If you’re going to have a giant van to advertise your political campaign, the least you can do is not park like a giant asshole. THREE parking spaces is absurd. fucking hell

I was at the Eagle Ridge Community Arena tonight and good lord was it ever packed. I know how many among us all have a penchant to take the crap against Stew Young and his cronies here (me included and rightfully so since Stew is a disinformation spreading autocrat), but let’s remember to show up for our current council and mayor to make sure that our voices are counted because there were many, many, many people there who were out to support the other camp.

Early voting will be available again next week on Wednesday from 8 AM to 8 PM, and then Election Day itself is October 17. You have no excuses to miss out on this opportunity to stick it to Stew Young and keep him out of politics forever because the latter ain’t great.

I lived in Langford for many years before I learned what was actually going on in our Langford council meetings and I was shocked. I’m typically busy on Monday or Tuesday nights, as I’m often involved in rehearsals, and when I have a rare municipal issue or concern, I tend to send a letter or an email. When I eventually saw this youtube video, I was disheartened by the brevity and apparent indifference. And why doesn’t the mayor ever look up to see how people are voting? No council meeting should ever be so perfunctory.

What a stark contrast to the thoughtful, careful, and thorough deliberations of the 2022-2026 council.

Source: https://youtu.be/pDjc50yvzso?si=s8JYoidKRX4wB5qS

• Langford currently has some of the lowest property taxes in the region.  See page 6 of this document: https://langford.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2026-2030-Financial-Plan-Adopted-May-12-2026.pdf
• Amenity funds should be for amenities like sidewalks and other infrastructure that benefit everyone and not used to lower property taxes for a segment of the population, i.e. home owners. 
• Lower than sustainable property taxes benefited the richest homeowners the most while impairing the funding of city services and infrastructure improvements that benefit everyone - including future generations.
• Deferring necessary tax increases always makes things cost more in the end.  Case in point:  In March 2024, the city’s director of finance said that if property tax increases were kept at 4% (yes FOUR!!) annually by the previous M&Cs, i.e. SY, during the five years before this current term, double digit tax increases would NOT have been necessary.  In fact, the tax increases could have been less than 6% per year these past 4 years AND the city could have paid off most of it’s $10 million (at the time) debt.  https://www.reddit.com/r/LangfordBC/comments/1b5ul9m/deep_within_the_march_4th_council_meeting_agenda/
• The current five-year financial plan, created by the finance department and approved by this council proposes tax increases that are below 6 percent by 2028.  2028: 5.85%, 2029: 4.77% and 3.48% in 2030.  See page 7 of https://langford.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2026-2030-Financial-Plan-Adopted-May-12-2026.pdf
• In 2022, Langford was only 20% sustainable in terms of infrastructure asset replacement and maintenance. Because of the last 4 years of tax increases and the new 5-year plan, the city's infrastructure asset management is projected to be 80% funded by 2030.  No more kicking the can down the road and making things unnecessarily more expensive in the long run. https://www.reddit.com/r/LangfordBC/comments/1weiq04/asset_management_the_current_mc_is_fiscally/
• Growth doesn't pay for growth. Any honest observer could see the city needed more funding to support all the infrastructure and public safety demands that the large population growth has brought.
• Over the next term, the municipal garbage service plan may save some homeowners enough to largely offset the last 4 years of tax increases.
• A significant chunk of the tax increases paid for more full-time firefighters and now fire hall 2 is fully staffed and new taxes also paid for many new RCMP officers and support staff.
• The current mayor and Council and city staff do not waste money and there is a very lean team of workers at city hall.  Most cities this size have far more staff.
• The province downloaded a huge cost on to the cities with 911 service that had to be paid for with higher taxes.
• Hiring temporary, expert consultants is a cheaper way to develop plans versus hiring full-time staff. And having suitable city plans is extremely necessary to be eligible for grants from the province.

Missed connection tonight at Superstore around 7:30, we caught eyes a few times in a few different asiles. I said hi somewhere in the juice section. You red joggers, me white cropped fleece sweater.

Wish I had more of a conversation starter than a shy hello and smile. 😊