The Gorge Waterway - an environmental success story

I am going to start doing some Vlogging as well as posting on this blog.   Here is my first short piece

2014 Township of Esquimalt Election Results

4,407 people out of 14,545 voted for a turnout of 30.3%

Mayor

1. Barb Desjardins 3,180 incumbent
2. John Ducker       962
3. Scott Attrill     196
4. David Shebib       25

Council - 6 to be elected

1. Susan Low         2,749
2. Tim Morrison      2,550 (+895) incumbent
3. Meagan Brame      2,535 (+904) incumbent
4. Beth Burton-Krahn 2,347
5. Lynda Hundleby    2,345 (+775) incumbent
6. Olga Liberchuck   1,809
7. Mark Salter       1,748
8. Bob McKie         1,606  (+12) incumbent
9. Brenda O'Connor   1,123
10. Rod Lavergne        775
11. David Schinbein     761 (-179) incumbent
12. Josh Steffler       726  (-74) 

Referendums
Are you in favour of the Township of Esquimalt exploring options to achieve efficiencies by further sharing some services with other municipalities?
Yes 3,731
No    578
Are you in favour of exploring the reduction of the number of municipalities within Greater Victoria through amalgamation?
Yes 2,905
No  1,404

Past Election Results
2011 2008 2005 2002 1999 1996

Eric Pittman - Why I endorse Barb Desjardins for Mayor of Esquimalt

Why I endorse Mayor Barb Desjardins

Barb has led the fight against the CRD and their massive oversized sewage plant despite the odds. Esquimalt is one of the smallest municipalities in the CRD and as such, we only have one vote at the CRD table. For comparison, Saanich has 5 votes, Victoria has 4 and Oak Bay has 1. With regards to where regional sewage plants are located, it’s like watching 10 wolves and 1 sheep vote on what’s for dinner, it’s not a democracy. As a CRD director, Barb had to hold her tongue through In-Camera meetings and do things in accordance with the law so our community could escape the talons poised to grab us. With careful legal manoeuvring and positioning, it came down to the final hour and our last chance; the public forum for McLoughlin Point at the Archie Browning Center. With input from the public, she was given a mandate that allowed us to slam the door shut on the CRD in the only way possible. It was our last chance to do it legally and that only came about because of the careful steps Mayor Barb and council took to get us to the escape hatch.

But don’t be fooled, the battle was won, but not the war. If the political will in our community changes, the CRD could still build their plant here. The land is currently zoned for sewage treatment; the public forums were about a variance that was needed because the CRD could not build a large enough sewage plant for all seven core areas within the current zoning setbacks. But… if Mayor Barb is replaced, and the West Shore Waster Water Group, (Colwood, Langford, View Royal and Esquimalt) agree on sewage solutions for their jurisdictions, the total amount of sewage that needs to be processed for the remaining core area (Victoria, Saanich and Oak Bay) gets reduced. That means that a smaller plant then originally envisioned would be needed and it could fit within the current zoning setbacks. That would mean that the CRD could still build the sewage plant at McLoughlin Point and, according to the law, a building permit would have to be issued. Esquimalt could fight it, but there would be less legal tools available to us. If the political will changes in our community, the door could be opened for the CRD to come back and make us the dumping grounds of the region and with it, totally wipe out any economic revitalization efforts for our community.  We need a Mayor with the knowledge, understanding, resolve and most importantly, experience, to save our community.

That’s Mayor Barb!

Shaw TV - Township of Esquimalt candidates

Olga Liberchuk, Rod Lavergne, Brenda O'Connor and David Shinbein did not record profiles

From Lori King - Why I am supporting re-electing Barb Desjardins in Esquimalt

Another candidate endorsement, this time from Lori King of Esquimalt:

I’m happy to write an endorsement for Barb Desjardins for Mayor of Esquimalt,  I have never seen Esquimalt managed so well, and so fairly as it has been under Barbs leadership, having worked in area, volunteered, and as a resident Barbs ability to communicate, cooperate, and listen to needs in community is a refreshing in an area made up of such frustrating challenges regionally.  I hear from business associates and others in region about how highly they regard Barb and the pleasure of working with her on projects, it’s great to hear Esquimalt so proudly represented in our region.  Being mayor in this region you walk a fine balance between community needs, and regional cooperation, Barb showed remarkable grace in trying times with sewage issue, but yet still worked hard to come up with a possible solution with other forward thinking mayors in region in westshore.

