by George Le Masurier | Oct 2, 2018
The last in a series of in-depth voter information pages published today.
dropcap]R[/dropcap]ural area candidates seeking to represent their electoral areas on the Comox Valley Regional District board answered a series of questions for a page that published today on this website. It’s the last in a series of pages giving candidates the opportunity to share their thoughts on election issues in their own words. Decafnation has previously published Courtenay, Comox and Cumberland candidate pages this week.
Two of the electoral area candidates, Ron Nichol in Area B and Jay Oddleifson in Area C, chose not to respond.
You can jump to the Election 2018/Rural candidates’ page by clicking this link. The page is also available from the main menu: topics – politics – Cumberland Candidates Respond, or by clicking one the pages at the top of Decafnation’s home page.
Cumberland candidates talk about the issues
Cumberland mayor and council candidates competing in the Oct. 20 municipal elections discuss a variety of topics in a page published today on this website. It’s the third in a series of pages giving candidates the opportunity to share their thoughts on election issues in their own words. Decafnation has previously published Courtenay and Comox candidate pages this week. A page devoted to rural regional district directors will publish tomorrow.
Only one council candidate, Eric Krejci, chose not to respond.
You can jump to the Election 2018/Cumberland candidates’ page by clicking this link. The page is also available from the main menu: topics – politics – Cumberland Candidates Respond, or by clicking one the pages at the top of Decafnation’s home page.
Comox candidates explain their positions on a variety of issues
Candidates for Comox Town Council and mayor explain their positions about a variety of topics in a page published today on this website. It’s the second in a series of pages giving candidates the opportunity to share their thoughts on election issues in their own words. A Courtenay candidate page published yesterday.
Both mayoralty candidates, Russ Arnott and Tom Diamond, responded to the survey. But not all council candidates responded, just the new challengers. Incumbents Maureen Swift and Ken Grant declined to respond.
You can jump to the Election 2018/Comox candidates’ page by clicking this link. The page is also available from the main menu: topics – politics – Comox Candidates Respond.
Courtenay candidates take on taxes and other issues
What do the 16 candidates for Courtenay City Council and the four candidates for mayor think about tax rates, air quality and amalgamation?
In the first in a series of four special Election 2018 pages published today on Decafnation, the candidates have shared their thoughts and positions on these and a variety of other topics in their own words.
Decafnation invited candidates to respond to nine questions and allowed them up to 500 words to answer each question. Some chose to respond in a long and detailed fashion, while others opted for brevity. Readers can easily compare the candidates as their responses are sorted by the questions and alphabetically by the candidates’ last names.
Readers will have to weigh the significance of the absence of four candidates. Two mayoralty candidates, Erik Eriksson and incumbent Larry Jangula, chose not to respond, as did council candidates Tom Grant and Jin Lin.
All other candidates graciously responded with thoughtful responses — some candidates said they spent considerable time on the project — in order to help you become a more informed voter.
You can jump to the Election 2018/Courtenay candidates’ page by clicking this link. The page is also available from the main menu: topics – politics -Courtenay Candidates Respond.
Similar pages featuring Comox, Cumberland and regional electoral area candidates will publish later this week.
And don’t forget to vote Oct. 20.
by George Le Masurier | Oct 1, 2018
Your vote on Oct. 20 does more than elect someone to a municipal council. It shapes the future of your community. Our special pages this week will help you make more informed choices
Comox Valley voters will do more than choose their mayors, municipal council members and rural area representatives in a little more than two weeks. By selecting specific candidates voters will indirectly influence policy, and shape the direction of their communities for the next four years.
It’s a heavy burden on those who cast ballots. And it should not be done in haste or based on popularity, flashy signs or any criteria other than an informed choice of who best mirrors each voter’s values and vision.
But with so many new candidates running for office this year, how you know them well enough to earn that precious X on your ballot?
Candidates are knocking on doors and speaking at several all-candidates meetings closer to Election Day. But that’s not enough.
