Welcome to the District of Oak
Bay. We are a maritime community of 18,000 with a
long tradition of local government, dating from 1906
when a prominent group of property owners including
the well-known architect Francis Rattenbury
petitioned the Province for the incorporation of a
new district municipality.
I feel very privileged to have
been serving this community since 1987 when I was
first elected to Council. I became Mayor in 1996,
and I have been very fortunate to have worked with
Council colleagues who have always been motivated by
the best interests of the community.
In my role as Mayor, I also serve
as Chair of the Oak Bay Police Board, which is the
civilian oversight body for our municipal police
department – one of only ten in British Columbia.
One of the greatest changes I have seen in my time
on Council is the increasing complexity of policing,
and it is very important to me that we strike a
balance between providing responsive community
policing on the one hand, and being able to cope
with investigations that require the resources of a
large organization on the other.
Policing is a good example of a
service where the “virtual municipal hall” concept
will never be a substitute for personal contact.
And to some extent, I like to think that this
applies to municipal services across the board.
Oak Bay tries to be a good corporate citizen
of the region on issues which transcend municipal
boundaries – we are extremely sensitive to the need
to be seen as pulling our weight in a regional
context. On the other hand, in those areas where
local administration works best, we try to provide a
human face, a quick turnaround time, and sensitivity
to the little things that would not receive much
attention in a larger organization, but which have a
considerable impact on quality of life none the
less.
As
both an individual municipality and as part of the
Capital Regional District, we face many challenges
in the future, particularly in the funding of the
infrastructure needs that accompany population
growth. There will not always be agreement on the
best method of dealing with these challenges, but
you can be assured that your locally elected
representatives will approach them with your
interests at the forefront, and that we will listen
carefully to your views.
