Oak Bay residents must decide whether to vote for incumbent Mayor Nils Jensen or take a leap of faith on one-term Oak Bay Coun. Cairine Green.
Jensen, who was elected mayor after serving 15 years on council, is campaigning on the theme of trusted leadership, vision and openness.
Green, who served on North Saanich council for six years, along with a variety of municipal and regional commissions and committees, is stressing communication and promising a fresh perspective and “a very different style of proactive leadership.”
It’s unusual for an incumbent mayor to be challenged in the municipality, but being an incumbent should not be seen as an automatic ticket to another council term, Green said.
What’s even more unusual is that Jensen and Green appear to be on the same page on many issues. In 2013, both voted for a deer cull. But Green told a recent all-candidates’ meeting she has pushed the pause button on that issue. She now supports a regional deer strategy and wants more scientific information and data on migration patterns of deer from other municipalities.
“Just culling 25 deer in Oak Bay in isolation will not adequately address the problem and raises serious questions for me,” she wrote on her website.
The bid for six council seats by 11 candidates also promises to be interesting. Joan Russow, the former leader of the federal Green party, wants to nominate the capital region as a UN Biosphere Reserve. Others are content simply to implement the official community plan. Most candidates are not seeking change, vowing instead to preserve Oak Bay’s unique character.
But the municipality will face change in the coming four years.
The municipality’s decision to reject plans to replace Oak Bay Lodge in 2011 left many wondering how it will help the community as it ages. Residents are concerned about the Capital Regional District’s inability to resolve the question of where sewage treatment will go, and worry about how much they will have to pay for it. They are also concerned about taxes, rising utility bills and replacing aging infrastructure.
Several candidates, including 21-year-old University of Victoria student Andrew Stinson, want to see more housing options for students, families and seniors.
» READ MORE: Candidate profiles
Oak Bay facts
- Number of seats on council: mayor and six councillors
- Major issues: Deer population, taxes, finance, aging population, sewage
- Annual remuneration, mayor: $28,108 ($9,360 for expenses)
- Annual remuneration, councillors: $11,929 ($3,972 for expenses)
- Revenue: $37,146,000
- Expenses: $37,146,000
- Estimated population: 18,015
- Estimated eligible voters: 14,107
- Voter turnout in 2011: 42 per cent
- Amalgamation question: Are you in favour of the District of Oak Bay being amalgamated into a larger regional municipality?
- Advance voting: Nov. 5 at the Oak Bay Municipal Hall, 2167 Oak Bay Ave., 8 a.m.-8 p.m.; Nov. 6 at UVic Student Union Building, 12-4 p.m.; Nov. 7 at Oak Bay Lodge, 2251 Cadboro Bay Rd., 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; Nov. 12 at the Oak Bay Municipal Hall, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
- General voting: Nov. 15, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. at Emmanuel Baptist Church, 2121 Cedar Hill Cross Rd.; Monterey Centre, 1442 Monterey Ave.; and Monterey School, 851 Monterey Ave.
- Website: oakbay.ca