Decafnation has conducted in-depth interviews with as many candidates as possible, dating back to a year ago when the first candidate announced he would contend for the Courtenay mayor’s chair. And we have more profiles to publish this week. You can find them all on our Elections 2018 page. But that’s still no enough.
Decafnation has gone a step further. We have invited all candidates to engage in a comprehensive Question-and-Answer dialogue on a wide range of topics and given them considerable space (500 words) to discuss each question.
We framed most of our questions broadly, so candidates would could explain how they would approach issues at the policy or legislative level. We think the responses show which candidates have a strong vision and which do not, which candidates have a deep understanding of the bigger picture and which candidates have the depth and strength to lead us through the next four years.
Almost all the candidates in Cumberland, Courtenay, Comox and the regional district’s electoral areas participated. You might find it interesting to note which candidates chose not to participate.
We have prepared special pages on Decafnation that feature all the candidates’ responses sorted by the questions and alphabetically by the candidates’ last names. that makes it easy to compare your municipality’s candidates and factor their responses into your decision-making.
The Courtenay page will roll out first, later today (Oct. 2), followed by Comox on Wednesday, rural regional directors on Thursday and Cumberland on Friday.
The candidates have graciously collaborated with Decafnation to help you become a more informed voter. We hope you find the pages useful.
And then, vote.
Advance polls open on Oct. 10 and Oct. 17, but also on other dates in selected places. Check the home page of Decafnation for a complete listing of where and when to vote early, and beat the rush (we hope) on Election Day.
by George Le Masurier | Sep 18, 2018
A feud develops between Courtenay Mayor Larry Jangula and challenger Harold Long over a broken four-year old promise. Barbara Price fails to make the ballot in Comox. Cumberland Mayor Leslie Baird finally has an opponent, poor fella, so there’s no end of fun in this year’s election campaign
This article was updated Tuesday morning to add new information about a Comox candidates meeting and to correct information about the School District 71 elections.
Who says local government elections are boring? Here’s what happened in the last week of nominations in the Comox Valley:
The Courtenay mayoralty candidate that many assumed was the front-runner curiously dropped out of the race in a bid to stay on the City Council.
A long-time former City Council member jumped into the Courtenay mayoralty race and strongly criticized the incumbent mayor for breaking a promise he made four years ago.
In Comox, the Town Council and mayor’s chair will get a near-total makeover because only two of seven incumbents are running for re-election.
But that wasn’t entirely planned. One Comox councillor, who fully intended to run again, failed to file her completed nomination papers in time and won’t be on the ballot.
In School District 71, four incumbents chose not to run for re-election, an indication of some of the pressure on school boards, perhaps as a result of years of underfunding by the provincial government.
And, finally, Cumberland Mayor Leslie Baird has drawn a challenger. It’s the first time she’s had an opponent, having been acclaimed to office twice. Not that anyone is expecting a close vote.
But, all in all, the next four weeks of local politics looks like fun.
FURTHER READING: For more interviews with candidates and a full list of who’s running for councils, regional district and school board, go to our Elections 2018 page
Harold Long and Larry Jangula will feud it out. Long wanted to run for mayor in 2014, but made a deal with Jangula to support him last time, if Jangula would support Long in 2018.
Except it’s going to be hard for Jangula to keep his promise with his own name on the ballot.
According to a reliable source, Jangula justified breaking the deal to Long in a phone call: “I can change my mind if I want to,” Jangula reportedly said.
Jangula has yet to respond to Decafnation’s request for an interview.
David Frisch, the top vote-getter in the 2014 election, looked like the front runner for the mayor’s job in Courtenay. Even late-entry mayoralty candidate Harold Long thought Frisch was the odds-on favorite.
But Frisch dropped out suddenly because, according to him, he didn’t want to split the progressive vote three ways (between himself, Bob Wells and Erik Eriksson) making a Jangula victory more likely.
But he dropped out before Harold Long jumped in, who is sure to take a big chunk out of Jangula’s vote total, which leaves local political observers wondering who will emerge from this two-on-two free-for-all.
