Susan Woods running for Victoria City Council

Radio host to run for Victoria council

Carolyn Heiman, Times Colonist

Published: Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Susan Woods, a radio show host, is the latest person to announce she'll seek a seat on Victoria city council.

Woods, a professional writer and host of the Saturday morning local history show on CFAX called Remember When, said the top issue facing the city is the decay of the downtown.

"I'd like the future of the city to have a good economy and safe streets. I want the character and pride in the city to come back."

There are 380,000 people participating in activities in the city but when they leave 60,000 taxpayers are left with the bil.

"It is time for all municipalities to come to the table," Woods said, stopping shy of calling for amalgamation. "We've been talking about that for ages...We need to reframe it has municipal integration."

Woods classifies herself as a centrist. "I see the good in both sides and I like to say what is right, is not who is right.

Woods was born in Halifax and raised in a military family. She moved to Victoria in 1989 and raised two children, now adults, here. "I would love them to be able to raise their own family here."

The homelessness issues is a tragedy with poverty, mental illness and drug addiction at its roots, said Woods. "But each is a different issue and you have to deal with them differently."

Woods is editor and creator of the Mss Rock Review, a magazine focused on issues in the Fairfield community. She is married to Greg Evans, executive director of the Maritime Museum of BC and lives in the Oaklands neighborhood.

Woods covered Vancouver city hall in the 1970s and 1980s when she worked as a television and radio reporter. The experience helps her understand the issues, she said.

Three members of Victoria city council have said they won't run in the November election, leaving a wide open race for new faces. Already Pieta Van Dyke, Lynn Hunter, and Michael Sharpe have expressed interest in filling those seats.

Incumbents whose names will be back on the ballot are Pam Madoff, Chris Coleman, Charlayne Thornton-Joe, Sonya Chandler and Geoff Young.

Coun. Dean Fortin is running for mayor along with Stan Sipos, Simon Nattrass, Georgia-Anne Jones and John Turner.