First-term Oak Bay Coun. Cairine Green will challenge incumbent Mayor Nils Jensen for the municipality’s top job, arguing she brings a fresh perspective and the community needs a full-time mayor.
“I think the biggest difference between Nils and myself really is the fact I don’t have another job that will take me away from the work. I will be full-time and I’m very proactive. And I have a huge background in policy development and counselling,” Green said.
Jensen, who officially declared for re-election on Wednesday, said even with his full-time job as a provincial government lawyer, he dedicates 30 to 40 hours a week to his mayoral duties.
“I devote a very significant part of my week to being Oak Bay mayor, usually all day Saturdays and Sundays, and many evenings,” Jensen said.
“It’s a complex job that requires experience, in my view, particularly at the [Capital Regional District] and understanding how the CRD works.”
Green, retired after a career that included work in the criminal justice system and college administration, was elected to Oak Bay council in 2011, after six years on North Saanich council.
She maintains a website and writes a weekly blog, describes herself as an effective communicator and says one of her first priorities if elected will be to establish quarterly neighbourhood meetings.
“I love the work. It’s complex work, but it’s very rewarding work, and after nine years, it was either step up or step away,” Green said, adding that she would like to take on a greater leadership role.
“I think I’m ready for that. I have spent nine years preparing for that.”
Although Jensen said he had heard some rumours he was to be challenged, he was still somewhat surprised at Green’s announcement, given that they often had similar positions on major issues that came to council.
“There have been little or no differences between the positions that we’ve taken at council,” Jensen said, citing the 7-0 vote in favour of the new official community plan as an example.
One area where they did differ was on the municipality’s deer-management plan. Green was the lone councillor to vote against the current plan. While she supported a deer-management strategy that included a cull, Green said she favoured an option that would have given Oak Bay more direct control.
“I, at the time, felt we needed a little more evidence and we needed to understand how the program would be managed by the CRD in a more fulsome way. I wanted Oak Bay to have more control over it, essentially,” she said.
Jensen was elected Oak Bay Mayor in 2011 after 15 years as a councillor.
The election is Nov. 15.
