Victoria mayoral candidates have their say on housing, public consultations

Victoria voters are being faced with a simple question: do you want change or are you happy with how things are going?

Incumbent mayor Lisa Helps is looking for her second term in office. She has been applauded for the work she has done on banning plastic bags, finding homes for people living in Victoria’s tent city and reconciliation. But she has been criticized for she how went about building bike lanes and removing the John A. Macdonald statue.

READ MORE: Live B.C. election results 2018: Find your riding and candidates

The responses are posted below, unedited from the candidates who replied and also identify those who are running but did not respond to the questions before deadline. Candidates were asked to answer each question in less than 100 words.

Saul Anderson – answers not received by deadline

Michael Geoghegan – edited to meet word count requirements

1) According to the Victoria Real Estate Board the average price of a detached home in Victoria has gone up from $553,900 in October 2014 to $883,700 in September 2018. What do you plan on doing to address sky-rocketing home prices in the region?

By rescinding the Step Code and having more timely decision making we can reduce the cost of constructing new housing by $150,000 per unit. We need to make it easier for people to build garden suites and have other forms of legal secondary suites, not only to increase the volume of rental units, but to assist people in qualifying for mortgages.

2) In roughly the same time period Victoria has also seen an increase in the number of homeless people in the region from roughly 1,400 people to roughly 1,525 people. What do you plan on doing to address homelessness?

Work with both the provincial and federal governments to build more in the way of low income, mixed income and coop housing units. I support a housing first strategy and that is one of the reasons that candidate and longtime housing advocate Rob Duncan has withdrawn from the race and has endorsed me.

3) There has been criticism in the community that people do not feel adequately consulted on issues from bike lanes to the removal of the John A. Macdonald statue. What will you do to address the issue of public consultation?

I strongly believe in having strong citizen-centred, public engagement. It is critical to have an open and transparent relationship between the City of Victoria and its citizens. Thorough public participation from all citizens is integral in ensuring that a fair and balanced process has been conducted. The citizens of Victoria, I believe, have lost a considerable amount of confidence and trust in the current council. As Mayor, I will ensure an open and transparent relationship with citizens. I will make sure that our objectives are clear and explain for citizens how they play an important role in the public participation process.

4) What issue – not covered above – are you hoping to address in your community?

I wish to see our kids live healthier, happier and active lives. Getting kids off of their electronics is important to me. Unfortunately, not all kids can afford to go to the recreation centres to go swimming, for example. As Mayor I will provide free annual recreation centre passes to Victoria kids 18 years of age and under. My hope is that this will get kids interacting with their peers, adopting healthier lifestyles, avoiding crimes of boredom, and taking a break from the electronics. This initiative will allow ALL of our kids to participate, thus eliminating social barriers.

Stephen Hammond

1) According to the Victoria Real Estate Board the average price of a detached home in Victoria has gone up from $553,900 in October 2014 to $883,700 in September 2018. What do you plan on doing to address sky-rocketing home prices in the region?

I will give certainty to neighbourhoods and developers by sticking to zoning in neighbourhood plans. I will ensure the city shares in the building boom by requiring developers to give Community Amenity Contributions, which can go towards affordable housing. When Catherine Holt, CEO of the Victoria Chamber of Commerce, said we have to separate the housing “market” from affordable housing, that’s a sign even the business community knows government has to help with affordable housing, making it easier to work with the province, the federal government & non-profit agencies to continue finding solutions to our affordable housing crisis.

2) According to the Greater Victoria Homeless Count the number of homeless people have gone up from 1,387 in 2016 to 1,525 in 2018. What do you plan on doing to address the overall issue of homelessness in Victoria?

We’ll never “cure” homelessness, but we can do much better than accepting the status quo. I’ll be working with everyone involved in trying to shelter and house people. And I’ll be asking the province to step up their plans to address homeless persons with addictions and mental health issues. Our Place’s new Therapeutic Recovery Community in View Royal is a prime example of hard work paying off to help a community in desperate need of supports. Hence, I’ll work with the province and all municipalities to share the responsibilities of housing for people who are without homes.

3) There has been criticism in the community that people do not feel adequately consulted on issues from bike lanes to the removal of the John A. Macdonald statue. What will you do to address the issue of public consultation?

I will get the city’s Citizen Engagement Department to truly engage. Now, the mayor and city council only listen to groups that support their ideology or pet projects. When decisions are made, I want to hear from groups with specialized expertise…but not to the exclusion of all others who have an interest in the outcome. I would like to put an end to these marathon council meetings that only hear from those who aren’t working the next day, or those who feel comfortable to speak publicly. The engagement department can go out to the public and use modern engagement processes.

4) What issue – not covered above – are you hoping to address in your community?

Since 2012 the cumulative cost of living index went up 9.3% while Victoria’s property taxes have gone up on average by 22.4%, and that doesn’t include all the new charges slapped on taxpayers. Home owners pay these taxes directly while renters pay for them as landlords pass them along in rent increases. I pledge to increase your taxes no more than the rate of inflation and hopefully less. I’ve heard from too many seniors on fixed incomes, who resent their homes being used as the City’s ATMs. I will institute fiscal responsibility when using your tax dollars.

