Ryan and I met for a coffee last week because he is running for Victoria City Council. He is a younger candidate, only 29. A major concern of his is that the people his age are not able to livein Victoria because it has become too expensive. Almost everyone running talks about affordability but I think he is the one candidate who really understands what it means not to be an affordable city.
He is clearly thoughtful and intelligent with a passion for this city, all the sort of things I look for in candidates but he is running a one person campaign on no resources. It feels to me like he entered the campaign on a whim to get some more notice for the issues that matter to him. There is nothing wrong with that, but I prefer candidates are seriously trying to get elected.
Ryan has some interesting ideas on how to change the city for the better and I wish there was a better forum or process for his talent and ideas to be used for all of our benefit. Running in the local election is in theory a way to raise awareness about ideas an issues but because we have 13 municipalities it is very hard to actually get any notice.
I will follow Ryan and see what he does over the next years with interest, he is unlikely to do well in this election, but I expect we will more of him in the future.
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