Will Cole-Hamilton: Progressives can be strong financial managers

Will Cole-Hamilton: Progressives can be strong financial managers

Will Cole-Hamilton is an advocate for climate action, fiscal responsibility and wide-ranging collaborations who sometimes does stand-up comedy

Will Cole-Hamilton: Progressives can be strong financial managers

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Will-Cole-Hamilton is seeking a second term on the Courtenay City Council. The graduate of Dalhousie Law School moved to Courtenay in 2012 with his wife and two children from Vancouver. He manages his wife’s family law office and does legal research.

He has 14 years of experience in owning small businesses — a video store and a small grocery that he sold in 2012. He has coached youth sports teams and ran a chess club at Puntledge Elementary. He is a director of the Comox Valley Regional District, chairs the Sewage Commission and sits on other committees.

He currently is on the board of the Comox Valley International Film Festival and as council’s representative to the Downtown Business Improvement Association and from time to time performs stand-up comedy. He says he’s still trying to find the humor in climate change.

 

Why should voters re-elect you?

My background in law and business is sometimes relevant to council work in a very direct way, such as reviewing contracts and other legal documents that come before council.

“For example, I put forward the motion that climate change needed to be considered at every stage of the development of the Official Community Plan update. And it was my motion that Courtenay adopt the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People as its framework for reconciliation and that UNDRIP is a lens that is applied to the development of our OCP,” he told Decafnation.

Cole-Hamilton says his first motion before the council was to adopt an asset management bylaw, which requires the council to consider the full lifecycle of asset costs in its decision-making. Courtenay was the first in BC, and second in Canada to do this.

“It’s a common stereotype that progressives aren’t strong financial managers and I wanted to put that myth to rest right away and this bylaw was a strong way of starting out,” he said.

Cole-Hamilton says the track record confirms that this council has been a wise steward of city finances. At the end of this four-year term, Courtenay has had the lowest average tax increases of any municipality in the Comox Valley (average increase 2019-2022: Comox 3.72%; Courtenay 3.2%; Cumberland 5.42%)

Reflecting back, Cole-Hamilton says it was through his second council resolution that he learned the power of collaboration, working with people outside the community to deliver results for people inside the community

“By nature, I’m a collaborator,” he says. “Early in my first term, I was at my first conference and I heard about a collective of municipalities in Northern BC working together to apply to the province for grants for EV chargers. I called some of the councillors from our region who I had just met and suggested we put together a similar application. Then, I brought a resolution to Council which passed unanimously.”

As a result, nine municipalities and four regional districts and the Wei Wei Kum First Nations collectively applied for grants and the Vancouver Island and Mid-Island EV Charger Network was born.

“I realized the value of working with colleagues outside our community to deliver results for people inside our community,” he said.

Cole-Hamilton is a member of the BC Caucus of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. That allows him to bring the needs and priorities of communities like Courtenay to the table at a national level and provides the opportunity to lobby the federal government directly.

He serves as the chair of both the national Climate Caucus — which has 500-plus mayors and councillors from every province and territory as members — and the province-wide advocacy group called Help Cities Lead. He is also a founder of the national PACE funding program.

“I find that municipalities can benefit from constantly cross-pollinating with ideas for best practices,” he said.

And he says it’s his automatic tendency to collaborate with others that makes him an effective council member.

“I have collaborated with colleagues outside the Valley and also with colleagues around the council table. I co-wrote resolutions with Melanie McCollum and another with Wendy Morin and McCollum on low-income eBike subsidies.

 

What are some of your key accomplishments?

Cole-Hamilton sees his work with council colleagues to support a climate focus in revising the city’s Official Community Plan as a major accomplishment. And he says his work to create the Island-wide Electric Vehicle Charger Network was another key victory.

“I have been influential in the regional district’s pivot from the demolition of buildings to deconstruction, which reduces the amount of construction debris in our landfill for long-term savings and makes reusing good materials possible,” he says.

Deconstructing structures reduces the amount of material going into the regional landfills and provides a second life for the many reusable components of a building. For example, many pre-1960 buildings can yield excellent old-growth lumber.

“And it’s the right thing to do. Ask any parent or grandparent who lived through the Great Depression,” he said.

He is a former director and currently the council’s representative to the Courtenay Business Improvement Area board. In that capacity, he says he has brought resolutions to the council to support a downtown social media campaign during the Fifth Street bridge rehabilitation, and another to improve lighting in downtown alleys. It was his resolution to include locations of private security cameras on the city’s electronic mapping system — to assist in efficient use of the RCMP when conducting investigations — and helped them fastrack a patio program during the challenging couple of pandemic years.

For about 17 years, the Courtenay Community Drug Strategy Committee had been unable to develop a drug strategy. So Cole-Hamilton talked to members about revamping the committee as a regional group with the goal of producing a Substance Use Strategy that addresses the entire region. Now, with new grants, the group has enlarged its scope and just completed an analysis of the situation on the streets.

Cole-Hamilton helped ensure there is an emissions management plan for GHGs from our landfill. He says a report has shown that landfill emissions are roughly 15 times greater than all of the CVRD’s other corporate emissions combined. 

“Given the scale of the methane emissions from our landfill, this is a really significant step forward,” he said. “As I noted, they are enormous — roughly 30,000 tons of GHG equivalent. According to the EPA’s emissions calculator that is equal to 6,464 passenger vehicles driven for a full year — or driving to the moon every 28 hours. A week or so ago, there was no plan to address this, now there is.”

 

Goals for the next four years

The number one goal for the next term is to implement the revised OCP. For example, creating the McPhee Meadows plan for a 4.6-hectare (11-acre) green space along the Puntledge River open to the public, while preserving and restoring its riparian and wildlife habitat features.

“Increased urban density requires larger public spaces and this is a good start,” he said.

He will focus on the many actionable items in the OCP on economic development, land use, food security and housing. 

“This (the OCP) is the largest piece of work for the next council,” he said.

He will support work toward a potential Courtenay Housing Authority that would manage and create more below-market-rate housing units. This would give the city’s affordable housing efforts a champion and a home base, he says.