Lisa Helps

1) According to the Victoria Real Estate Board the average price of a detached home in Victoria has gone up from $553,900 in October 2014 to $883,700 in September 2018. What do you plan on doing to address sky-rocketing home prices in the region?

We have no tools to deal with price escalation of single detached homes, especially in a built-out city like Victoria. To make home ownership more accessible I would:
• Continue to encourage partnerships between BC Housing and private developers to offer below market condos for purchase.
• Create opportunities for gentle density – such as strata fourplexes – in appropriate areas. In exchange for density, require one out of four units to remain affordable in perpetuity.
• Create a Community Land Trust (CLT) where willing homeowners could put their property into the CLT and create “speculation free zones” in perpetuity.

2) According to the Greater Victoria Homeless Count the number of homeless people have gone up from 1,387 in 2016 to 1,525 in 2018. What do you plan on doing to address the overall issue of homelessness in Victoria?

As the Co-Chair of the Coalition to end Homelessness, I’ve worked with people with lived experience of homelessness, service providers, housing providers and the Provincial and
Federal governments. We’ve developed a community plan to get to “functional zero” homelessness by 2023. The CRD’s $90 million Regional Housing First Program will see 400 units built renting at $375 per month with the necessary supports provided. Getting these affordable rental units built is my top priority.

We also need to break the cycle of mental health and addictions. That’s why I’ve laid out a comprehensive, collaborative plan to tackle this issue.

3) There has been criticism in the community that people do not feel adequately consulted on issues from bike lanes to the removal of the John A. Macdonald statue. What will you do to address the issue of public consultation?

In terms of engagement and consultation, my opponents are quick to point out the two or three engagement processes that did not go as well as they could have. Yet, we’ve done hundreds of successful engagement processes over the past four years from neighbourhood plans to arts and culture to parks and open spaces and more.

We can learn from what didn’t go well. I take this seriously and have dedicated an entire platform plank (“We’re all in this together”) to continuing to strengthen the relationship between citizens and City Hall and building a stronger social fabric.

4) What issue – not covered above – are you hoping to address in your community?

There has been very little discussion in this campaign about climate change and, yet, sustainability is a core value of Victorians. In Victoria, we don’t yet feel the negative impacts of climate change. We haven’t, for example, had to pack up our whole village and move because of rising sea levels. As a result, we are complacent and not on track to meet our goal of reducing GHGs 80% by 2050. Next term, with the community, we will implement the City’s Climate Leadership Plan and take courageous action on buildings, transportation, and waste to create low-carbon prosperity.

David A Johnston – edited to meet word count requirements

1) According to the Victoria Real Estate Board the average price of a detached home in Victoria has gone up from $553,900 in October 2014 to $883,700 in September 2018. What do you plan on doing to address sky-rocketing home prices in the region?

When financial speculation presumes a prosperous economy while a city with a population just shy of 100,000 is harbouring a debt of $100,000,000+ it will invariably make things worse. If City Hall wishes to make a point of being responsible and just it must be honest about its poverty. As Mayor I’ll do my very best not to raise taxes but it can be counted on that, across the board, taxes are not going to be going down. With the discovery of the CRD’s looming tax increase I’ve put my own customizable and tiered ‘bridge debt tax’ on the back burner.

2) In roughly the same time period Victoria has also seen an increase in the number of homeless people in the region from roughly 1,400 people to roughly 1,525 people. What do you plan on doing to address homelessness?

I’ve a multi-faceted comprehensive plan that acknowledges tent-cities are not viable while the City is under siege by a seemingly imposed addiction epidemic. I’m proposing a modular housing rehab jail to be offered to convicted addicts and a hard diplomacy with the gangsters at the source of the drugs to demonstrate to them why their survival means learning to cut their own grass.

Beyond that, once the first stages of facing the drug problem are in place I will be initiating the first sanctioned tent-cities in the Commonwealth.

3) There has been criticism in the community that people do not feel adequately consulted on issues from bike lanes to the removal of the John A. Macdonald statue. What will you do to address the issue of public consultation?

The bike lanes can only be considered ‘forward thinking’ under the presumption that the population is going to double in short order. As it stands they are extraneous in a town where each resident is individually responsible for more than $1000 debt just for living here. With whatever float our in-debtors allow us I would rather see the people of Victoria receive their own Leatherman tool and a bag of assorted food seeds.

Once Mayor I will be assessing all non-essential assets and either auctioning them off or putting them on Craigslist.

4) What issue – not covered above – are you hoping to address in your community?

If the City offered a creatively affordable civic deputy certification system that conscripted police veterans and martial masters to teach discipline, conduct, protocol, and combat taijutsu would you consider making it a part of your life?
Beyond being very attractive on a resume you would be helping remind the world that niceness rules.
You’ll be impressed with those who would be building this endeavour. They’ll tell you they are not special.
To the police I would say I am not looking to replace you. We mechanically just don’t have the resources to hire more than we already have.