I look forward to Esquimalt being so well represented for another term.  (think it’s 4 years now with new changes?)

Cheers,

Lori King

Oct 28th Esquimalt All Candidates Meeting Q&A Session

Thanks to Eric Pittman for recording this

1996 Esquimalt Election Results

Mayor

1. Ray Rice       1596 - sitting councilor
2. Terry Prentice 1349 - sitting councilor

Council - 6 to be elected

1. Don Linge          1341 (inc)
2. Jim King           1163 (inc)
3. Maurine Karagianis 1063
4. Connie McCann       989
5. Wayne Hopkins       895 (inc)
6. Ian Reid            869
7. Colin Blair         728
8. David Sullivan      727
9. Earle Hopkins       694 (inc)
10. Richard Rennie      641
11. John Nelson         500
12. Sam Macey           488
13. Mike Ross           364
14. Joe Richards        221

2005 Esquimalt Election Results

I am missing some of the first names of the candidates, please drop me a line if you know what they are

Mayor

1. Chris Clement  1649 (+695)
2. Ruth Layne      960 sitting councilor
3. Darwin Robinson 912 (-268) (inc)

Council - 6 to be elected

1. Jane Sterk      2109
2. Hy Freedman     2093 (+483)(inc)
3. Don Linge       1905 (-42) (inc)
4. Basil Boulton   1824
5. Barb Desjardins 1736
6. Lynda Hundleby  1555 (+278)
7. Bruce McIldoon  1530 (-178) (inc)
8. Lori King       1118 (-560) (inc)
9. Wilkins         1029 (+204)
10. Taylor           849 (+278)
11. Olson            798

Numbers in brackets are change from 2002 results
Councilor Maurine Karagianis did not run for re-election

2008 Esquimalt Election Results

Esquimalt

Mayor

1. Barb Dejardins 2131 - sitting councilor
2. Chris Clement  1278 - incumbent

Council - six elected

1. Don Linge          1939 - incumbent
2. Ali Gaul           1913
3. Lynda Hundleby     1477 - incumbent
4. Bruce McIldoon     1451 - incumbent
5. Meagan Brame       1447
6. Randall Garrison   1381
7. Bob McKie          1331
8. Lori King          1031
9. Tom Morino          933
10. Brian Gray          898
11. Chris Zegger-Murphy 792
12. Sylvia Hammond      671
13. Norman Swan         647
14. Jeremy Baker        469

Incumbent councilor Jane Sterk did not run for re-election

2002 Esquimalt Election Results

I am missing some first names, if you know them, please let me know

Mayor

1. Darwin Robinson 1180
2. Chris Clement    954 - mayor 1990-96 and 2005-08
3. Connie McCann    886 - sitting councilor
4. Basil Boulton    624 - councilor 1999-02 and 2005-08

Council - 6 to be elected

1. Don Linge          1947 (+170) - incumbent
2. Ruth Layne         1946
3. Bruce McIldoon     1708
4. Lori King          1678
5. Maurine Karagianis 1666 (-170) - incumbent
6. Hy Freedman        1610
7. Pyper              1437
8. Lynda Hundleby     1277 (-332) - incumbent - elected in 2005
9. Bachop             1127
10. Blair              1067
11. Grant               956
12. Wilkins             825
13. Taylor              578

Numbers in brackets are change in vote from 1999 results

Incumbent Jim King did not run again

If not McLoughlin Point, where could one point a sewage treatment plant?

The whole sewage treatment thing is such a mess now that Esquimalt has not approved the rezoning of the McLoughlin Point site.  The CRD will be asking the province to intervene and overrule Esquimalt council.   I think this is preferred route all the local politicians would like to take so that none of them have to own the decision.  I think all of them are holding their breath in hopes the province will force the rezoning.  I am not so sure this government will do that.

So what if the province does not agree for force the situation?  

Here are the options for a way forward:

CRD could make Esquimalt a better offer
The CRD and Esquimalt could come to some agreement on the use of McLoughlin point if there was more on the table.   I am 100% certain there is a number that Esquimalt would accept as compensation for having the sewage treatment plant.  The CRD could offer to cover 100% of the Esquimalt budget for a couple of decades and I suspect Esquimalt would accept.  

Yes, that sounds extreme, but it is just an illustration that all the options have not been considered.   You could argue that this would be an unreasonable extreme, but the negotiation was flawed from the start from the CRD side.  

