I attended both all-candidates open forums and was not selected to ask my question to the mayoral candidates. The issue I wanted to address is of great concern to me and a significant number of other Oak Bay residents.
My question was in regards to what many residents are referring to as the flawed secondary suites survey that then-councillor Nils Jensen headed up.
In his letter to council, Stephen Bowker of Oak Bay, a mathematician, with expertise in survey analysis wrote, “Please be advised that there is a fundamental mathematical flaw in the sampling technique used in the secondary suites survey that, unless corrected, completely invalidates the results for use in decision making.”
He continued, “Based on the sample size, if the number of illegal suites in Oak Bay is greater than 200, then the effect of the ‘Type S’ responses will have skewed and invalidated the survey.”
Given that the “52 per cent in favour of secondary suites” that Mr. Jensen always refers to was in fact based on responses from only 1,800 respondents, not half the actual total of the more than 6,000 homeowners, my question is: Can the mayor-elect (Jensen) assure me that the process that will be used to evaluate the Official Community Plan will be designed and guided by independent professionals and pollsters to ensure that the questions used will not be ambiguous or easily subject to incorrect interpretation?
Mary Douglas Hunt
Oak Bay