Cole-Hamilton says it will take a team effort by the council to push the BC provincial government hard for complex-care housing developments to address those now living on our streets. “This is not something the city can do alone,” he says.

He also wants to work on greater collaboration with SD71 during the next term.

“They (the school district) are the single largest landowners in the city and have the single greatest impact on daily traffic flows. Both bridges experience the most congestion before and after the school day. Additionally, new housing projects have a direct impact on school board facility planning.”

 

The most misunderstood thing about Courtenay Council

Cole-Hamilton thinks people believe the city and council have a greater capacity and more resources than they really do. For example, the issues around unhoused people on the street overlap many provincial jurisdictions and “the BC government’s insufficient response means it’s left to the municipality to do what we can to fill the gap.”

“Less than 10 cents of every tax dollar in Canada goes to municipal governments to provide infrastructure, water, sewer, garbage, policing and more, and that leaves nothing for us to build large-scale affordable housing projects,” he said.

The federal CMHC program for building low-cost housing stopped in the mid-1980s and nothing has filled that empty space. The provincial government has not filled the need for housing, mental health or addiction issues and the burden has cascaded onto local governments.

“And, yet, I love this work and wouldn’t spend this much time otherwise. And I have put in so many unpaid hours collaborating with other elected officials across the province and the country to share solutions to the challenges that face us,” he said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHERE AND WHEN TO VOTE

General Voting Day is Saturday, Oct. 15 for all local government positions.

Comox Valley Regional District

General Voting Day (Saturday, Oct. 15) and advance voting (Wednesday Oct. 5 and Wednesday Oct. 12) take place at the CVRD building in Courtenay from 8 am to 8 pm.

Go to this link for General Voting Day locations in the three Electoral Areas.

Additional voting takes place on Oct. 6 from 9 am to 12 pm on Denman Island and on Oct. 6 from 2 pm to 5 pm on Hornby Island

Courtenay

Advance Voting begins on Wednesday October 5, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Native Sons Hall, and again on Wednesday October 12, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Florence Filberg Centre.

General Voting Day, Saturday, October 15, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Queneesh Elementary School, and at the Florence Filberg Centre.

Comox

Advance voting begins Wednesday, October 5 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. at the Comox Community Centre, and on Saturday, October 8 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Genoa Sail Building at Comox Marina, and again on Monday, October 10 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Genoa Sail Building at Comox Marina, and on Wednesday, October 12 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. at the Comox Community Centre.

General Voting Day runs from 8 am to 8 pm on Oct. 15 at the Comox Community Centre.

Cumberland

All voting in the Village of Cumberland takes place from 8 am to 8 pm at the Cumberland Cultural Centre. Advance voting takes place on Oct. 5 and Oct. 12.

 

 

 

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Our recommendations in the 2022 Comox Valley local government elections

Decafnation announces its list of preferred candidates in this year’s local government elections and for the first time we identify candidates that we think show promise and provide our reasons for not endorsing the other candidates. Our endorsements fall on the first day of voting at advance polls

Melanie McCollum: Finance background has created savings, new grant revenue for city

Melanie McCollum: Finance background has created savings, new grant revenue for city

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Melanie McCollum: Finance background has created savings, new grant revenue for city

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Melanie McCollum is seeking a second term on Courtenay City Council. She has an undergraduate degree in geography with a focus on urban planning and a post-degree diploma in accounting. She’s worked as a financial analyst for the past 15 years at North Island College.

She represents the city at the regional district where she sits on several committees. Melanie grew up on Gabriola Island and moved to the Comox Valley in 2006.

Why should voters re-elect you?

McCollum is satisfied that things she campaigned on in 2018 were achieved during her first term, somewhat aided by the pandemic. She says addressing the operational challenges of COVID carved out opportunities and extended timelines to get certain things done.

She campaigned on transportation issues and successfully worked on pedestrian and bike safety projects. On affordable housing, she helped make sure that the city didn’t leave anything on the table in creating a number of new units and acquiring funding. In fact, she says, the council offered free land to BC for a housing project and they didn’t take it.

“But I’m working that file all the time and engaging with the province and BC Housing,” she said. “And my priority of densification through smart growth principles led to policy changes and to the initiation of the OCP process.”

She’s contributed to the harmony of the seven people who form the council. She says they all worked together well, listened to each other and were collaborative. To that point, she notes that the last two city budgets passed unanimously.

“Dysfunctional councils get less done,” she said.

 

What are some of your key accomplishments?

McCollum, is proud of the city’s revision of its Official Community Plan and the connections it makes to climate change action. She says the most impactful way for cities to reduce carbon emissions is to keep development compact and neighbourhoods walkable.

“This idea is embedded through the OCP and it was my biggest motivation for running in the last election,” she said. “I wanted to ensure climate change was at the forefront of decision making and we re-evisioned the OCP with a focus on carbon emissions. That’s work I am extremely proud of.”

But leadership on a council can take different forms, such as making a motion or helping to steer or direct a discussion.

“I changed how the work plan in our budgets was done,” she said.

In the past, funding opportunities have come down from senior governments that the city couldn’t take advantage of because it didn’t have any projects ready. So McCollum championed new budgeting methods that include design and other necessary steps to make projects shovel-ready even though full funding hasn’t been secured. This recently resulted in the city receiving $1.7 million in COVID money that it wouldn’t otherwise have got.

“It’s a better way to do business,” she said. “City management is more complex now and there’s more planning required.”

McCollum also spurred a development plan for McPhee Meadows Park. Land had been given to the city in 2010, but had not made any progress to make it accessible to the public. She championed getting that underway. The city has submitted a $2.9 million grant application to fund the development of the recently completed design.

McCollum’s finance background also led to the creation of the city’s investment policy to prioritize responsible investing, that prioritizes fossil fuels free (FFF) and Environmental, Social and Governance (EGS) factors when making investment decisions. That policy was passed at a recent council meeting.

 

Goals for the next four years

In her next term, McCollum wants to explore the establishment of a Housing Corporation for the city or regional district. Vancouver, Victoria, even Whistler, have them.

A housing corporation would manage all the affordable housing units – one list for the whole city or region – and even borrow funding to initiate its own affordable housing projects.

