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!

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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:

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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.

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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.

Read the full text of Saul Andersen's interview with Monday Magazine here.

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

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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.

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