouver that needs an Insite, what about Victoria, what about Nanaimo or Kelowna? I'd love to go to other Councils in the province and hear their thoughts on this and get together to demand that the Province step up and do their job. Call it a health care centre if you want, maybe the idea of a needle exchange just puts people off, but it is a public health issue no matter what.

We need to bring food security back into out lives. We need to intensify our food production and get people engaged with that. Farming seems to be forgotten in the urban environment, there's a lack of connection with nature and I think we can restore that starting in schools and through City programs. To start with, we have a lot of marketing resources that could be directed toward community initiatives like this.

VV: Anything else for this year?

We need to preserve the local character of Victoria. I didn't understand hegemony until I moved here and saw the Payless turn into Shell, the Starbucks keep popping up on every corner, the Blockbusters and the Wal-Marts. Victoria's character is what makes it worth being here. I don't want to live in a Starbucks culture, and I didn't get that until I started living here.

VV: What's something everyone needs to know about you?

This is me doing my civic duty. I'm not a politician, I'm a citizen, and I think that I can maintain my integrity when I'm in office. I know there are limitations, but if you can't do it from the top down, start with the grassroots. I call bullshit on anybody who thinks they're greener than me. True green economies are not capitalist, acquisition-driven economies. The green party just strikes me as conservatives who feel bad. I'm not hearing anyone else who's advancing a really anti-corporate agenda, and that's what sets me apart from other candidates.

VV: Then why did you get into politics?

SA: When I left University to come here, I was a total nihilist. I figured this would be a great place to put my feet up and watch the world collapse, but things just seemed to keep going, Starbucks kept popping up on every corner and everyone still wants a new iPod, and when I had a kid I figured I'd better start caring, so that's what I'm doing.

VV: Anything you need to get out there?

SA: That we can leave this a better place than we found it. I believe Victoria is the last safe place from which to change the world. We are the best equipped to take advantage of new technologies and new ways of doing things, and we can embrace that.


Thanks to B Channel News for allowing Victoria Votes to post their video interviews, you guys rock.


What's on this site?

First of all, we just created an events page. Leading up to the election, there are going to be seemingly countless public discussions, all candidates meetings, and forums - we're going to try to keep track of these and post them on the events page as they pop up, so keep checking in.

All candidates meetings are an awesome way to meet the people who want to help run this city, size them up, ask some questions, and get some of your own thoughts out there into the universe. The formats range from formal panel discussions where you'll be part of an audience, listen to a question-and-answer session, and mill around chatting afterward, to the much more interesting "toss everyone into a big room and see what happens" format, where you get to wander around and chat with candidates in a more informal context.

Because this election also comes with a referendum, there will be a few meetings centred around the borrowing bylaw and the Johnson Street Bridge. These are sure to be interesting, and will give you a chance to learn about this issue if you're not really up to date on what's going on.

There's also now a handy links page, which has candidate websites, sites related to the referendum, and anything else relevant that we come across.

The How to Vote section sort of speaks for itself.

V V

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Bridging the Gap, Part 1

This is part one of two, and interview with Ross Crockford of johnsonstreetbridge.org on the subject of the Johnson Street Bridge in the context of the city's recently announced infrastructure deficit (the cost to repair and upgrade all of the infrastructure throughout the city). Early next week we'll be posting an interview with the City of Victoria's spokesperson on the same topic.

Explain the Johnson street bridge in the context of the city's existing infrastructure deficit.

The city has an infrastructure deficit of $462 million. The bridge is a crucial piece of infrastructure, I don't argue with that, but if all of the city's manageable debt is consumed by the bridge, then there's nothing left to deal with all of this other stuff.

The maximum borrowing amount that the city can undertake right now without raising taxes is $51.4 million. The referendum is asking for $41.2 million, which means tackling sanitary sewers, seismic upgrades to city buildings, storm drains, street lights, and roads will inevitably require tax increases with all of our debt going into the bridge. I'm not opposed to tax increases, what I am opposed to is the city pushing ahead with the bridge project without having really examined the minimal cost options to make it work.

What sort of minimal cost options are you referring to?

There are lots of options. There may be developers interested in being involved in the project, to build on or around it, have there been any discussions with those people? The repair option was based on the idea that the bridge has to last for 100 yrs, how much would it cost to repair it for 30 yrs? I also understand that the city hasn't contacted other governments to explore rehab of similar bridges in other cities or find out how and why rehab has been done elsewhere.