Right now, affordable housing units in the city are managed by a variety of entities, including the developers themselves in some cases, who could turn that over to someone else. She says a proposal for the empty lot next to Superstore will provide an additional 20 units rented at below market rate and would be a good start for a Housing Corp.

“I believe it’s better to blend in affordable units with market rate ones, rather than have separate developments for all affordable units,” she said.

Rolling out the OCP will be a primary focus for the whole council in the near future. McCollum is particularly interested in the development of a plan for Harmston Park, which is a potential site for more housing and better use of the public space. The city owns several parcels of land there that she says are underutilized.

And, finally, McCollum wants to find the best use for new-found Municipal and Regional District Tax program money, funds that come from people who rent hotel or AirBnB accommodations. In a change this year, all the MRDT funds from AirBnBs in the city will go directly to the city, about $275,000 annually. Hotels will still get their MRDT tax funds, about $300,000 per year.

“This money will be used for affordable housing and the next Council will decide on how best to do that,” she said.”
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The most misunderstood thing about the Courtenay Council

McCollum thinks that most people don’t realize that policing eats up such a huge chuck of the city budget. In the last budget there was a $700,000 increase in policing costs, which equates to a 3.5 percent tax increase on its own. But she says that the council doesn’t direct the RCMP or tell them how to organize their time.

“We actually have little control over such a big part of our budget,” she said.

In fact, McCollum says, council has less control than most people think over many of the issues council grapples with, such as affordable housing. That’s because those resources need to come from senior governments and the province is more likely to support projects in Vancouver or Victoria.

She believes that improving street safety with bike lanes and redesigning streets is not a radical idea.

“It’s common in most every city now and it’s not like we’re eliminating driving lanes or parking.”

She says the 17th Street project has been completely misunderstood, perhaps due to a deliberate misinformation campaign.

McCollum wants voters to know that Courtenay property taxes did not fund this project at all.

“While $1.72 million is a high number and looks really good on a certain candidate’s signs, what they’re not telling you is that 100 percent of the project funding was through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. That means that the cost of making crosswalks safer, separating cyclists from traffic, creating cycling connections to the Rotary Trail, the Fitzgerald bike lanes, and the School district’s “Best Routes” to school was a grand total of $0.00 of Courtenay property taxes,” she said.

McCollum supported the 17th Street project because the improvements provide a safe way for children to travel to school and they separate bikes from traffic and make road crossings shorter and more visible. The street is recognized by the School District 71’s Hub for Active School Travel program.

Finally, she said, the new car lanes exceed the provincial standard width by 0.6m on each side. And no parking has been removed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHERE AND WHEN TO VOTE

General Voting Day is Saturday, Oct. 15 for all local government positions.

Comox Valley Regional District

General Voting Day (Saturday, Oct. 15) and advance voting (Wednesday Oct. 5 and Wednesday Oct. 12) take place at the CVRD building in Courtenay from 8 am to 8 pm.

Go to this link for General Voting Day locations in the three Electoral Areas.

Additional voting takes place on Oct. 6 from 9 am to 12 pm on Denman Island and on Oct. 6 from 2 pm to 5 pm on Hornby Island

Courtenay

Advance Voting begins on Wednesday October 5, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Native Sons Hall, and again on Wednesday October 12, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Florence Filberg Centre.

General Voting Day, Saturday, October 15, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Queneesh Elementary School, and at the Florence Filberg Centre.

Comox

Advance voting begins Wednesday, October 5 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. at the Comox Community Centre, and on Saturday, October 8 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Genoa Sail Building at Comox Marina, and again on Monday, October 10 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Genoa Sail Building at Comox Marina, and on Wednesday, October 12 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. at the Comox Community Centre.

General Voting Day runs from 8 am to 8 pm on Oct. 15 at the Comox Community Centre.

Cumberland

All voting in the Village of Cumberland takes place from 8 am to 8 pm at the Cumberland Cultural Centre. Advance voting takes place on Oct. 5 and Oct. 12.

 

 

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Doug Hillian: A balanced view between big picture issues and those that affect daily lives

Doug Hillian: A balanced view between big picture issues and those that affect daily lives

Four-term council member Doug Hillian says 90 percent of a councillor’s work is spent on roads, water, sewer and parks and recreation

Doug Hillian: A balanced view between big picture issues and those that affect daily lives

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Doug Hillian is seeking a fifth term on the Courtenay City Council. He recently retired from a 45-year career as a probation officer and community justice/social services manager. He has a Master’s degree in Human and Social Development and has twice been awarded the Governor General’s Exemplary Service Medal.

Hillian co-founded the Transition and Social Planning Societies and has served on several other nonprofits, including the Community Justice Centre where he continues to volunteer as a facilitator.

He has spent 12 years coaching youth soccer teams, plays competitive soccer himself, sings in a community choir and has called Courtenay home for 43 years.

 

Why should voters re-elect you?

Hillian says he offers a balanced perspective between big picture issues like climate change, housing and reconciliation and those issues that affect his constituents’ daily lives, such as the provision of core services, public safety, bylaw issues and keeping taxes affordable.

He prides himself on answering email and phone calls promptly and often meets with people in their neighbourhoods, something he’s been able to do more of since retiring in 2017. And he says the people he meets have encouraged him to run again.

“My experience and leadership skills have made a difference,” he told Decafnation.

 

What are some of your key accomplishments?

Hillian believes that a councillor’s work is collaborative and that Courtenay currently has a strong team on the council. He says that ability to collaborate helped them get through the recent difficult COVID period.

“We shouldn’t minimize the challenges of getting through the pandemic. Everyone had personal challenges and for a city government those were multiplied,” he said. “It was a fractious time, but we followed the advice of our health professionals, held firm on the restrictions and acted out of the best interests of the larger community.”

During that time, the council had to manage a significant turnover of senior staff, some of which he says was related to the pandemic. Council was able to recruit new staff despite the difficulty of digital meetings and interviews.

“It took a massive amount of work to maintain core services and keep people safe during the pandemic, but we were also able to accomplish a lot,” he said. “For example, we have a new Official Community Plan focussed on reconciliation, community well-being, equity and climate action.”

