On the heels of Mayor Lisa Helps’ Jan. 1 announcement that she would be seeking re-election this fall, other Victoria council members have begun to declare their electoral intentions.
Councillors Marianne Alto and Geoff Young have confirmed they will be running, while both Jeremy Loveday and Ben Isitt have said it’s likely they will be as well.
“I love my job, it’s a privilege to be a Victoria city councillor and I take the responsibility very seriously,” Alto said. “It would be my honour to be re-elected, and at some point – much later in the year – I’ll turn my attention to setting out what I’ve managed to accomplish, and what more I’d like to do in a subsequent term. But that’s for later, I think it’s important that I continue to do my job, before I try to keep my job.”
Loveday said he has found every day as a councillor to be “challenging and rewarding.”
“And I think there’s a lot more work to do to make sure that Victoria’s affordable, sustainable and vibrant,” he said. “I hope I have the honour of continuing to do that work.”
Councillors Charylane Thornton-Joe, Margaret Lucas, Chris Coleman are waiting to declare their intentions.
Thornton-Joe, who has been on council for five terms, said she will announce in the spring whether she will run.
“Right now I’m just focused on the council at hand, and I’m going to have to re-evaluate my future and what my plans are next,” she said. “I have to get a pulse on whether I think I still have work to do, whether people still think I’m doing a good job and should continue.”
Lucas, winding up her first term on council, also has some thinking to do before she commits.
“It’s the beginning of the year. I’ve only been doing this for three years, I still would like more time to think about it,” she said.
Six-term councillor Coleman said he is focusing on the tasks at hand for now, but plans to announce his electoral plans in July, as he has done previously.
“Politics is emotional and loud, and a good spectator sport. Governance is logical, boring and attention to detail, and its quiet,” he said. “I would rather we focused on governance.”
– with files from Lauren Boothby
editor@vicnews.com