There's also a question about seismic safety: engineers have been very careful to say this bridge was not designed to any seismic standard, but that doesn't mean that it will automatically fall down in any earthquake. Victoria experienced the biggest recorded earthquake in Canada in 1946, the epicentre of which was in Courtney, and the bridge was fine. Is upgrading the bridge to a maximum seismic standard really the best value for our money?

What about the argument that the bridge would be needed for emergency access?

I would have to ask if the city has explored working with ambulance services based out of Esquimalt or Saanich? There are also a number of other bridges crossing over into Vic West, even the Selkirk Trestle could be used in an emergency. To me, the Bay St. bridge is a far better candidate for seismic upgrade - it carries the water main, electrical cables, telephone cables, and gas lines. There is another water main, but the high pressure water main, which is necessary for firefighting in tall buildings, crosses Bay St. What happens when we spend all of our money on the Johnson Street Bridge, and we get a 7.5 earthquake? Bay St. is built to 6.5 seismic standard, so you've got Johnson St. carrying traffic but you have no water, a massive gas leak, and your phone and electricity systems are heavily damaged.

The big point is the city is not considering this bridge in context. We are spending all of this money to create a one of a kind architecturally intricate tourist attraction to extend the harbour pathway. We are spending money on this rather than other, perhaps more pressing concerns.

The bridge is still an important part of transportation in this city, shouldn't it be taken into account when thinking about infrastructure?

Sure, the bridge is infrastructure. It's important infrastructure. But I don't get the impression that the city has done any real cost-benefit analysis. There's all this other stuff that's been identified that's also going to be a big issue in the very near future, and the attitude seems to be “don't worry about that now, we just want a yes vote so we can do the bridge, and someone else can deal with all that other stuff”.

Interviews with Rimas Tumasonis

Rimas Tumasonis is the first of our candidate interviews, which will be posted as they happen. Stay tuned for our interview with Saul Andersen.

This interview is going to be a little different from the others you'll see posted here, because as he puts it, Rimas Tumasonis is “not one of the usual suspects”. No sound bites, no short statements from this council candidate - “I can't tell you all about myself in 40 words or less”, says Tumasonis, explaining his preference for real face to face conversation rather than packaged answers. “Take what you think is important [from this interview], that's how the brain works.” So that's what I've done.

Rimas Tumasonis seems like he stepped out of an article by Hunter Thompson. The conversation jumped around, a huge variety of topics were covered, and nearly half of the interview was jokes or quotes from various authors and movies. All told, a fun and interesting start to this run of candidate interviews.

What sets Rimas Tumasonis apart from the other candidates in this by-election? “Look at the usual suspects, and ask yourself – are they going to do anything they've said after the election? Of course not! They're getting their cues from polls, they can't make a move without someone else to tell them what to do.”

On the subject of why we should vote for him, Tumasonis had this to offer: “I'm not a politician, I didn't spend years on student council or anything like that. I'm doing this with my own money, my campaign office is in my briefcase, my campaign manager is a sock monkey.” but that's the point, according to Tumasonis “I don't think I'm better than you, and that's why you should vote for me.”

Tumasonis isn't using the internet for his campaign either, stating his intent to run a word of mouth campaign and welcoming people to spend some time talking to him in person.

Tumasonis summed things up: “I am that weird, and that is why you want me on City Council.”

Thanks to B Channel News for allowing Victoria Votes to post their video interviews, which will accompany all of our candidate interviews in these posts, like so:

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Hey look, news!

This article appeared in Monday Magazine's "The Week" today, written by Danielle Pope.

Blog your city fears away

In the name of voter participation, one community member is doing his part to generate interest around the city’s council by-election.

Simon Nattrass, who ran for city council in 2008 at age 19, has traded in his election hat for one focused on raising public awareness around municipal politics and getting people the information they need. Nattrass has started a new blog focused on any and all media surrounding the upcoming by-election. The site, found at victoriavotes.ca, is a mission in fostering the informed vote.

“We ask, ‘Why don’t people vote?’ but when you think about it, it’s all to do with access to information—and clear access at that,” says Nattrass.

While Nattrass garnered most of the site’s information from media outlets, political bloggers and the City of Victoria’s website, he said he found it often frustrating to navigate through a half hour’s worth of pages to reach the info he was looking for.

Natrass plans on housing all the city councillor information he can find on the blog, as well as host private interviews with the candidates to answer some burning questions not yet treated by the media. The blog also lists when and where to vote, as well as information about advance polls and polling stations.

“I’m already involved [in politics] and committed, but for people who aren’t, there’s no way they want to spend that kind of time looking for information,” he says. “Elections could be a much greater catalyst for community engagement than they currently are.”

At least someone is paying attention.