He believes Courtenay Council has built stronger relationships with KFN, the arts and culture community and downtown businesses.

It may not satisfy some people, but he says the council addressed street disorder by providing a building for the Connect Center.

“Some people don’t want to see the congregation of people there, it makes them uncomfortable, but we can either deal with it or ignore it and watch it get worse,” he said.

He says the city has worked collaboratively with regional social agencies while simultaneously pushing the province to do more to help the city address housing and community safety.

Hillian has played lead roles in getting more affordable housing units built, such as the rezoning of land on Lerwick for market housing and transitional housing for women and children survivors of domestic violence. Hillian led the council to delay a decision until the city had further meetings with neighbours who resisted that development.

“I wanted the development to proceed with the support of the neighbourhood, for people to feel that their voices had been heard, rather than feel railroaded,” he said. “The delay resulted in a potential for the transitional housing being lost, but council intervened with the Housing Minister and the project was restored.”

Hillian recognizes that some people are making an issue of bike lanes and criticizing the city’s efforts, particularly the current redevelopment of 17th Street. But he said the council is simply following best practices.

“The majority of people will still be driving cars. But bike lanes are not a radical idea,” he said. “Cities everywhere are adding bike lanes and for good reason: it makes the roadways safer.”

And for Hillian, traffic safety is a top priority. Separating cars and bicycles with narrower lanes slows cars down and makes the route safer for everyone, including pedestrians at crosswalks and kids going to school. It makes the roads safer for car drivers and cyclists, too, he says.

“I appreciate that traffic changes can be confusing, at least at first, but it’s part of a nationwide trend to promote multi-modal transportation, address climate change and make streets safer for all users.”

 

Goals for the next four years

Hillian says implementing the updated OCP will be his top priority if he’s elected to another term. But he also wants to create more below-market housing units and lobby the provincial government for support.

He promises to represent the city on big regional issues, such as the new sewage conveyance routes. He chairs the Courtenay-Comox Valley Sewage Commission. He’d like to see this project through to completion in the next two to three years.

He’ll keep working on the province to improve traffic flow on Ryan Road, the bypass and 17th Street bridge.

He would also like to continue his work on the ground-breaking KFN treaty. “The level of working together with KFN is higher than ever,” he said.

Hillian is the Comox Valley representative at the Main Treaty Table that meets monthly. This fall, KFN will receive a land and cash offer from senior governments, which will make KFN a major land owner in the Valley.

 

The most misunderstood thing about the Courtenay Council

Hillian differentiates between misunderstood and “deliberately misunderstood.”

“Some people don’t understand the role of local government, especially the mandate and resources we have available. Some may think we spend too much time on issues not related to basic municipal responsibilities, such as social issues, provincial or global issues,” he said.

“The fact is, 90 percent of what a council member does is related to sewer and water, roads, parks and recreation, and that’s the same for city staff, too. Staff and council worked hard during the pandemic to keep the city functioning, and to maintain core services. These are not always the headline-gripping issues but you realize how important they are to people and you work through long meetings to assure good city governance.”

He wants people to know that the level of regional cooperation is unprecedented on issues like flood mitigation and climate change-related issues, and he wants that to continue.

“I hope the days of backroom wheeling and dealing are over and that greater levels of transparency will endure,” he said.

Doug made the motion to include individual voting records in official council minutes that passed in 2010. But to get even more transparency, he says we need more people interested and paying attention to what the council does.

“I’m exploring the idea of holding council meetings outside of city hall, in neighbourhoods, and whether the effort and cost to do that is feasible. But my focus will remain on public service, a balanced approach and being accessible and responsive to citizens.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHERE AND WHEN TO VOTE

General Voting Day is Saturday, Oct. 15 for all local government positions.

Comox Valley Regional District

General Voting Day (Saturday, Oct. 15) and advance voting (Wednesday Oct. 5 and Wednesday Oct. 12) take place at the CVRD building in Courtenay from 8 am to 8 pm.

Go to this link for General Voting Day locations in the three Electoral Areas.

Additional voting takes place on Oct. 6 from 9 am to 12 pm on Denman Island and on Oct. 6 from 2 pm to 5 pm on Hornby Island

Courtenay

Advance Voting begins on Wednesday October 5, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Native Sons Hall, and again on Wednesday October 12, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Florence Filberg Centre.

General Voting Day, Saturday, October 15, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Queneesh Elementary School, and at the Florence Filberg Centre.

Comox

Advance voting begins Wednesday, October 5 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. at the Comox Community Centre, and on Saturday, October 8 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Genoa Sail Building at Comox Marina, and again on Monday, October 10 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Genoa Sail Building at Comox Marina, and on Wednesday, October 12 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. at the Comox Community Centre.

General Voting Day runs from 8 am to 8 pm on Oct. 15 at the Comox Community Centre.

Cumberland

All voting in the Village of Cumberland takes place from 8 am to 8 pm at the Cumberland Cultural Centre. Advance voting takes place on Oct. 5 and Oct. 12.

 

 

 

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More

Our recommendations in the 2022 Comox Valley local government elections

Decafnation announces its list of preferred candidates in this year’s local government elections and for the first time we identify candidates that we think show promise and provide our reasons for not endorsing the other candidates. Our endorsements fall on the first day of voting at advance polls

David Frisch: Carrying forward the vision already underway and implementing the new OCP

David Frisch: Carrying forward the vision already underway and implementing the new OCP

Two-term incumbent Courtenay Councillor David Frisch with his son, Levi, at Anderton Park on the west side of the Puntledge River

David Frisch: Carrying forward the vision already underway and implementing the new OCP

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David Frisch is seeking his third term on Courtenay City Council. He was the top vote-getter in the city’s 2014 municipal elections.

Frisch moved to Courtenay in 1998 and studied Business and Humanities for three years at North Island College. He has served on the board for Comox Valley Cycling Club, Imagine Comox Valley and volunteers with the Boys and Girls Club of Canada and the Youth Challenge International. He runs his own small business.

David is an entrepreneur and has been in the construction industry as a tile setter for 15 years. He and his wife have three boys and enjoy swimming in the river, playing at the beach, hiking local trails, skiing and mountain biking.

