Some post election thoughts 🧡

This last term was a gift and I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve Langford work for community.

I am incredibly proud of the work of this council and the space we created for respectful debate. I believe we set a new standard of how to respectfully disagree and debate the topic, not the person.

We worked really hard at increasing transparency and financial accountability. There is still more to do but this is something the next council can build and improve on.

We’ve made incredible strides in investing in impactful infrastructure including bridging sidewalk gaps around schools and transforming Latoria to be a family friendly accessible corridor worthy of the new elementary school and growing community.

We have invested in long-term planning for transportation, active transportation, arts and culture, economic development, urban forestry, housing, and asset management. We’ve strengthened public safety, expanded our firefighting and RCMP capacity and increased Bylaw staffing.

It is incredible to know that residents are receiving primary care and having life changing medical services because of the new doctor’s office and the strong relationship with the South Island Primary Care Society.

I have zero regrets and I have loved every minute of working for you, the people of Langford.

Thankfully there are so many ways to serve community outside of city council and I’m really looking forward to continuing service in a way that is not so exposed and allows me to fully show up for my family.

Thank you so much Langford, for everything. It’s been an honour to serve you 🧡

Use your turn signals, every time. Also if you don’t know the rules for roundabouts, look them up and stay off the road until you do.
Seriously like 9/10 cars seem to either not signal or make a dangerous mistake in the roundabouts here.

It’s encouraging that nearly 7,000 more residents voted in this election compared to 2022 - regardless of the outcome. That’s progress, and it’s good to see more people showing up.

But it’s still not enough. A significant number of eligible voters (approximately 30,000) didn’t cast a ballot, and that raises a bigger question: how do we get more people interested in what’s happening in their own community?

People need to feel that their voices matter, that their concerns are being heard, and that participating can actually make a difference.

What needs to change for more Langford residents to feel invested in their local government—not just at election time, but between elections too?

Our provincial riding is about 95% Langford. And so - inevitably - there's much connection between our municipal and our provincial politics here.

A while back, several participants in this subreddit said they were going to vote Green in the Provincial election - for the first time.

Viewing the latest projections from 338 Canada, it looks like the race between provincial NDP and Cons is not so very close in this riding. Thus - unless it was a really large number voting Green - (unlikely) - there isn't a great threat of vote-splitting enough to give the Cons a win here.

There appear to be many connections and alignments between Stew Young's circles, with conservative and even far-right politicians provincially and federally. At the same time, there are also some Stew connections with the BCNDP here. Plus: Stew's had some noticeable demonstrations of support from our MLA.

Voting Green is at least a statement against all this blurring of the political lanes. (Which is ironic - considering that Our Langford members have at times been quite shrill with a conspiracy theory about the BC Greens "taking over" Langford. But obviously, the Greens are not powerful or popular enough here, to do any such thing.)

Even under our oppressive First Past the Post system, popular vote counts still do matter to some extent. Eg: they determine how much money a political party gets from the provincial government.

Even if the button has not been pushed or if it is perceived by the driver that the button has not been pushed (where the flashing lights don't work or aren't visible). You do not have the right to threaten pedestrians with your car. Thank you.

Seeing some new faces in the community (welcome!) and with the heightened emotions as result of the recent municipal election, I thought it would be good to remind everyone to check in with the rules, and in particular, our rules on reddiquette.

Disagreement is fine. Even spirited disagreement. Insults are not.

Please help mods by reporting rule breaking when you see if: we are a small team of volunteers and do not see every comment!

And please don’t report comments that you simply disagree with. A critique of an official’s policy or behaviour is not an insult, as long as the critique is delivered respectfully. “Councillor A is stupid!” is an insult. “Councillor A supports this policy and I do not agree with that for these reasons!” is not.

Mods will disregard false reports and repeated infractions can result in suspension from the entire platform.

Everyone here cares a lot about the topics at hand. I get that some of us are feeling angry. But if you can’t talk about things without breaking down into insults and abuse then you should take a break or we will need to force you to.

Let me know what it was in a DM and I'll get it back to you.

I heard a rumour in passing and found that she is listed as an early investor in Bear Mountain.

Anyone in the know who has confirmation of this?

Besides the disappointment obviously felt by the incumbents at the election results, I want to take a moment and acknowledge the future that city staff now face.

I fully anticipate a cull of senior staff in the next 12 months. Stew will not tolerate the fact that they might have made him look bad, especially the finance department and the fire department. I fully expect most senior positions to be replaced with nepotism hires within the next 4 years.