Bruce McGuigan – answers not received by deadline

Ryan Moen- answers not received by deadline

Alexander Schmid – edited to meet word count requirements

1) According to the Victoria Real Estate Board the average price of a detached home in Victoria has gone up from $553,900 in October 2014 to $883,700 in September 2018. What do you plan on doing to address sky-rocketing home prices in the region?

It saddens me that some people choose to buy home strictly for investment, with the expectation of large resale value, and large rent in the mean time. Housing is a necessity, It feels wrong to profit in large ways from a necessity of life. It is my feeling that a housing speculation tax needs to be applied, to decrease the amount of housing speculation and profiteering in the real estate markets.

2) In roughly the same time period Victoria has also seen an increase in the number of homeless people in the region from roughly 1,400 people to roughly 1,525 people. What do you plan on doing to address homelessness?

The problem of homelessness can only be solved with national funding. The municipalities simply do not have the means or resources to adequately cope with it. As Mayor I would meet with my counterparts of other major Canadian cities to petition the Federal Government to step in with adequate support. Unless the problem is solved simultaneously in all Canadian cities, local communities will be tempted to be less welcoming in the hope that the problem migrates somewhere else. As mayor I would also petition the Province to restore funding for mental health institutions, to take care of the most vulnerable among us.

3) There has been criticism in the community that people do not feel adequately consulted on issues from bike lanes to the removal of the John A. Macdonald statue. What will you do to address the issue of public consultation?

As for the the John A. McDonald statue, I share the concern of many about the way in which it was done. The top priority in my platform is transparency in government. Thus, such a decision should not have been taken by only 9 people, but in open consultation with the community. Having the statue removed at 5:00 am in the morning while the public slept shows fear of public opinion and of the democratic process. If it was necessary to move the statue then it should have been relocated to more suitable location instead of moving it into the closet.

4) What issue – not covered above – are you hoping to address in your community?

In the case of public transportation, there needs to be more modes available. There needs to be more buses, both in type and numbers, more bus routes, and more scalable capacity to help them run on time. Also have more Handy dart services so that seniors who have mobility problems can get out more. Victoria and the region needs to explore bringing back rail service in some capacity, what with the ongoing bottleneck that is the Malahat pass. Such additional modes of transportation will alleviate congestion, pollution and reduce road maintenance costs, while also decreasing greenhouse gases and Victoria global climate changes.

Kyzysztof Zmuda

1) According to the Victoria Real Estate Board the average price of a detached home in Victoria has gone up from $553,900 in October 2014 to $883,700 in September 2018. What do you plan on doing to address sky-rocketing home prices in the region?

Lisa Helps and the Victoria Council (2014-2018) claim credit for new commercial development and expensive condos for speculators and foreign buyers. But where is the infrastructure to support expansion, especially affordable housing?
This issue has arisen because of market forces and 4 years of overdevelopment. We cannot control the market, but we can use Comment Sense Actions:
• Bylaws that affirm Tenant Rights and regulate the landlords.
• Urban housing with daycare to support the tight labor market.
• A minimum wage of $15/hr to help people pay for expensive housing.
• Require affordable housing from developers as a condition for further development.

2) According to the Greater Victoria Homeless Count the number of homeless people have gone up from 1,387 in 2016 to 1,525 in 2018. What do you plan on doing to address the overall issue of homelessness in Victoria?

Lisa Helps and the Victoria Council (2014-18) have talked a lot about modular housing, but that has not stopped Tent City ($3M), or the occupation of Topaz Park ($?). In four years there has been no constructive action.
Homelessness is a provincial and national problem that has landed on us. We need Common Sense Actions:
• Aggressively attract provincial and federal $$$upport.
• Construct “common-shelters” with access medical and mental health services.
• Use Bylaws to clear the parklands at night and clear the streets and parks for daytime use for everyone.

3) There has been criticism in the community that people do not feel adequately consulted on issues from bike lanes to the removal of the John A. Macdonald statue. What will you do to address the issue of public consultation?

Lisa Helps and the Victoria Council (2014-18) have talked transparency, hosted meetings on the small stuff, but hid the important decisions on Bikelanes, Blue Bridge cost overruns, and the Douglas statue.
What to do? Vote them out of office. Then, I am committed to Common Sense Actions, which includes:
• Outreach to the public,
• Listening by city officers, and
• No artificial time constraints to force agreement.

4) What issue – not covered above – are you hoping to address in your community?

Lisa Helps and the Victoria Council (2014-18) have increased our debt 9% this year, for a total of $73 Million. And the National Infrastructure Report (2016) has graded Victoria “very poor” with an estimated $500 Million of infrastructure debt.
I am committed to redirect the Victoria Council and staff into”fiscal integrity”. My Common Sense Actions include:
• A critical review of the Blue Bridge fiasco.
• Cap those high salaries in City Hall.
• No more commitments to unrealistic future financial projects; for example:
o Just renovate Crystal Pool.
o Require substantial infrastructure contributions from developers.