David first campaigned on limiting urban sprawl. He says he has “continued to keep an open mind and enjoys making decisions that benefit the whole community, now and for generations to come.”

 

Why should voters re-elect you?

Frisch believes that the most important job of a councillor is to read all of the reports in order to be prepared for council meetings.

But with the city’s and regions’ populations growing so quickly, other aspects of the job outside of the regular council meetings have become equally or more demanding. Attending events like ribbon cuttings, demonstrations, visiting dignitaries, community events and staff presentations are now more frequent and expected of council members.

Frisch says he is running again to carry forward the vision for the city that’s already underway and the three years of work that went into revising the Official Community Plan.

He says the city has moved from typical urban sprawl toward a vision and plan that connects people with businesses and services more efficiently using active transportation and transit.

“We’re changing how we develop and how much density to allow, including in the downtown and near-downtown areas,” he told Decafnation. “I don’t want to let up now because there’s no guarantee that the next council will follow through with this vision.”

Now, he says, the council has to update relevant bylaws that will make the OCP “real on the ground.”

Frisch knows from his two terms of experience that it takes an enormous amount of energy to get anything done in the public sector. But he’s ready to do the heavy lifting that it takes to change the city’s culture to new ideas about public space and transit and to support them.

“Everything I’ve done in my second term has aligned with my vision and my campaigning – support for developments near downtown like the Bickle Theatre development, wider safer and narrower streets, light-controlled crosswalks and a bike lane network to connect people and services like schools and shopping centers.”

On social issues like housing and mental health, he says the council is trying to do its best, but they really require provincial and federal resources and funding. “We can’t step back and ignore these issue but the city has nowhere near the resources to address some of them,” he said.

 

What are some of your key accomplishments?

The pandemic created an opportunity to change the rules about sharing the street. And he believes the new on-street patios add vibrancy to downtown, an idea that arose from the 2016 charrette that resulted in a Downtown Playbook to liven the business core.

“I would still like to see Fifth Street become more pedestrian and less car-focused,” he said. “A hybrid street with more space for people to socialize”

He would also like to create riverfront access on the west side at Anderton Park with big, wide steps down to the river, enabling access from downtown.

He supports a pedestrian bridge at Sixth Street and says that it is well into the design stage. The city just needs to find the funding. The bridge will be an east-west connector through Simms Park for walkers and cyclists.

But it was updating the OCP that engaged Frisch the most in his second term. He said he was “deeply involved” and supported all the work in creating a new OCP.

“I’m particularly proud that we’re allowing more secondary dwellings on a property without having to go through a cumbersome permitting process,” he said. “Approval is already built into the zoning now.”

He says the OCP will be a game changer for the development community as it allows smaller old houses to be redeveloped into multi-story, multifamily buildings. Fifth Street is limited to four stories, but that increases to a maximum of six stories elsewhere.

“Increasing density means we absorb population growth without having to annex land and extend expensive infrastructure,” he said.

Frisch says the city has done its best on homelessness, which he says isn’t just people on the street. It’s also the people who live in trailers and their vehicles.

The council approved thousands of new housing units during the last term that aided affordability. And he notes that council tried to cooperate with the BC Housing Association, offering them free land for sub-market housing units. “BC needs to budget more funds for this type of housing.”

He regards the current 17th Street revamp as another major improvement that builds on the upper Fifth Street project a few years ago. The 17th Street project adds lanes for bikes, skateboards, scooters and for walking. At the top end of 17th, the city repainted lines as a temporary solution as upgrades are expected in the next few years. The lower section will now experience traffic calming and front yards separated from traffic by the bike lanes, “so they are safer places for kids to play.”

“The vision for the next four years is to connect schools, grocery stores and other key destinations with safe bike lanes so kids and parents with kids and people of all ages and abilities can move around without constant worry,” he said.

Frisch hopes to complete and expand on a trail that connects the Back Road to the Superstore. It’s already in the works with help from the developers of two big apartment buildings going into the empty lot next to SuperStore.

“In the future, I would like to connect that trail across the highway and into Simms Park,” he said. “With a new pedestrian bridge at Sixth Street, people will be able to travel from West Courtenay to Back Road without going on traffic roads. Kids would be able to ride safely to Isfeld and Puntledge schools.”

 

Goals for the next four years

He says implementing the OCP vision by rewriting bylaws and rezoning properties will be a top priority. He wants to work with developers on what the new buildings will look like, how high, what amenities, smaller units and commercial opportunities.

He plans to continue working with senior governments on social problems. They have the money, he says, and the city needs funding to support professionals on mental health, addictions, etc.

“I chair the community advisory committee for The Junction, a supportive housing facility with 46 units, managed by John Howard Society. It’s a real success story. These are people who aren’t on the streets.”

One of his goals for the next term is to maintain the human perspective.

“I’m sensitive to people having a hard time in their lives, but at some point, we have to say not anything goes,” he said. “I have sympathy for their situation and also for those people who want to enjoy downtown. We still have to have social expectations. We need downtown to be a pleasant place.”

He says the Connect Center is a good warming place that provides bathrooms, light refreshments, access to social services and a social worker to find help for people when they need it.

“Should we have one located outside of downtown?” he said. “ I think a strategy for dealing with this issue is urgent because otherwise, we’re at risk of losing our downtown.”

Frisch says he would continue pursuing his vision for the region. He’s interested in the opportunities around solid waste and how the city makes use of waste, organics and plastics. The city will soon have food waste picked up and he hopes to add glass, styrofoam and soft plastics for pick up someday.

“It’s a social issue, what to do with waste and packaging in our own households,” he said. “Electrical products, for example, are designed often without any plan for recycling or reuse. What should we do with the heavy metals in them? Local people pay for expensive landfills and it costs millions just to cap off a completely full cell.”

 

The most misunderstood thing about the Courtenay Council

Many people seem to think the city council can do everything, he says.

“I get calls about mail delivery or a ruckus in the neighbourhood instead of calling the police,” he said.

Councillors are working at the policy level where solutions help the most people possible, but of course, someone is always left out.