Comox Councillor Barbara Price meant to file for re-election. But while at the Union of BC Municipalities convention in Whistler last week, she got word that her nomination papers weren’t properly filled out.
Price tried to correct the problem while travelling back to the Comox Valley, including trying to find a Notary Public on the BC Ferry trip from Horseshoe Bay, but to no avail. She didn’t make the ballot.
That has the potential to realign the balance of power in Comox, especially on issues like the rewriting of Hamilton Mack Laing’s Last Will and trusts to the town.
Decafnation will do its best to inform voters about the candidates, and we’ll make our own recommendations soon. But there are only a few opportunities for voters to hear the candidates speak in person and debate each other.
There’s a Comox Valley sustainability forum tomorrow night, Thursday, Sept 19, at the K’omoks First Nation Community Hall, and an all-candidates meeting for the City of Courtenay only on Oct. 16 at the Sid Williams Theatre. Comox voters will get to meet their municipal candidates at 7 p.m on Oct. 12 at the Comox Recreation Centre.
And surely there will be a public debate for the Cumberland candidates. But will regional district and school board candidates get a chance to debate in public?
Watch The Record and TideChange.ca and our Morning Briefings column for announcements of additional events. We’ll be posting new events on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/decafnation.
Meanwhile, enjoy the show, support your own favorite candidates and, most importantly, VOTE on Oct. 20.
by George Le Masurier | Sep 17, 2018
Arzeena Hamir has experience in bringing together people with opposing views, a skill she would use to improve decision-making at the regional district level
Arzeena Hamir has decided to seek election as the Area B representative on the regional district because she can offer a fresh perspective on how the Comox Valley Regional District makes decisions.
Hamir would definitely bring a world view to local government.
Born in Tanzania, East Africa, she moved with her family to Richmond, BC in 1973. After finishing a BA degree in agriculture at the University of Guelph, Hamir served as a CUSO volunteer in Thailand, where she’s fluent in the language.
She then spent time in India doing field research for the Masters degree in sustainable agriculture that she earned from the University of London, England.
After concluding her studies, Hamir worked as an agrologist for West Coast Seeds, and as the food security coordinator for the Richmond Food Security Society creating community gardens and doing education workshops.
In 2012, she started her own farm, Amara Farms, in the Comox Valley, and helped form Merville Organics, a co-operative venture with four other area farmers.
FURTHER READING: For more interviews with candidates and a full list of who’s running for councils, regional district and school board, go to our Elections 2018 page
Over the last six years, Hamir has become increasingly concerned with how some local political decisions have been made and wants to use her skills in bringing people together to take a different approach.
“I see projects on the horizon that could impact the things that attracted me to the Comox Valley — land, water and community,” she told Decafnation. “I want to shine a light on them in a way that hasn’t been thought about.”
Hamir points to the proposed Agriplex for the Comox Valley Exhibition Grounds (CVEG) as an example of a project — included in the CVEG Master Plan “in an underhanded way” — for which there is no proven need and will burden taxpayers forever.
“I see many needs in the Valley, this is not one of them,” she said. “We should channel that community energy and staff time and money into real needs.
“We’ve got bigger things to think about.”
One of those is building the Comox Valley into Vancouver Island’s primary food producer.
Right now, about 95 percent of food consumed on the Island comes from somewhere else. Hamir says that’s not a good long-term position.
“The Valley is blessed with lots of farmable land while other Island areas are losing theirs,” she said. “We should be ramping up production.”
The Cowichan Valley is drying up, she says, and farms have dramatically lost production. Saanich peninsula farms are losing ground to McMansions and mega cannabis growing operations, plus they have soil and water challenges.
“We don’t have those same development and climate pressures,” she said. “If the Comox Valley Regional District could support farmers, even just helping them share information and work cooperatively so they can continue to farm, this industry will be successful.”
Hamir recognizes the diversity of interests in Area B. Its boundaries include the Comox peninsula, Bates Beach, Lazo and Point Holmes and parts of Headquarters Road in the Tsolum regions.
