Thursday, October 13, 2011

Linda Lisa McGrew Answers Our Questions

Linda Lisa McGrew is running for Victoria Council, and is the most recent person to answer our candidate survey. She has never run before, and is (for lack of more creative prose) political fresh meat. She shares this quality (about which it's too early to make any sound judgement) with everyone else she's running with on the Open Victoria slate, making this at the very least an interesting twist in what would otherwise have been a pretty predictable election.

Linda works for the Cetus Institute, which is an organization that works to protect whales. She has also run two successful businesses, and you can learn even more about her by reading this:

Q: Why are you running and why should I vote for you?

I am running because I strongly value making that which is good still better and I believe that is what the role of civil servants should be. I hope to bring much needed youthful optimism, environmental stewardship and a global perspective to city hall. Along with transparency and accountability at City Hall, I believe in a more sustainable community, which is both environmentally and business oriented. As councillor, I imagine not only supporting the people of our communities to make healthy life choices for themselves and their families but also facilitating the city in making healthy choices for the global environment and local economy.

I would add value to city hall as a councillor because I am pragmatic, logical and educated through a variety of life experiences. I have a BSc and an MBA from universities in Victoria and have spent 8 years running businesses both locally and internationally. I recently spent 3 years working, studying and travelling in China and currently I am the director of a local non-profit: Cetus Research and Conservation Society.

Q: What issue is most important to you and why?

We all deserve a city hall that promotes environmentally and financially sustainable practices. The current solutions to sewage, land use, transit and garbage are unsustainable and insufficient. As a community, we must believe in a city that finds a balance between supporting business and supporting the environment. City Hall can do this through promoting new solutions for services, infrastructure, and green spaces. I want to push for a more environmentally friendly city, where Victorians can feel proud of our initiatives to decrease carbon and water usage, decrease consumption and increase parks, gardens recycling and compost.

Affordable housing for families is also dear to me. Development can be worked in partnership with sustainable environmental and social needs in mind. I look forward to promoting these things in city council.

Q: What's something people don't know about you?

I speak Mandarin and have cycled toured over 20,000 kilometres through over 10 countries.


Are you a candidate? Have we not sent you our questions? Let us know!

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