“It’s not that we don’t see everyone’s views or that we aren’t listening. We are, but we have to work for all of the people. Living in a community requires accepting minor annoyances; for example, a neighbor’s air conditioner or lawn mower.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHERE AND WHEN TO VOTE

General Voting Day is Saturday, Oct. 15 for all local government positions.

Comox Valley Regional District

General Voting Day (Saturday, Oct. 15) and advance voting (Wednesday Oct. 5 and Wednesday Oct. 12) take place at the CVRD building in Courtenay from 8 am to 8 pm.

Go to this link for General Voting Day locations in the three Electoral Areas.

Additional voting takes place on Oct. 6 from 9 am to 12 pm on Denman Island and on Oct. 6 from 2 pm to 5 pm on Hornby Island

Courtenay

Advance Voting begins on Wednesday October 5, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Native Sons Hall, and again on Wednesday October 12, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Florence Filberg Centre.

General Voting Day, Saturday, October 15, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Queneesh Elementary School, and at the Florence Filberg Centre.

Comox

Advance voting begins Wednesday, October 5 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. at the Comox Community Centre, and on Saturday, October 8 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Genoa Sail Building at Comox Marina, and again on Monday, October 10 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Genoa Sail Building at Comox Marina, and on Wednesday, October 12 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. at the Comox Community Centre.

General Voting Day runs from 8 am to 8 pm on Oct. 15 at the Comox Community Centre.

Cumberland

All voting in the Village of Cumberland takes place from 8 am to 8 pm at the Cumberland Cultural Centre. Advance voting takes place on Oct. 5 and Oct. 12.

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More

Our recommendations in the 2022 Comox Valley local government elections

Decafnation announces its list of preferred candidates in this year’s local government elections and for the first time we identify candidates that we think show promise and provide our reasons for not endorsing the other candidates. Our endorsements fall on the first day of voting at advance polls

Wendy Morin: Voters can trust she’ll deliver on promises like housing diversity, urban agriculture, the new OCP

Wendy Morin: Voters can trust she’ll deliver on promises like housing diversity, urban agriculture, the new OCP

Wendy Morin says City Council is responsible for every person who lives in Courtenay

Wendy Morin: Voters can trust she’ll deliver on promises like housing diversity, urban agriculture, the new OCP

By

Wendy Morin, a lifelong resident of the Comox Valley, is seeking a second term on the Courtenay City Council.

Morin is the co-creator of the Comox Valley Girls Group, which has provided training for girls and young women about how to deal with societal pressures and learn skills for healthy living. She is on a Leave Of Absence from her youth and family substance use counselor position at the John Howard Society.

She was a founding resident of the Tin Town live-work neighborhood and she is an active supporter of the arts community and environmental conservation.

 

Why should voters re-elect you?

Before running for the first time in 2018, Morin wondered if she had tough enough skin for public office.

“But I’ve found most of the negativity comes on social media,” She told Decafnation. “The people that have phoned or emailed me directly, seem to have legitimate issues and I do my best to respond. .”

Looking back at her campaign promises, Morin says she has delivered on all of them, if not always quite 100 percent.

“But I think people now trust me to do the things I’ve promised,” she said. “I don’t think any voter would be surprised by what I’ve done during my first four years in office. I think I deserve another term because I’m accountable.”

Morin says she reads all the reports and many of them are long, 1,000 pages and more. She goes to the optional staff briefings and she has taken advantage of all the opportunities there are to become a knowledgeable council member.

Although Courtenay Council members have not had a raise in compensation for eight years, Morin voted not to raise their pay during the current term. She did vote to raise compensation in the next term but also to examine different ways to have people of diverse ages and incomes serve on the council, such as child care support

“I have advocated for broader representation on council and we can’t have that without appropriate pay. Otherwise, we shut out people with lower incomes, for example, and create an obstacle for people of diverse backgrounds,” she said.

 

What are some of your key accomplishments?

Morin feels that she has brought into the decision-making space the voices of citizens who haven’t had a voice before: those people who haven’t traditionally held power.

“I’ve also brought a different style that’s collaborative rather than combative,” she said.

Morin was the leading advocate for the council’s anti-racism policy that provides training for councillors and staff and, she hopes, to the larger community.

“We have a changing population that’s more diverse now so we must deal with those, for example, who yell slurs at cricket players in Lewis Park,” she said.

Morin helped pass a new bylaw that allows more urban agriculture.

“It’s more than about hens; it speaks to bigger issues like income inequality, food security, our changing demographic and climate change,” she said.

 

Goals for the next four years

The first goal for her second term will be the implementation of the recently updated Official Community Plan. The OCP is a publicly created vision for the future of the city and now council members and staff have to create or revise policies to align with it.

Morin believes the OCP opens up opportunities for greater housing diversity and more ways for developers to contribute below-market units or to the affordable housing reserve. And it provides incentives for developers to do so.

“Some developers have pushed back, but more understand where the city is headed and already come to us with plans for bike storage, food gardens, EV chargers and so on,” she said. “None of these are radical ideas. Other towns and cities everywhere are implementing similar policies.”

Morin plans to focus more on transportation and regional connectivity in the next four years. She envisions rebates for eBikes to make them accessible to all kinds of people, including low-income people to improve equity.

She would also finish revamping our regional approach to economic development.

“We’re shifting away from an outdated model. The old school idea was to reach out to heavy industry, but that’s not what we want. We want lighter industries, greener ones. We want to include arts and culture into the economic development focus and the council has increased funding to arts groups,” she said.

And Morin would continue her work on social planning within the city, a carryover from my goals in 2018.

“We – the council – have integrated social planning into more and more decisions, but I still would like to see a Social Planner position at city hall,” she said.

Morin likes what Powell River has done in hiring a person who coordinates the efforts of nonprofits working on a variety of issues and advances social issues by bringing them into discussions on our infrastructure plans.

 

The most misunderstood thing about the CVRD

Morin says she is grateful for informed people because some of those upset with council or the regional district “misunderstand our role and mandate and the resources available to us.”

“Some have misunderstood our motives,” she says. “I’ve been involved in this community for 50 years and I just want the best community possible. I want to help people have a voice. There’s no agenda beyond that.”