The (now) former council members worked with the staff they had, and seem to have only let a single senior staff member go (Matt Baldwin), after almost the entire term had elapsed, despite some saying they themselves should clean house.

Staff worked their asses off the last 4 years, and I sure hope they don't get punished for doing their jobs.

Hi all.

Some of us are very happy with last night’s results. Others, not so much.

What I want to stress beyond anything is that regardless of who you voted for, the work doesn’t stop once the election results are in. In fact, this is when the work starts.

Any candidate can make an appealing promise about what they will do for you and your community.

It’s our job to make sure those promises are followed through on.

Read meeting agendas to see if there are topics coming up that are important to you.

Watch or attend meetings. If you have an opinion about agenda items, speak during public participation and write a letter.

This is especially important around budget time if taxes were a key issue for you.

What I don’t mean is to become Our Langford 2.0. There is nothing constructive to be done by four more years of toxic mudslinging either online or in council chambers.

Actual, constructive feedback just gets lost in the noise when we do that.

But you can pay attention. You can speak your thoughts. You can make sure that the promises that got you to vote are followed through on.

And, if you’re someone who feels powerless because of last night’s results - please know you are not.

Stew Young is mayor again but what cannot go back is that constituents of Langford are no longer asleep in the backseat.

Let’s see what this new council can do.

Hi everyone,

I’m Sean Flynn, CentreBC’s candidate for Langford-Highlands. I wanted to introduce myself and give people a chance to ask questions directly.

I’m a father of three, a Navy veteran who served for 13 years, and I now work in business and capital markets including as a CEO of a mining company.

I’m running because I want to see more jobs and opportunities for young people, responsible management of public money, and public services that people can rely on. I also believe everyone deserves to feel safe, respected and included in their community.

I know CentreBC is a new party and many people are still getting to know us. I’m happy to discuss why I’m running, what we’re proposing, and where I stand personally.

I’ve been knocking on as many doors as I can, but time is limited and I won’t get to meet everyone in person. I wanted to introduce myself here too, hear what matters to you, and answer any questions you may have.

I wanted to let people know there is another option for socially progressive people but who want more free market idea's and a balanced budget for our province.

Update:

Thank you for everyone who took the time to engage with me. Even if you told me your vote belongs elsewhere I appreciate every conversation you gave me. If you want to have a conversation in person please join me:

Coffee and conversation this Friday! ☕

Join me Oct. 23, 2–4 p.m. at The Outpost Board Game Cafe, 109–2830 Peatt Rd., Langford.

Bring your questions or share what matters most to you. Thank you again Langford-Highlands and the Reddit community.

As a palette cleanser I present to you a turtle from early summer at Langford Lake.

This needs to be said: there is a difference between hating Stew and disliking or disagreeing with what he did as mayor during his tenure. I hope that people don’t confuse the two. Now that Stew is back in the spotlight, you can be assured that the criticism and fact checking will continue, even ramp up. In some ways, that’s what he signed up for, even if he and his supporters may not realize it yet.

Something happened in Langford in 2022 that can never be put back into the bottle. For the first time in a long time, people had choice and chose something different. The fact that voters mobilized so effectively to express their displeasure was, in fact, repeated this election cycle with a record 33% voter turnout (33% of eligible voters, 38% of registered voters), the highest for a Langford municipal election since I’ve lived here (early 2000’s). Regardless of the result, this is to be celebrated, as is having the choice of 16 candidates for councillor on the ballot.

Of course I’m personally disappointed that most of our incumbents lost as they were extremely intelligent and thoughtful members of council. I’m thankful for all they gave over their tenure and wish them well in their next steps. They brought a level of transparency to Langford governance that had been sorely lacking and that people will continue to expect from the new council. But they simply didn’t have the equivalent of the well-oiled machine of Stew’s campaign. Stew had people working on his campaign who knew what they were doing and the results show it.

I hope that Stew and his slate take the high road and don’t throw the babies out with the bathwater. I hope our fire halls remain fully staffed, I hope the excellent OCP remains in place. I hope we maintain ownership of the aquatic centre. I also hope that Stew continues with public budget presentations, as that was such a positive change for the community. Along with that, I hope that Stew continues with community-based public engagement, something that just didn’t happen when developers had the ear of council over Langford residents.

Congratulations to everyone who won a seat at the table this election and I hope that you’ll continue the good work of putting Langford residents first.

To outgoing council members, you will all be missed. Thank you for everything that you’ve given to our community.

Edited to clarify voter turnout percentage.