The reality of the negotiation between the CRD and Esquimalt is that it never came from the approach of not using McLoughlin Point as an option in the negotiation.   It was clear the CRD was unwilling to negotiate in good faith and accept that the site was not set.    If there was a lack of good faith in the negotiations they are with the CRD and not Esquimalt.

The whole situation we are in at the moment is because the CRD seems to have gone ahead with the plans without first getting all their ducks in a row.   Why choose McLoughlin Point and issue RFPs for the work if you do not have the site secured?   Is this because the CRD assumed Esquimalt would kowtow to the CRD or is it because the CRD assumed the province would step in and force the rezoning?

The CRD could try an offer of a large annual sum of money and see how that works.  Using a location elsewhere in the CRD will likely have some significant increased costs.  If it were to add $400,000,000 to the cost, it would save a lot to offer Esquimalt $10,000,000 a year for 20 years.  

The CRD could seek a new location
Yes, the CRD did go through a process to find the best location but there were other sites on the list.   By not securing McLoughlin Point the CRD should be looking at the other locations on the list.   It may cost a lot more money but there are alternative locations outside of Esquimalt that could be used.  

• Clover Point - yes, it would likely mean Dallas road would have to be closed there and some houses would have to purchased and bulldozed
• Off of coast of Uplands - this option would have one major upside, very few people would see any impact since the population density of the Uplands is so low.   
• Thetis Cove - since what is coming out is treated there is no need to have it go far out into the ocean.  The Thetis Cove area is either in View Royal or on reserve
• Off of Finnerty Cove - the advantage of this is that it is in Saanich and the Saanich council seems to be very strongly in favour of the current model of a large single plant and therefore would likely approve the rezoning

There are likely others.

Try with a new sewage treatment plan
The Federal and Provincial governments are not unreasonable.   If the CRD were to try again with a much better plan I suspect that the other levels of government would be willing to allow some deferral.

Core to getting the Feds and province to agree to a new plan is to show there is support for the new plan.

There are options for the way forward but the CRD seems to have locked themselves into one set model

Video Slideshow of various Royal Navy ships at Esquimalt from 1860s to World War 1

Triangle Estates in Esquimalt

Location of the proposed Triangle Estates

This project is located at right at the West Bay marina and on the edge of the Work Point part of CFB Esquimalt.   It is a proposal by Lindholm Land Investment Corporation to build a 10 storey building with 89 residences and commercial on the ground floor.  The proposed project is still going through the process at Esquimalt, but four of the houses have been town down now.

The proposal is not being met with enthusiasm in the neighbourhood.  I can imagine if you live on the north west side of Gore Street the idea of this building is not going to thrill you.  The studies of shadows indicates that a number of these houses are going to be without any morning sunlight for more than half of the year.   I also have to wonder what life would be like at 464 Head Street with an eight or nine storey building next door.  I look at some of the models of the project and the poor residents at 464 are going to be in the dark.

The area between Head, Lyall and Gore Streets has nine properties with buildings and one with a parking lot.  The development is only going to go on some of the lots and not all ten.   The article in the Victoria News talks of it going on nine, and the Advisory Planning Commission Agenda for January 15th lists nine lots but 920 Lyall Street is actually a strata lot.   It seems that quirky house at 464 Head Street and the parking lot at the corner of Lyall and Head are not part of the project.  But then I see on one of the pages of the plans that the house at 464 is to be demolished.   I am not sure why that is or what will be done with that property.  If it is owned by the developer, why not integrate it into the project?  If it is not owned by the developer why can they say it will be demolished.

The proposal is on a consolidated lot of about an acre is size.  The houses formally on this site had about 23 to 25 people living there.   The new development is likely to have 130 to 140 people living in the same space.   This is an addition of more than 100 people in the immediate area and likely the addition of 75 to 80 more vehicles for residents than now.

I find it interesting to see the addition of commercial to this site with most of it being live/work commercial space.  I am not sure how this will work or what would go in there but it will add to the traffic in the area.   The total commercial space is to be 5,500 square feet.   Much depends on what is going to go into that space.  

The project is proposed to have 139 parking spaces.   If each of the units has one parking space it only leaves about 45 spaces for visitors, second cars and customers.  Is this enough or will the streets fill with parked cars?

While I like the idea of more density the more I look at this proposal and the more I see there are more questions.  It would be really nice if the developer had a website for the project so that everyone could understand it better.

When Esquimalt was the Pacific Station for the Royal Navy

For some reason the City of Vancouver Archives have a bunch of pictures from outside of the city.  In browsing through them I found some photos of Royal Navy ships at the Pacific Station.

