David Screech is a free man.
On Tuesday night, new View Royal Mayor Sid Tobias was sworn in and Screech officially surrendered his 20-year seat at the town’s decision-making table — 12 as a councillor and the past eight as mayor.
It was a bittersweet moment when he arrived at his Government Street upholstery and furniture shop the next morning without council responsibilities on his mind. His term as Capital Regional District director and head of its transportation committee will last another week, but his public life for the most part is over — for now.
“It’s a weird feeling because I’m used to being so involved,” Screech said in an interview at his store.
“It’s a huge amount of time that you commit yourself to in municipal politics — and not just with council and committee meetings, but all the time you devote with staff, with the public and reading all of the reports to prepare yourself to make decisions that affect an entire community.”
Screech, who lost the Oct. 15 election to newcomer Tobias (1,291 votes for Tobias, 1,055 for Screech), is one of many long-time councillors and mayors — including Rob Martin in Colwood and Langford’s Stew Young — who now find themselves on the outside looking in.
Screech, 62, who has three grown children, had two of his four grandchildren in the upholstery shop helping out on a “bring your kids to work day.”
He’s focusing on the business — with one eye open to politics — while considering moving Gregg’s Furniture & Upholstery from its long-time location on Government Street to View Royal, where has he lived since 1998, or the West Shore. But it’s easy to see he’s going to miss local politics.
“The business has been in Victoria since 1955, and we’re very proud to continue it,” he said. “But the municipal end of things really gave me that [sense of] purpose, and over the years you develop all sorts of relationships with public, staff, colleagues all across the region and province.”
The former mayor believes one of his greatest achievements as a councillor and mayor is the creation of parks — up to 50 hectares in View Royal alone. He was also involved in acquiring major pieces of parkland for the capital region, including Sooke Potholes and other parcels that have nearly doubled CRD regional parks to 13,300 hectares over the past two decades.
He was an advocate of increasing the town’s housing stock and played a role in the CRD’s strategy of adding housing density, and attracting developments that provide both housing and business to support a growing population.
New developments in View Royal haven’t always been welcome — or made him or the rest of council popular. “You really can’t please everyone,” he said. “I always said the mayor has just one vote. It takes the whole council to try and decide what is best for the community. Often times, not everyone agrees with you.”
CRD board chair Colin Plant said Screech was a key figure at the regional district. “He was always the most passionate director at our table, passionate about his community and always regional in his thinking, so his voice will be missed.”
Graham Hill, who served four three-year terms as View Royal mayor until 2012, when Screech succeeded him, said the two often clashed, but Screech’s work ethic was second to none.
“He was so committed, so diligent and very strong in his beliefs … as a mayor, he was often one of my biggest challenges,” said Hill. “But the best people who are committed usually are challenges. I could always rely on him for that was best for our gem of a town.”
Screech is also proud of keeping property taxes in View Royal to the third-lowest in the CRD, and using revenue from the region’s only casino for parks and recreation and capital projects in View Royal.
Casinos can be lucrative for local governments, as host municipalities receive 10 per cent of net gambling income. In Greater Victoria, that translates into about $4.3 million a year, which is shared among seven municipalities and two First Nations. View Royal gets about $2.3 million because the casino is in the town.
Screech said View Royal has been able to keep taxes low by contracting out its maintenance and running a small staff.
“But there’s going to be huge pressures in wages and the need for increased policing and fire and the RCMP building in Langford has to be replaced, so there’s going to be challenges to keep those taxes down, and that is an argument in itself for more development to offset it, because otherwise the existing residents are going to have to pay the bill entirely.”
Screech also counts among his achievements adding two new councillors to View Royal’s table, bringing extra voices and perspective to a community of nearly 12,000 residents — nearly double the population at incorporation in 1988.
His main regret is not seeing one more term to refine View Royal’s new Official Community Plan, which maps out and uses, types of buildings and amenities, targeting areas for high-density housing and infill with duplexes and carriage houses in existing neighbourhoods.
View Royal’s draft OCP created an incident just a few days prior to the election when a leaflet started circulating that Screech was trying to push the plan through without public debate. The Times Colonist reported on a confrontation between Screech, Coun. Ron Mattson and some residents, with Screech trying to explain there was no truth to the leaflet, and the OCP still needed debate to pass.
Police were called, and Screech felt the press coverage so close to the election cost him at the polls.
“The OCP got hijacked as an election issue … it was a draft document and [council] felt there was not enough time to do a proper public consultation and make a decision, so we as a council, on my recommendation, decided to leave it until after the election,” said Screech. “But then certain members of council decided to make it an election issue … look at what’s in this draft, look at the infill housing … and it was unfair. It was an underhanded tactic to make people worry because nobody had voiced any approval; it was purely a draft.”
Screech said the new OCP draft is almost a mirror of the old OCP, with some changes to allow more density in appropriate spots and infill.
Screech said he will continue to keep an eye on local politics. His Facebook page, Friends who like the Town of View Royal, has about 800 followers.
“I’ve been posting the odd thing in there and taking a bit of flak because people think it’s sour grapes, but it’s not,” said Screech. “If I see something happening that I think is bad for View Royal, I’m not going to be quiet about it. That’s just the way I’m wired and I’m not going to change.
“If I was afraid of taking heat I probably wouldn’t have lasted on council for 20 years.”
As for another run for mayor in 2026, Screech said he “would never rule anything out.”
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