To our incredible supporters, volunteers, and the wider Langford community:

First, thank you all so much. To everyone who stood behind me, my colleagues, and our shared vision. These last four years have been the privilege of my life, and I am deeply honoured to have had the opportunity to serve. I am extraordinarily proud of the work we’ve done and all the massive effort put in over this term. Together, we have genuinely brought the city a decade forward in the past four years. In no way am I done, I love this community, and I will continue to be a voice for Langford wherever I can be, because I want to see us prosper long into the future.

To the recently elected councillors. You have a hard task set before you. There remain several significant structural problems ahead for Langford that will be difficult to solve. I encourage you all to dig deep and lean heavily onto the expert staff at City Hall. They are true professionals who will rally fully behind any Council to make their vision a reality.

Stick to the promises you ran on around recreation, transportation, and livability. There are great, industry-leading plans already in place to see these through, work plans that have already been invested in and started. You have a big task ahead. Managing over a $100M annual budget and billions in assets under administration. This is not a task to take lightly, and I wish you all the best over these next four years. Remember, this job is not about what's best for you, it's about what's best for the city and community today, and into the future.

Finally, a word to our community, I know the temptation after an election is to turn into critic or official opposition mode and speak in opposition to every item that comes forward, as we experienced over the past four years. I strongly encourage everyone not to do this. We are all one community, and we all want a great future for Langford. Let's continue to take the high ground, let's continue to build up, and let's encourage a positive path forward. All those elected face a difficult job ahead of them, and they need our support to make the best decisions.

Again, thank you all who stood behind me and supported me throughout this campaign and last for years, and thank you all who took the risk to put their name forward to run and serve this great community.

First, congratulations to all on what you accomplished yesterday and thank you to everyone that put themselves out there on the ballot. It’s a major commitment for you and your family.

I wanted to speak to the temperature in Langford and the fork in the road we’re at right now.

These last four years were ugly. Constant fighting, belittling and us vs them mindset between citizens. I hope we can move away from that and toward being a normal city when it comes to how we work together and how we sometimes might even oppose each other. That isn’t going to happen unless something changes, and I don’t mean the number of votes one way over the other every four years.

I saw the comment from strong supporter guy on Facebook after the results came in congratulating all of Langford that “you have a voice again.” You probably owe him a lot. You probably have him in high regard. He’s probably very excited after investing a lot over a long time in supporting getting to this spot. But the way he worded his post is an example of what we can’t have if this city has any hope of healing. In pretending that 1/3 of people don’t exist you would find that strong, vocal and probably in some people angry opposition will be a feature of the next four years. Thats what happens when people are marginalized.

Because this guy seemed to be so close to the campaign there will be the assumption in many that he’s reflecting it, you’re at a kind of fork in the road right now and can set us on the right course.

Please for the good of Langford and the next four years set the tone for what we can’t be. If it’s an isolated case of a happy guy acting out of emotion after a major accomplishment, reasonable people will get it and wouldn’t expect a public scolding. But sitting back and saying “it wasn’t me” if that kind of thing keeps showing up won’t be enough and will probably lead to the temperature in the city getting worse before it gets better.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be disagreement over the next four years. That doesn’t mean people won’t express it strongly. If we’re a democracy there should be, they should and hopefully you’ll factor in what they say on any decisions you make together with council.

That doesn’t mean in a city of 60,000 where at least 1/3 could be assumed as wanting things differently that a few in opposition won’t express themselves in ways the rest of us wouldn’t condone. Please don’t take that bait and help there be a tone where up to 20,000 of us are more than “them.”

Congratulations on reading this far if you did. Enjoy that strong mandate, but please don’t take it or any segment of the population for granted.

Too soon?? 😝 Is there one person you think was really great at this municipal politics stuff and should try again in the future? I can only speak to the most recent administration and I understand he was polarizing(?), but I liked Yacucha: smart, savvy, well spoken. What say you?🤨

Did anyone get to see the type of planes that flew over just now? It was insanely long and drawn out like multiple fighter jets flew over, but i didnt get to see any.

Yes

Stew likely owes a big thanks to this sub for the free amplification of him for the last two years. Looks like all the pointless mentions and posts of him really did the trick of not getting him re-elected.

I know tonight's results aren't what some were expecting, or maybe you were expecting. No matter where you are, please remember to keep it civil. That's all we ask here.

I truly thought Russ Chipps would be elected. He got little votes. I thought his indigenous background would serve the community. Is there something I’m not picking up on?