HMS Amphion  - Leander Class Protected Cruiser based in Esquimalt from 1897 to 1904
This picture is from 1900

 Esquimalt was the Pacific Ocean home for the Royal Navy from 1865 till 1910.  The first ship based here was earlier, in 1848 the HMS Constance made Esquimalt home.

Having the Royal Navy here for 62 years certainly meant that this region had a closer and stronger connection to the UK than the rest of Western Canada.   Vancouver never had this same sort of direct connection as we had here but oddly enough that is where these pictures ended up.

The single masted ship is the HMS Hermione, a Astarea Class protected cruiser,
the nearer ship and the one in the distance are both Leander Class protected cruisers,
the HMS Amphion and the HMS Arethusa - photo is 1901-1903

Officers of the HMS Reindeer - 1868

HMS Reindeer in Esquimalt in 1868 - this ia Camelion Class sloop

The larger ship is the HMS Shearwater, a Condor Class sloop and eventually the HMCS Shearwater
Small ship is the HMS Egeria, a Fantome Class sloop.  This ship conducted coastal surveys from 1898 to 1910

HMS Zealous a Bulwark Class battleship - flagship of the Pacific Station from 1866 to 1872.
She was built as a wooden hall but converted in iconclad

Officers of the HMS Zealous in 1868

Esquimalt Property Tax Increase

Esquimalt has gone ahead with a 2.49% increase in property taxes for 2012/13, which turns out to the lowest in the region.  I am pleasantly surprised at how far down they managed to get it from the initial numbers.

Council had a range of options given to them from 1.75% to 2.49% and chose the highest number to ensure there is a contingency in the budget and an increase in capital project reserve funds.   I do not like property tax increases running above the rate of inflation but better that than starve the future needs of local government.

There is no reason all of our local governments should not have the resources available to deal with all the infrastructure costs.   The only reason municipalities have an infrastructure deficit is because they short changed themselves going back decades.

The loss of the Blue Boat

Picture from TC article

Until about five years ago I had no idea about the Blue Boat service provided by the Canadian military for commuters crossing from Colwood to the Esquimalt naval base.   The Blue Boats have provided service for about 400 people per day but it is now scheduled to be cancelled at the end of April.   Apparently they were never intended to be the commuter service it has turned into but moves 15,000 people a month in YFB 316 or YFB 318, 57 year old wooden boats.

Friends on the Westshore told me they could tell on their commute into town if the Blue Boat was not running on a given day, their was a noticeable increase in traffic.   Losing it is not going to improve commuting from the Westshore.

It might be something that BC Transit should consider taking over.    For the Royal Canadian Navy there would be a benefit in someone else running it.   If there were a direct subsidy of the service from the RCN, it becomes a win for everyone.  It is not clear to me what the total ridership is, I hear 400 people a day, I hear 15,000 a month which is more like 650 to 700 people a day.   Whatever it is, it is in the range of 15 average to heavy bus loads of people per day.

If it was clearly and easily available to more of the public, there could be a higher demand for the service.   At 400 round trips a day, this is roughly a daily income of about $1200.    Daily staffing costs of the boat?   If I were to take a stab at it, I suspect about $1200 a day is what the staff costs are.   The fuel costs of the boat are something I can not even begin to guess at, the same with the operational costs of the boat, but on the surface of it, I think it may be within the range of reasonable subsidy for BC Transit to take on.

If one could increase the traffic, I do think it becomes reasonable for BC Transit to take on.

This then leads me to wonder if you could add water based transit in the whole region.

The Gorge from Tillicum bridge to downtown is about 3.5 km or so.   If one were to integrate the Victoria Harbour Ferries into the transit system, and maybe use faster boats, there would be many locations that would be better served by transit.    Higher volumes would also reduce the costs of operation per passenger.   Ideally I would contract with Victoria Habour Ferries to offer the service.   If it was available, I would use it to get to the Legislature.

Selkirk waterfront has a lot of government offices but crappy transit connections from James Bay, Vic West or Esquimalt.   All three would be well served through a water based transit system.   Getting from James Bay to Esquimalt and vice versa would be much faster.   It is when you look at the parts of the city where the water splits it in two where the ferry could make a dramatic improvement in travel times.

Getting from the dock in Colwood to downtown would be about 7.5 to 8 km and require a boat capable of being on open water, I am not sure if they would be economical.   This trip should take about 20 to 25 minutes, which makes it a very reasonable consideration.    You could also run a boat from where the gravel loading dock was at Royal Bay and run people downtown in about 8.5 km.