Morin recognizes that there are some people in the Valley who want to expand the city boundaries, get rid of the recently publicly formed OCP and who are opposed to cycling lanes.

“There is a lot of anger expressed by those opposed to these ideas. It’s time to get rid of the combative style of politics and to be more collaborative and respectful. Many women and people of colour are leaving leadership positions because of this and we all lose when that happens,” she said.

“It’s different being an incumbent, defending a record,” she said. “ But I think we have made our citizens’ lives better. We’re trying not to leave anybody out because a council is responsible for every person who lives here.”

Morin is surprised that some people think this council’s accomplishments are radical ideas. She says rehabilitating the Fifth Street Bridge added 50 years to its life. Council has tackled projects that have languished on the city’s shelves for years, like the bridge and creating a pedestrian path on Lake Trail.

“Most of these actions and decisions are middle of the road. Grandparents are riding eBikes now and more people every year are adding food gardens,” she said.

Morin says she is committed to the Comox Valley. She has no aspirations for higher office and no plans to spend extended time living outside of the community. She believes that everyone running for council needs to be all in or it’s a disservice to the public.

“Some people who run for office see only weekly meetings. But there are requirements to do a good job that aren’t mandatory, yet essential for proper representation and decision-making. Tours, meeting people on the frontlines, staff briefings, meeting constituents, and being prepared by having done all the reading before meetings.

“This isn’t a volunteer position where a person can only be engaged when they want to. It’s a commitment.”

This article was updated Monday afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHERE AND WHEN TO VOTE

General Voting Day is Saturday, Oct. 15 for all local government positions.

Comox Valley Regional District

General Voting Day (Saturday, Oct. 15) and advance voting (Wednesday Oct. 5 and Wednesday Oct. 12) take place at the CVRD building in Courtenay from 8 am to 8 pm.

Go to this link for General Voting Day locations in the three Electoral Areas.

Additional voting takes place on Oct. 6 from 9 am to 12 pm on Denman Island and on Oct. 6 from 2 pm to 5 pm on Hornby Island

Courtenay

Advance Voting begins on Wednesday October 5, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Native Sons Hall, and again on Wednesday October 12, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Florence Filberg Centre.

General Voting Day, Saturday, October 15, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Queneesh Elementary School, and at the Florence Filberg Centre.

Comox

Advance voting begins Wednesday, October 5 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. at the Comox Community Centre, and on Saturday, October 8 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Genoa Sail Building at Comox Marina, and again on Monday, October 10 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Genoa Sail Building at Comox Marina, and on Wednesday, October 12 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. at the Comox Community Centre.

General Voting Day runs from 8 am to 8 pm on Oct. 15 at the Comox Community Centre.

Cumberland

All voting in the Village of Cumberland takes place from 8 am to 8 pm at the Cumberland Cultural Centre. Advance voting takes place on Oct. 5 and Oct. 12.

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More

Our recommendations in the 2022 Comox Valley local government elections

Decafnation announces its list of preferred candidates in this year’s local government elections and for the first time we identify candidates that we think show promise and provide our reasons for not endorsing the other candidates. Our endorsements fall on the first day of voting at advance polls

Arzeena Hamir: implementing a bold new Ag plan and a new spirit of collaboration

Arzeena Hamir: implementing a bold new Ag plan and a new spirit of collaboration

Among Arzeena Hamir’s priorities for a second term representing Area B include supporting home-based businesses and creating childcare closer to rural residents

Arzeena Hamir: implementing a bold new Ag plan and a new spirit of collaboration

By

Arzeena Hamir is seeking a second term as the Electoral Area B representative on the Comox Valley Regional District board.

She has a Master’s degree in sustainable agriculture and worked as an agronomist and a food security coordinator before moving to the Comox Valley in 2012 to start her own farm, Amara Farm. She helped found Merville Organics, the Mid-Island Farmers Institute and the Comox Valley Food Policy Roundtable.

She is in the process of starting a farmers cooperative for organic farmers and is a regular at the Comox Valley Farmers Market.

 

Why should voters re-elect you?

In the last four years, Hamir says she was able to accomplish the main goals of her campaign: fixing the Comox Valley Economic Development Society problem, protecting the Exhibition Grounds from a giant convention center and getting an Agricultural Plan started for the Comox Valley.

“Now, I’m going into the next term a bit more wide-eyed, understanding how long it takes to affect change and get things done,” she told Decafnation.

Hamir found that new ideas require the buy-in of colleagues to be successful and that requires making a convincing case for the importance of those ideas.

“I know now that working together is the best way and usually the only way to achieve political goals. I’ve gone through a big change to realize the wisdom of the depth of collaboration,” she said. “Yet, I’m still passionate about the issues involving farming, the environment and our community of people.”

Hamir says the COVID pandemic exacerbated polarization on many issues so she’s now focused on bringing people together to solve problems and to serve as a conduit for ideas that come from the community.

 

What are some of your key accomplishments?

Hamair says without a doubt that the review and restructuring of economic development for the region was a major victory in her first term.

“It was hard work that required me to be tenacious and brave to challenge a bastion of the old guard that had outlived its purpose,” she said.

In one of her first Comox Valley Regional District board meetings, she was the lone vote against the approval of the CVEDS budget.

“Being on the short side of a 9-1 vote was tough, but I was not willing to cave on my principles and I am comfortable being the lone voice if necessary … But what a savings, $1.2 million now being used for other things!” she said.

Hamir was also the prime motivator behind the new regional agriculture plan. She pushed for it, asked staff to apply for grants and lobbied to get the funding. It will be implemented this year.

The old Ag Plan was drafted in 2002 and was two decades out of date. It had, for example, no references to the effect that climate change is having and will continue to have on farming.

“But now, as extreme temperatures and potential water shortage issues change the landscape for farmers,” she said. “I hope the agriculture community can come together and develop ideas on how to address these issues.”

Hamir also championed the drive to convince the Province of BC to help farmers store rainwater during the wet season and irrigate from those storage areas in the dry season. Farmers have been hesitant to create water storage because it costs about $15,000 to $20,000 to construct a water storage pond.

