Andrew Appleton
Website: www.appleton4oakbay.ca
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 do, since 2014.
What is your occupation, and for how long?
I’m a renewable resources management professional and currently work for the provincial ministry of Environment & Climate Change Strategy with the Recreation Sites and Trails Branch. I’ve been with the province for eight years and have worked in environmental sustainability and protection for over 20 years, at all four levels of government as well as the non-profit sector.
Tell us about your previous elected and/or community experience.
I’m currently completing my first term on Oak Bay council, where I have served as liaison to the Advisory Planning Commission, Heritage Commission and Heritage Foundation as well as serving as Oak Bay’s Trustee on the Greater Victoria Library Board. I also founded and chaired Oak Bay’s Community Climate Action Working Group. Before my election I was a board member of the Greater Victoria Placemaking Network and served as a volunteer on both Oak Bay’s Advisory Planning Commission and the Mayor’s Task Force on public engagement.
Why are you running? What’s your motivation?
I’ve been so grateful to have been given this role over the past term and I’m constantly motivated by the interest and engagement of our citizens. Over the course of this term I’ve become known as the councillor who motivates for change and wants to see us move faster to address the pressing needs in our community. If I’m fortunate enough to be re-elected, I’m going to continue to push for quicker, more innovative solutions, particularly with respect to housing.
What are your top three issues?
Housing: Oak Bay needs to quickly provide a diversity of housing options to address the housing crisis. This includes purpose built rental and supportive living options for seniors.
Active Transportation: I will push to have Oak Bay implement a basic network of active transportation corridors in the District during this term. We are blessed to have a compact community where residents should be able to access amenities without a car if they so choose.
Sustainability: We need to continue to invest in infrastructure upgrades that will make our community resilient in the face of climate change. This means improvements to building standards, retrofit incentives and active transportation options.
What’s your vision for your community in 25 years?
That Oak Bay will be a regional model of adapting and evolving a community that is predominantly single family residential into one that incorporates a number of housing forms, revitalized villages and easy access to amenities and downtown. I see a community that houses and supports a diversity of citizens young and old, that respects its past while embracing new ideas and has proactively met the challenges of climate change.
What’s one “big idea” you have for your community?
The ongoing discussions in the community about Turkey Head (Spewhung) and other public spaces across the District have sparked a great conversation about what our citizens want to see happen with respect to community and regional amenities. I’d like to see us have a broad scope visioning process with our community about what we can create here that will make Oak Bay a model of placemaking and activation of public space. There’s so many great potential options- let’s come up with some big ideas!