Victoria as a region has for far too long turned its back on the waterways and harbours at the core of our city, we should be making much better use of them.   The Blue Boats show there is the demand for the service.

I also wonder what is going to happen to the Blue Boats, they are classic working wooden boats.

Craigflower and Tillicum corner and recent changes

There have been a couple of smaller developments near the corner of Tillicum and Craigflower.    It strikes me that there is the potential for a village centre to come about in this area.

The two newest developments are certainly a step up in quality for the area.

The one is a four story condo development on Tillicum called Gorge Hill.  Since my kids go to Esquimalt High and I do a lot of shopping at the Real Canadian Wholesale Store, I pass this location a lot.  The development seems to have had some trouble selling out even though it only has 12 units.  It has been quite a while since it has been done and it has been sitting at four units for sale for ages.

The ground floor offers one small commercial space which has been rented by a hair salon 

View Larger Map
This is the location of the Gorge Hill condo

View Larger Map
This is looking at the location that is now Stratford Place.  Most of the houses on Craigflower look well past their best before date and the apartments built in the 1970s have awful street profiles.

The second new development is Stratford Place at 934 Craigflower.   It has recently been completed and the units are now for sale, though it does not look like any of they have sold.  People have been able to move in as of December 1st.

There are 13 units in the development and all of them are three floors tall and have three bedrooms.

The units range in size from 1246 square feet to 1741 square feet and are on the market for $449,000 to $539,000

I like the brownstone look of the place, it makes for a nice streetscape.   It makes Craigflower a much nicer place to walk.  That said, I am not certain if these will be successful in this area.   Neither development seems to be moving quickly.   I think the area needs at least a few more comparable developments.  The obvious location for this would be the building on north west corner of Tillicum and Craigflower and the crappy commercial development just to the west of there.

There is also some interesting potential with the area to the north Craigflower even a bit further west.   There is effectively a service road in the area.   Giving up that road to someone willing to redevelop the area would allow for something more interesting to be constructed along the road, ideally with some decent commercial space.

2011 Esquimalt Election Results

Barb Desjardins was acclaimed as mayor

Council - 6 to be elected

1. Tim Morrison    1655
2. Meagan Brame    1631(+184) - incumbent
3. Bob McKie       1594(+263)
4. Lynda Hundleby  1570(+93) = incumbent
5. Dave Hodgins    1415
6. David Shinbein   940
7. Sandra Dixon     819
8. Josh Steffler    800 

Numbers in brackets are change in vote from 2008 results

Esquimalt All Candidate's Meeting

I will be posting some videos of all candidate's meetings in the region as I find them:

Seeing the Esquimalt Race from Tim Morrison's Eyes

With a number of the municipalities in this region there is virtually no coverage of what is going on.   I do not have time to pay attention to it all so I have asked some candidates to tell me what they think is going on.   I like what I am seeing as it is much more interesting than any of the newspaper coverage I have seen.


For those of you that feel this might be biased in some way or unfair, keep in mind that this blog is my space that I use to express thoughts and opinions on the region in my spare time.  This is not a newspaper.

An Inside View of the Esquimalt Election Campaign: 

A Candidate’s Perspective – by Tim Morrison

Esquimalt’s 2011 election campaign is a stark contrast to 2008. Three years ago, there were 14 competitive candidates for Council, an engaging debate over the future of the Archie Browning Sports Centre, and a highly dynamic mayoral race between incumbent Chris Clement and challenger Barb Desjardins. Desjardins impressed (and surprised) many observers after rising from underdog candidate, galvanizing the community, and winning a resounding upset victory over Clement.


This time around in Esquimalt...not so exciting. Desjardins has been acclaimed for a second term, resulting in no mayoral race that would attract media attention. Prior to the election, many predicted that Desjardins could not be beat. Her work ethic and commitment to the community are held in high regard by many Esquimalt residents. Her approach has been to be a “full-time Mayor”, regularly available to meet with concerned residents on any issue. Hence, she is unopposed in her re-election bid.


Esquimalt: The Candidates
Meanwhile, there are six seats to fill on Council, but only a mere eight candidates have come forward. Only two incumbents, Lynda Hundleby and Meagan Brame, are seeking re-election. The majority of the next council will be new. Hundleby, a retired pharmacist and health public servant, is a two-term Councillor, who uses careful deliberation before casting votes. She has an independent streak and her positions are not always predictable. She is best known as a passionate advocate for public libraries. Brame is completing her first term after being elected as part of the grassroots wave to save the Archie Browning Centre. While Brame’s politics lean left, she is also a small businessperson who owns a local childcare centre. Her passion is children and youth advocacy. Her eldest son is also a respected youth leader in the community.


