It’s become a 10-way race for one open seat on Nanaimo council and there’s still time for the lineup to grow.
Sacia Burton, Kevin Storrie, Alexis Taylor Middleton and Nanaimo school trustee Noah Routley are the latest to vie for the job of city councillor, bringing candidates in Nanaimo’s July byelection to 10 by press time Wednesday.
Nominations close at 4 p.m. on Friday (June 2).
Storrie, a former city councillor for Campbell River in the early 1980s, is counting on experience to give him an edge, saying there isn’t time to train a new councillor.
Affordable housing is one main issue for Storrie, who intends to work with provincial and federal representatives to get funding to address the “crisis situation” if elected. He also wants to see more police downtown to deal with issues like loitering and aggressive panhandling and plans to propose an expanded investment zone to encourage commercial-residential complexes and affordable housing downtown, seeing increased population as the first step toward revitalization.
“We’re not going to attract new business into that area until there’s a customer base in place,” he said.
Storrie has been on councils that are functional and where everybody is treated with respect and if elected, that’s how he’ll run, he said.
Taylor Middleton is involved with the B.C. Women’s Liberal Commission and Equal Voice, a non-partisan organization dedicated to electing woman to all levels of political office. She’s running to see change.
She’s proud of Nanaimo and also somewhat ashamed regarding how it’s moving forward and how its leaders are listening to the people of Nanaimo, she said.
“I would really very much like to have a place, a seat, so that I can be one of those individuals that will sit down and listen,” she said.
One focus if elected is for checks and balances on the mayor’s seat. If there’s going to be a form of policing and if there’s going to be police involved, there would be something in policy that the person would have to step aside for a period of time and someone else would step in, she said.
Also important for Taylor Middleton is continued efforts with affordable housing and exploring ways to involve Nanaimo youth at risk. She’d like to see more facilities similar to a YMCA or more youth centres as in Vancouver; that includes youth drug and alcohol detox.
Burton, who’s sat on the Vancouver Island University senate and students’ union board, sees a chance for more representation of youth and women on council. There’s only one woman on council and nobody under the age on 40, said Burton, 24, who is an advocate for engaging political conversations across demographics and making sure everyone has a voice at the table.
She plans to release her full platform later this week, but said key topics are promoting accessibility in government, transparency and food security in the way it provides economic resilience and community wellness.
Burton believes what’s needed at city hall is co-operation and for people to be willing to listen. She also said there’s no time like the present to bring in a voice of diplomacy and reason and to try to connect with each councillor one-on-one to find common ground and common goals.
“I’d like to try to advance both the ideas of co-operation and collaboration and diplomacy as well as accountability in government so that for the next 14 months, council is open about our decision making together and working to get meaningful progress accomplished,” she said.
Routley will keep his school trustee position if elected, telling the News Bulletin the jobs are part-time positions and he’d balance councillor and school trustee by putting his all into both.
“I’d love to expand my advocacy approach by listening to the needs of all Nanaimo residents,” he said, adding he’ll push to maintain high-quality city services, advocate against further tax increases, for Robert’s Rules of Order to be used in council meetings and for anti-bullying, respect and decorum in meetings regardless of people’s viewpoints.
Most people he’s spoken with, he said, are feeling highly taxed and are not looking for future tax hikes due to council decisions on unrealistic or expensive supplemental projects. He said he’ll advocate for surveys prior to making decisions on supplemental projects, anything that adds to present services or infrastructure.
Integrity, being a big-picture thinker and listening to the needs of voters is why Routley believes he’s a good candidate.
“I love Nanaimo and Nanaimo is my home. It’s where I’ve raised my kids and I just really want to see Nanaimo thrive,” he said.
For related articles featuring interviews with other candidates, please click here and here.
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