Ned Taylor, a recent Reynolds Secondary graduate, has entered the Sept. 23 race for a seat on Saanich council and points to the “full platform” on his website as proof of his seriousness.
To increase affordable housing, he would allow secondary suites across Saanich and consider the “tiny house” movement. He’d also work to increase car-free infrastructure and allow skateboarders to use cycling lanes.
Taylor says on his website that he would also like to consult with the province and Oak Bay to adjust municipal borders “so that [the University of Victoria’s] entire campus can be represented by a single municipality, making it easier for the local government to properly represent UVic as a whole.”
Born and raised in Saanich, Taylor works as a server at the Glenshiel, an independent seniors home. He got the political bug in 2015 when he attracted more than 33,000 signatures to a change.org petition to end battery cages for egg-laying chickens.
Five other candidates have said they plan to run in the race to fill the seat left empty when longtime councillor Vic Derman died March 17.
They are political commentator Mike Geoghegan, retired B.C. Pension Corp. executive Karen Harper, Saanich Sunday Farmers Market co-founder Shawn Newby, water resource management consultant Rebecca Mersereau and organic farmer Nathalie Chambers.
Nomination papers for the byelection are due by 4 p.m. Aug. 18. Whoever wins will hold the position until the municipal election in fall 2018.
For more information, go to saanich.ca/elections.