Of the newcomers, three candidates including myself (Tim Morrison), Dave Hodgins, and Bob McKie have the strongest connection to the community. For the past two years, I have served as Co-Chair of the Esquimalt Residents Association and as founding editor of EsquimaltReview.com, a blog about community affairs in Esquimalt. I am also a member of the Esquimalt Parks & Recreation Committee. My background is in government communications and I currently coordinate communications for the BC Assessment Authority. I have previously been a journalist, educator, and school trustee. Dave Hodgins has perhaps the most impressive background. He is a former Assistant Deputy Minister for the B.C. Ministry of Solicitor General & Public Safety as well as previously serving as the province’s Fire Commissioner, a community fire chief, and currently operating a national consulting service on emergency preparedness. Hodgins and I regularly attend Council meetings together, which would make for a smooth transition on Council if we are elected. Retired small businessperson Bob McKie is a well-known community volunteer who has a long service record with the Esquimalt Lions and is Co-Chair of Esquimalt’s legendary annual Buccaneer Days. He was the first runner-up in the 2008 election, having lost by only 50 votes.


As for the other three candidates (Sandra Dixon, David Shinbein, and Josh Steffler), very little is known about them. They don’t have much community involvement, don’t attend Council meetings, and their campaigns have been virtually invisible. Dixon has lived in Esquimalt for 41 years and previously promoted student pedestrian safety awareness in our local schools. One media report described her as “unemployed” while another indicated she was “retired”. I met her once briefly and she came across as a soft-spoken and pleasant person. Shinbein only moved to Esquimalt five months before the election, but has municipal government experience as a former Councillor in a small Ontario town. He currently works in security for the Commissionaires. Steffler works in the local Country Grocer bakery and is an organizer of the Occupy Victoria camp protest downtown.
You can read more about all the candidate profiles at this link: http://www.vicnews.com/news/132747633.html


In terms of the School Board election, I am only aware of one candidate that has made a concerted effort to reach out to Esquimalt voters: David Bratzer. He is also a VicPD officer who has spent a lot of time working in the Esquimalt community.


Esquimalt: The Issues
In terms of issues, the number one topic that voters mention when I’m out door-knocking is policing. Irony is also playing a role. The incumbent Council seemed determined to not make policing an election issue. They approached this strategy rather clumsily by first announcing that they were bound by provincial government-ordered confidentiality to not release the municipality’s report on their recommended future policing service provider.


But, by trying to keep this issue so secretive and away from voters in the election, they actually resulted in achieving the opposite. The public and media outcry has been relentless. Everybody wants to know the details of the report, but Municipal Hall is not budging. After immense pressure and having clarifying that the municipality was “mistaken” about province’s confidentiality orders (it turns out that condition never existed), Mayor Desjardins opened the doors just a crack to announce that the RCMP were the successful bidders over the incumbent VicPD in providing the future policing of Esquimalt. But, then, the door slammed shut again as the public were not allowed to know any of the details or the contents of the report.


I have been talking to a lot of voters and they all tell me that this whole saga is a perfect example of how Esquimalt operates: closed doors, lack of information, and breakdown in communications. And, I agree. As an Esquimalt resident, I am actually quite embarrassed how horribly this issue has been handled. Our community is outraged and we continue to be ignored. Major changes need to take place.


Another issue at play in the election (but being drowned out by all the talk on policing) is the referendum question on the future development of our now vacant community-owned lands surrounding Municipal Hall. The controversial question is whether or not voters support developing density on the site with two proposed condo towers, one ranging twelve stories and the other eight stories. The camps are divided between those that want to maintain our community’s small-town appeal (“No” side) and those that want a revitalized community (“Yes” side). Mayor Desjardins is championing the latter, but much suspense remains on which side the community will lean.


In short, Esquimalt’s election is all about a stable Mayor, a major turnover on Council, uncertainty and secrecy on policing, the need for openness and better communication, and whether or not we will have future private development of Esquimalt’s public lands.


Esquimalt Residents Association Co-Chair Tim Morrison is an EsquimaltReview.com blogger who has recently gone “from keyboard to candidate” in the Esquimalt municipal elections. Visit Tim’s campaign website at www.TimMorrison.ca