Balance on the Ballot

I'll be blunt, the current approach to improving housing affordability in Victoria, the Missing Middle Initiative, hasn't won me over. Rather than a reasonable approach that is likely to get us a little closer to where we need to be (a place where those who work in our city can afford a reasonable level of accommodation within a reasonable commute), the current approach is likely to move us further away from that goal and towards a place where Victoria is little more than a façade of a place - similar to Disneyland or Las Vegas, a place where people visit but do not make their lives, a playground for the excessively well to do and controlled by a relatively limited number of people who make outsized returns on their "investments". The current approach is likely to increase speculation and inflate land values within the City of Victoria making affordable housing even further out of reach for the median wage earner who works in this city. That is not to say that more su

There are people who really wish I would not run in this municipal election and who, if I do run, are very determined to ensure that I do not succeed. Most of them I have never met in person - however, they are comfortable screenshotting my tweets and doxxing me in hopes of having ammunition to use against me should I run. They are comfortable discounting my qualifications, as an example putting "economist" in brackets. Economist isn't a title I have just applied to myself, it's one that I've earned - via graduate studies in economics (I hold a Masters of Arts in Economics from the University of Victoria) and professional experience including more than a nearly two decades of experience being an economic consultant, teaching economics and working as an economist for the provincial government).  Recently, some have really liked to disparage that I have commented that the current development environment in Victoria today has some parallels to colonialism. Others poi

 A back of the envelope calculation says that I should have about $3 million (or more) reasons to support the missing middle housing initiative (MMI) – it would after all be a boon cancel our existing project to rebuild our family home that wasn’t meeting our needs (built in 1939, it had asbestos, lacked a layout that could accommodate our 4 children or aging parents, and would at some point pose accessibility challenges - yet we made it made due for more than a decade) with a new single family home with a 2 bedroom suite that totals about 4500 square feet. Who wouldn’t just pull the plug on that given the looming Missing Middle Initiative and become an out and out cheerleader for the proposed policy? After all the proposed policy would allow us to propose a 7427 square foot building with 6 units. That is what will be allowed – an FSR of 1 in exchange for the payment of $37,138.50 to the city’s affordable housing fund. And the market price of those 6 units? Well – our lot is watervie

Victoria, like many other cities across North America, has struggled with housing over the last 20 years, but particularly so in the last 10 years. Each passing year has seen house prices escalate even further beyond the grasp of lower middle and middle income earning families. Each passing year has seen market rents get loftier. Each passing year has seen the wealth gap between those who own and those who rent grow. In this context, with many flailing in an endless sea of escalating living expenses, reaching for anything that seems like it has any chance of providing some assistance. The capacity for rational thought about where we are, how we got here, and how we could possibly extricate ourselves from this mess long ago diminished. We're at the point where for many, the mantra of "any housing, at any cost" is acceptable to many, particularly those who are precariously housed - making enough to be beyond the safety net of social housing, but not enough to secure adequat

  The easy thing to do is to paint your opponents as awful people – to make claims about who they are and what they believe and what they will or will not do if elected. The much harder thing to do is to allow the respect and courtesy to allow candidates to “paint themselves”. Let candidates articulate their positions on specific issues and allow others the opportunity to judge for themselves the merits of individual candidates. Let their track record speak for itself, it is only fair. What may be the worst kept secret ever: I do plan on running for Victoria City Council this fall (as a councillor), however, I am not yet ready to launch the formal campaign. Which is why people are already trying to define who I am and what I will do or will not do if elected. They’re already flinging around labels in the hopes that rather than judging for yourself who I am and whether or not I’d be a good choice to sit around that table, you’ll take their word and advice on who to vote for (or not vo

The municipal level of government is intensely local - the focus is intended to be on local issues: the nitty gritty of policing, transportation (roads, sidewalks, bikeways), recreation and parks services, garbage and recycling, zoning, bylaws and bylaw enforcement. On a day to day basis, what happens at the municipal level impacts residents most acutely.  As those who read this blog know, I've been thinking a lot about running for council this October. In truth, I have made my decision and am in that space between having thought about running and making a formal announcement about doing so. One element in that space is: run independently OR join a slate. The advantage of a slate is you're not at it alone, the group builds a brand, and share resources to leverage name recognition. In many respects running on a slate makes the job of running (yes it's a job - fundraising, branding, marketing, etc.) much easier for a candidate. It also, should enough the slate be elected make