Thursday's Monday

By-Election Idol

Victoria, your candidates have arrived

Welcome to your 2010 by-election candidates rundown, where you can watch 11 people battle it out in a head-to-head match for one city council seat. Who will the lucky winner-elect be? It’s all up to you. But, for your voting pleasure, we’ve done a little of the ground work and asked the candidates for their thoughts are about your city; we posed a few general questions, plus one wild card city-specific query. Find out what you think about their answers, then prepare to cast your ballot come November 20.

READ INTERVIEWS WITH ALL OF THE CANDIDATES HERE

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Wording of the day

The wording of the referendum question will be as follows, with the options for answering of course being yes or no:

"Do you approve council for the City of Victoria adopting Bylaw No. 10-055 — Loan Authorization (Johnson Street Bridge) bylaw, 2010, which will authorize Council to borrow on the credit of the city the sum of $49,200,000 in order to undertake and carry out the planning, study, design and construction of a bridge to replace the Johnson Street Bridge, and to decommission the existing Johnson Street Bridge?"

The short version? "Can we borrow $49.2 million to build a new Johnson Street Bridge?"

 Sooner than later Victoria Votes will be posting interviews with City Hall and Ross Crockford of johnsonstreebridge.org, so stay tuned for more information on the referendum as well as the election itself. 

V V

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

What's up with this blog?

Elections are confusing. Everybody's trying to get your attention, there are all candidates meetings, politicians, and interest groups who are all hoping to sway your opinion in one direction or another. Even so, we all know elections are an important part of life in our country, and we all feel that quiet but ever-present urge to participate in political life at least every now and then.

Victoria Votes is here to make your election experience easier. Over the next few weeks we will be collecting media, interviewing candidates, and looking into some of the issues related to this election. All of this information will be available through the blog here at victoriavotes.ca, so check back for regular updates!

If you have any information you think might be relevant to this blog, let us know! Click the letter icon in the top right corner of this page to email us at vote.victoria.bc@gmail.com.

Monday, October 18, 2010

(Times Colonist) Victoria councillor Sonya Chandler resigns to study in Europe

Victoria councillor Sonya Chandler is resigning from her term early to study in Europe.

Chandler, a second-term councillor, has been awarded a two-year scholarship to study in Europe. Chandler, a registered nurse, will study sustainable health systems for her master’s degree. The Eramus Mundus Scholarship is fully funded through the European Commission, and has schools in Spain, Hungary, Lithuania and Italy.

Chandler’s resignation is effective Sept. 1. A by-election will be held in conjunction with the referendum on the blue bridge, so no extra costs are incurred, said Mayor Dean Fortin. That will likely be at the end of November.

Chandler said the decision to leave was difficult but the scholarship is a “once in a lifetime opportunity. It marries the two things I’m most passionate about - health and wellness and sustainability.”
Chandler’s husband Roy and their daughter Penelope-Rose will also go to Europe.

“As much as I regret leaving my term early, I also know Victoria is where I will return to reinvest the skills and knowledge I’ll gain with this experience. I’m comforted by that.”

Chandler said she may well return to political life on her return.

© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist

So why are we doing this?

What's up with this election thing anyway?

Well, back in the day (a few months ago), it was a referendum on a borrowing bylaw  - more on this later - to do with the Johnson Street Bridge:

http://johnsonstreetbridge.org/

http://www.johnsonstreetbridge.com/

Then Victoria City Council member Sonya Chandler announced that she was leaving her position early in order to study in Europe (article in next post).

To fill this position we needed to have a by-election, a rare and unique opportunity to change our communities for the better over the next year.

The by-election and the referendum will be held at the same time, giving you the opportunity to not only elect a new city councillor, but have your say in one of the big decisions that will be faced by whoever takes Councillor Chandler's place at City Hall.

V V

It's on.

So the list of candidates is out, subject to a week-long challenge period. As of the nomination deadline, we have 11 candidates. Now, I know what you're thinking - "Eleven candidates?! How can I possibly keep track of this ridiculous number of people?" - but don't worry about it, we'll do that for you. Over the next few weeks, Vote Victoria will be keeping track of news, interviewing candidates, and collecting information on some key issues so you don't have to!

To start with, here is the list of candidates (in alphabetical order) along with links to their websites as I've been able to find them:

Marianne Alto
Saul Andersen
Paul Brown
Steve Filipovic (Green Party)
Rose Henry
Barry Hobbis
Hugh Kruzel
Pedro Mora
George Sirk
Rimas Tumasonis
Susan Woods

Best of luck to us all,
V V

Share

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More