Stephen Andrew
Are you associated with or running as part of a slate? If so, which one?
No
Do you live in the municipality where you are running, and if so, for how long? If not, what is your connection to that community?
Yes, I am proud to say that I live in Victoria, in the Burnside Gorge Community.
What is your occupation, and for how long?
Currently I am a Councillor for the City of Victoria.
Tell us about your previous elected and/or community experience.
I am proud to currently serve the residents and communities as a Councillor for the City of Victoria. Prior to being elected to the City of Victoria Council, I worked as the Executive Director for a national cancer charity from April 2017 to Feb 2020 and was a local award-winning journalist with CHEK News, CBC, CTV, C-FAX 1070 and SHAW. As a journalist, I reported on important local issues and highlighted injustice to support residents and advocate for their rights.
Why are you running? What’s your motivation?
I chose to run for Mayor because our city needs new leadership that unites our community. We need to prioritize public safety and community wellness, build homes, and restore good governance to the council table. For too long, our city has felt divided against itself, with ideological decision making and gamesmanship which has led to a lot of concern and anger in our community. As Mayor, I will work to bring people together through democratic decision-making processes and restore locally focused good governance to the council table.
What are your top three issues?
My top three issues are to improve public safety and community wellness, build homes, and good governance. Prior to being elected to council in 2020 and since then, people tell me they feel less safe in our city and that they have lost faith in our local government. They want affordable and accessible housing of all types, but they want democracy to be respected as well. These conversations aren’t easy ones, but they are important and with a council focused on local issues and local priorities, we can address them instead of looking outside our jurisdiction for problems to solve.
What’s your vision for your community in 25 years?
My vision for Victoria in 25 years is, first and foremost, a safer city where people of all ages and abilities feel confident they can go anywhere in Victoria and not fear for their safety. We have all seen the news about the challenges we have downtown and the blanket solutions that have been implemented are not working. We need to approach these issues with care and compassion, but we must also address the criminality that has embedded itself in our city. We must also add to our housing supply and build a fully spectrum of homes. Council also needs to focus on local priorities, stay in its lane, and change the culture of governance at city hall.
What’s one “big idea” you have for your community?
Public safety remains the key issue I hear about when people talk to me about the upcoming mayoral race in Victoria.
As Mayor, I will form a Mayors Task to Improve Public Safety and Community Wellness. With a diverse range of representatives from the city, the task force must focus on providing recommendations to reduce:
• Crime Severity Index
• Perception of Crime
• Number of overdose calls
• Number of calls to bylaw
• Time loss by police, bylaw officers, and firefighters due to stress
• Criminal exploitation of our vulnerable community members
• Graffiti
• Other community safety and wellness priorities, including 12 new detox beds.
