Some candidates are all about the process. For Ken (Ozzy) Osborn, it’s about the outcomes.
Osborn recently announced he’s running for Nanaimo city council and he wants to impact the campaign one way or another.
He said if he’s elected to council, he would look at the different outcomes of decisions, because they’re ultimately what’s important.
“You go out the door, you turn left, you find a $100 bill. You go out the door, you turn right, you find the love of your life. You go out the door, you step forward, you get hit by a car,” he said. “All three of those things are going to happen. Which one are you going to choose?”
So when Osborn was making up his mind about whether to run for council, he considered the different outcomes and felt like all of them were wins.
“Hopefully what I’m saying will open people’s eyes,” he said. “If I don’t get elected, the people that do get elected may hear what I’ve said and act on their own that way and in doing so, I achieve my goal of helping the city.”
Osborn came to Nanaimo in 2015. The move across the country from his hometown of Kingston, Ont., was a 25th-anniversary present for his wife, so she could be in the same city as her family. The move also marked Osborn’s retirement after a long career as a non-metallic electroplating opificer, which is to say he bronzed baby shoes and anything else that could be bronzed.
At one point in his mid-20s he was homeless, he said, but he took advantage of opportunities like a government education program and he parlayed a work placement into a career and his own business.
He plans to be in Nanaimo the rest of his days and says that people who want to be part of the community should do their part, whether it’s giving to charity, volunteering, or whatever suits them.
“I feel that stepping up for a council position might give me the best opportunity I can to help Nanaimo turn into a better place for everybody,” Osborn said.
He often attends city council meetings and just before Christmas, he played a part in bringing about change to question period when he raised accessibility concerns about a requirement to submit questions in writing. The rule has since been eased.
“If you see the problem, you have to speak up. It’s our civic responsibility to speak up and if not, then we’re not trying to be part of the whole,” Osborn said.
He said politics is outside his comfort zone, but he spent a lot of years working long hours and said he would do the same as a city councillor. He likes the idea of the upcoming campaign and having conversations with both voters and other candidates.
“Somebody else’s opinion opens my eyes because I don’t know everything – just the same as they don’t know everything – but together, we know something,” he said.
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