“I don’t have all the answers,” she said. “But I have the experience and ability to bring people with opposing views together.”
She is a founder of the Mid-Island Farmers Institute, an organization of about 80 farmers formed to address common issues and share information. She also helped form the Comox Valley Food Security Roundtable for a similar purpose.
Hamir says she would build on those experiences to address issues at the regional district level, such as sewerage, land development and water.
“We have people on city water and wells, and we have boil water advisories and water bottling proposals, and our glaciers are shrinking,” she says. “I would bring people together to create better watershed plans.”
She wonders if climate change is being fully considered in regional decision-making.
“It worrisome to have sewer pipes in the foreshore and to allow building in flood plains,” she says. “I’m not afraid to tackle those issues.”
She opposes the 3L Developments proposal to build a subdivision at Stotan Falls because it contradicts the expressed wishes of the community represented in the Regional Growth Strategy (RGS).
“I don’t take changes to the RGS lightly,” she said. “We need more infill in our existing settlement nodes and urban cores before stressing the outer areas.”
Hamir would also like to see more incentives for Area B residents to recycle. Some households rely on private collectors, but recycling isn’t built into those contracts. She proposes a discount for only one garbage bin, more composting education and making recycling easier to do in the rural areas.
by George Le Masurier | Sep 15, 2018
The final list of candidates for the Comox Valley’s five local governments. Election Day is Oct. 20. Cumberland has a public referendum on the ballot, and Courtenay has a non-binding opinion question for voters
Cumberland
Candidates for mayor: Incumbent Leslie Baird and Eduardo Uranga
Candidates for four (4) council positions: Incumbents Roger Kishi, Jessie Kelter, Sean Sullivan, Gwyn Sproule and new candidates Eric Krejci, Vicky Brown and Ian McLean
REFERENDUM: Are you in favour of “Wastewater Upgrade Project Loan Authorization Bylaw, No. 1084, 2018” to authorize the Village of Cumberland to borrow up to $4,400,000, including interest, over a period not exceeding 20 years in order to finance the construction of an upgraded lagoon wastewater treatment plant? YES or NO
FOR CANDIDATE INTERVIEWS AND OTHER ELECTION 2018 INFORMATION: Go to the Decafnation Elections 2018 page
Courtenay
Candidates for mayor: Incumbent Larry Jangula and new candidates Erik Eriksson, Bob Wells and Harold Long
Candidates for six (6) council positions: Incumbents David Frisch, Doug Hillian and Mano Theos, and new candidates Melanie McCollum, Will Cole-Hamilton, Deana Simpkin, Judi Murakami, Wendy Morin, Brennan Day, Kiyoshi Kosky, Tom Grant, Murray Presley, Starr Winchester, Penny Marlow, Jin Lin and Darwin Dzuba
OPINION QUESTION (non-binding): Are you in favour of conducting a study, in partnership with the Province of BC, to review the governance structures and policies of the City of Courtenay and other local governments within the Comox Valley to consider the feasibility and implications of restructure? YES or NO
Comox
Candidates for mayor: Tom Diamond and Russ Arnott
Candidates for six (6) council positions: Incumbents Ken Grant and Maureen Swift, and new candidates Nicole Minions, Don Davis, Chris Haslett, Alex Bissinger, Ronald Freeman, Stephanie McGowan and Patrick McKenna
Regional District Rural Areas
Area A — Daniel Arbour and Jim Elliott
Area B — Incumbent Rod Nichol and Arzeena Hamir
Area C — Incumbent Edwin Grieve and Jay Oddleifson
School District 71
Janice Caton — City of Courtenay
Kathleen Hawksby — City of Courtenay
Sarah Jane Howe — Village of Cumberland
Laurel Rankin — Village of Cumberland
Randi Baldwin — Town of Comox
Tonia Frawley — Town of Comox
Shelia McDonnell — Area A
James Derry — Area B
Michelle Waite — Area B
Ian Hargreaves — Area C
Terence Purden — Area C
