Over the course of the last several months, I’ve had the honour and privilege of getting to know a ton of Vancouver election candidates. I’ve really struggled with how to handle support and endorsements, and to be entirely honest, I’m still deciding on council. Not because there are so many that it’s confusing – but because there are truly so many quality options. I’m not sure how many of you have sat on a board before. It’s a labour…
Some further thoughts as you head to the polls: I’m concerned that when civic politicians who are most focused on issues outside of the jurisdiction of municipal governance campaign on those issues, we lose important focus on the work at hand. I’m concerned about politicians who highlight and campaign around popular speaking points that confuse what we can and should actually expect from them. For example, I believe it’s incredibly important for our elected representatives to be…
Advance polls for the upcoming municipal election open tomorrow!!! Click here for more details on when and how you can vote and more! I’m not generally one to tell people who to vote for (unless it’s me, ehem), and rarely do I even widely share who I’m voting for until an election is over. It’s up to you to make your own decisions. The important part is that you give a shit enough to engage. In this election…
I find myself at the crossroads of a bit of a shitstorm, and writing is cathartic for me, so here goes a big long rambling about the last week of my experience, and a bit more. Hopefully by the end you understand how these things are connected to each other – it’s a bit convoluted but I am working towards a point. I started Creative Coworkers to provide space to folks who have difficulty accessing space – whether because they…
Spoiler Alert: Made you click! This post is about common objections. You should absolutely join the Green Party and participate in selecting your candidates. I’ve been talking to a bunch of people, asking them to support me as a candidate for City Council by joining the Greens. And so many of you have! Thank you so much – I’m super grateful to you. I’ve been noticing a few themes among those who are reluctant to join, so I thought I’d go through…
People are asking me what perspective and priorities I would bring to an elected position. Here are some thoughts. The relationship between the city and small business needs a revision. There should be stronger accountability structures – both carrots and sticks. People should be rewarded for engagement with their community, for getting involved and contributing. But there should also be enforceable penalties for anti-social and anti-community actions and choices. We should take a hard look at anti-vacancy legislation and consider…
Many of you have asked how you can support me in this endeavour, and here’s the first ask, along with a little bit of information on how our municipal electoral system works. I woke up thinking about this at 5 am today. These last five hours of wakefulness, I’ve tried to figure out how to ask you for your help. What I need from you, right now, is to join the Vancouver Green Party so that I can have an…
Dear Friends & Fam; I suppose I should tell you all that I’ve been approved to seek Green Party endorsement as a candidate for city council. This is just the next step in the process – there will be an internal party nomination meeting on June 27th to decide the final candidate slate. But I’m one step closer. I have deeper thoughts about this (of course) and further instructions about supporting the nomination process and campaign. That feels like something…
I’m not sure why it is that so much of our population are apathetic about participating in the electoral process. The voter turnout in our 2017 by-election was 11%. 89% of our eligible voters had something better to do on that day. I find that alarming. And I have to wonder why this is the case. Is it because people feel excluded from the process? That our candidates lack a representational diversity that alienates an increasingly multi-cutural population? Is it…
I’m throwing my hat in the ring for a candidacy with the Green party in our upcoming civic election. If you don’t know about this aspiration, it means we haven’t connected for a bit, and we should. It hasn’t been a secret. It just means something different to say it publicly. To ask for your support. I’ve been afraid about how this plan could colour the reception of my actions, my words. I want to represent you. I want to carry…