“I successfully pressed the Minister to adopt my motion and lobbied the Standing Committee on Finance. Now water storage funding is part of the BC Environment Farm Plan. Knowing all the players and where the levers of power helped me get this done.”

One of the intangible accomplishments that Hamir championed involves improved efforts to work with community partners. She said this means realizing that local government can’t do it all due to limits of staff capacity and funding, but that the regional district can’t ignore what needs to be done. So, she has looked more to community partners to help.

For example, there was little the regional district could do alone to address the opioid crisis, so they turned to the Community Health Network. Now the CVRD provides administrative support to help the nonprofit submit grant applications and manages the grant money when they get it.

Also, she said, the CVRD Recreation department is doing a fantastic job with community partnerships, especially with activity-based groups. Their work now includes more than pools and ice sheets, it’s trails, fostering biodiversity, and leading educational walks.

Hamir was successful in shifting the master plan for the Exhibition Grounds away from a giant Agriplex and toward the real needs of the actual Exhibition Grounds users. The new plan integrates the exhibition grounds into the larger recreational services plan with facilities like the Sports Centre.

“We came up with a better plan for the site,” she said. “The idea was simple: recognize the Exhibition Grounds users – Lush Valley, Fall Fair, horse groups such as Therapeutic riding, the Farmer’s Market and Music Fest – and shape the plan to serve them best.”

Hamir is also pleased that the Valley will finally move food and kitchen waste out of landfills and into a new composting facility that opens this fall in CR. For the past eight years, Cumberland and Comox have been running a pilot project to collect and compost food waste. It’s been successful but couldn’t be expanded at the Cumberland landfill.

Because the Campbell River landfill is closing, they will be trucking garbage to the CV Waste Management Center, so local food waste and organics will go back on the otherwise empty trucks. It’s estimated that removing food waste from the landfill cells, which are expensive to create, will extend their life by 30 percent and provides the huge benefit of reducing methane gas emissions.

“And in the end, we get fantastic compost that is safe for food gardens. As a farmer, I give a big thumbs up!” she said.

 

Goals for the next four years

Hamir’s top goal for a second term is to plan a new service that supports the business of farming and home-based businesses in rural areas. She envisions using Tourism Vancouver Island to help market those rural businesses that are tourism based. Local government didn’t do economic development well, she says, but now the regional district can support the underlying economic infrastructure.

She would address affordable housing in Area B by allowing more carriage houses, granny flats, second homes and suites on properties. She wants to clear the current four-month wait list for building permits by Christmas, a backlog that was created during the pandemic when some staff were diverted to other planning needs. 

Hamir hopes to increase child care facilities in rural areas by working with the Early Childhood Collaboration nonprofit in her next term. She would like the CVRD to provide small grants to start and operate childcare closer to rural populations so that parents to take jobs outside of the home.

It’s a top priority for Hamir to steward the implementation of the Ag Plan, which is a bold new vision for agriculture in the region.

“We have less than 10 years of enjoying California food growing – salads, strawberries, citrus, tomatoes, cucumbers – before the unprecedented drought and lack of water access collapses that state’s agriculture sector,” she said. “I predict we’ll all be eating differently in 10 years.”

To prepare for that, Hamir says we need to create a new generation of local farmers by making land more affordable and calling on NIC and the province to assist people entering into a farming career.

She says the Comox Valley has 100,000 acres of ALR farmland, but only 30 percent of it is currently being actively farmed. That has to increase, she says, as food from California and Mexico decreases.

And finally, protecting the natural beauty of our area is always a top priority for Hamir.

“The CVRD has approved a Regional Parks Service that will start gaining momentum. At the same time, we must start connecting our parks and trails so people can walk or ride eBikes on safe routes into the urban areas without going on dangerous highways,” she said.

 

The most misunderstood thing about the CVRD

“I hear some people say the CVRD is wasteful, has a huge budget and doesn’t use its funding wisely. The truth is that the opposite is true,” she says.

There are 102 separate services managed by the CVRD and every household pays their share of a different combination of those services depending on where they live.

“The bottom line is that you pay for what you get, nothing more or less.” she said.

If any service has a surplus in a year, it’s put into that service’s reserve. That means tax levies for that service may go down in the next year. She says it’s a very cost-effective system.

Many people didn’t realize it, but regional district taxes went down by 0.75 percent last year and are up just 3.8 percent this year.

“On average, the CVRD has budgeted and managed its funding well. People don’t realize that we’re always budgeting for the replacement cost of things over that thing’s life expectancy, so we always have a reserve starting in year one.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHERE AND WHEN TO VOTE

General Voting Day is Saturday, Oct. 15 for all local government positions.

Comox Valley Regional District

General Voting Day and advance voting take place at the CVRD building in Courtenay from 8 am to 8 pm.

Go to this link for General Voting Day locations in the three Electoral Areas.

Additional voting takes place on Oct. 6 from 9 am to 12 pm on Denman Island and on Oct. 6 from 2 pm to 5 pm on Hornby Island

Courtenay

Advance Voting begins on Wednesday October 5, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Native Sons Hall, and again on Wednesday October 12, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Florence Filberg Centre.

General Voting Day, Saturday, October 15, 2022, 8 am to 8 pm at the Queneesh Elementary School, and at the Florence Filberg Centre.

Comox

Advance voting begins Wednesday, October 5 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. at the Comox Community Centre, and on Saturday, October 8 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Genoa Sail Building at Comox Marina, and again on Monday, October 10 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Genoa Sail Building at Comox Marina, and on Wednesday, October 12 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. at the Comox Community Centre.

General Voting Day runs from 8 am to 8 pm on Oct. 15 at the Comox Community Centre.

Cumberland

All voting in the Village of Cumberland takes place from 8 am to 8 pm at the Cumberland Cultural Centre. Advance voting takes place on Oct. 5 and Oct. 12.

 

 

 

 

 

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

Enter your email address to subscribe to the Decafnation newsletter.

More

Our recommendations in the 2022 Comox Valley local government elections

Decafnation announces its list of preferred candidates in this year’s local government elections and for the first time we identify candidates that we think show promise and provide our reasons for not endorsing the other candidates. Our endorsements fall on the first day of voting at advance polls