The new administration building planned for the Juan de Fuca electoral area is good value, unless it signifies that the area will be governed in perpetuity by the Capital Regional District.
Mike Hicks, Juan de Fuca director on the CRD board, has received approval in principle for a $1.3-million administration building at Otter Point, using internal borrowing. Hicks said the building will be paid off in 15 years for less than the $117,000 now being paid annually to rent offices in Sooke. He deserves credit for advancing a sensible plan that will save taxpayers money.
But the new building should not have the effect of solidifying the electoral area’s current municipal status into permanence.
The Juan de Fuca electoral area is a sprawling, awkward region of about 1,500 square kilometres, most of it labelled as rural resource lands, and it includes the communities of Otter Point, Shirley, Jordan River and Port Renfrew along the Island’s southwest coast, as well as the geographically separate communities of Willis Point, Malahat and East Sooke. The area has about 4,500 residents, with one elected municipal representative.
This is in no way intended to be a criticism of Hicks, an able and conscientious representative, but it is unfair to have government consisting of one CRD director who is, in effect, mayor and council, but who does not have the powers of an independent municipal government. Decisions must be made by the CRD board, which consists of representatives from other municipalities who would naturally have their own communities’ interests foremost in their minds.
Juan de Fuca is the next area for growth and development in the region, and will be subject to all kinds of land-use debates. People should have full say in how their regions grow, and they could do this if their communities were absorbed into existing municipalities with mayors and full councils.
Annexation is always a touchy subject — loyalties and pride of place are involved, and people differ on such issues as development and the pace of growth.
And it raises concerns about such matters as taxation. After the majority of Sooke’s residents voted to form an independent municipality in 1999, it was inevitable that discussions would form around the possibility of surrounding communities becoming part of Sooke. But Erik Lund, the area’s CRD director at the time, saw it as a tax grab. He said some residents would face property tax increases of $200 to $400 a year with no comparable increase in services.
Also, it would be a mistake to assume that everyone wants to be part of one of the existing municipalities. In 2005, East Sooke residents voted against becoming part of Sooke. There’s a certain independence in not being under a more structured municipal government, and that undoubtedly appeals to many.
Of course, the whole discussion would be moot if CRD municipalities amalgamated under one or more municipal governments, but that is not likely to happen soon.
Meanwhile, as more and more decisions are required on land use, environmental issues and urban development, residents of the Juan de Fuca communities are at a disadvantage because they are not part of a complete municipal government.
