Victoria News, 14 September 2005
Ben won the nomination to be the mayoral candidate of the Victoria Civic Electors, the New Democratic Party's municipal wing
The Victoria Civic Electors endorsed 27-year-old Ben Isitt as their mayoral candidate in this fall’s municipal elections, despite a recommendation to the contrary from the VCE executive.
About 135 of the 230 members who attended Saturday’s nomination meeting voted in favour of a motion to have Isitt carry the VCE banner in a bid to oust Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe in November.
At a meeting in August, the VCE executive recommended against running a mayoral candidate, noting that the “candidate search committee” was unable to find a suitable candidate.
On Monday, Isitt thanked the membership for showing confidence in him.
“The executive is empowered to make those suggestions, but the meetings are run by the members and I’m really happy to say that proved true on the weekend,” Isitt said.
The VCE did not field a mayoral candidate in 2002, while Isitt ran as an independent and received more than 30 per cent of the vote. In 1999, former councillor Bob Friedland ran against Lowe, but lost by about 1,500 votes.
Isitt, who is seen by some VCE members as too radical for the slate, said his campaign platform will likely be modified based on upcoming meetings with the executive and his fellow candidates.
Six candidates for council were also nominated Saturday, including incumbents Pam Madoff and Dean Fortin. However there are four new faces on the VCE slate, due in part to the departure of Coun. Denise Savoie, who plans to run as an NDP candidate in this spring’s federal election, and Rob Fleming, who won a seat in the legislature in May’s provincial election.
The other nominees are federal NDP riding association president Erik Kaye, 2002 VCE candidate Bryan Skinner, Volunteer Victoria executive director Chantal Brodeur and women’s advocate Marianne Alto.
As in 1999 and 2002, the VCE upheld its policy of running a maximum of six candidates for eight council seats.
Members were also due to vote on a motion that would have required at least half of VCE candidates to be women, but instead voted to defer the motion until the VCE’s annual general meeting.
In the end, the VCE voluntarily achieved gender parity when the membership voted in favour of all three female candidates who entered the nomination race.
Asked if he’s happy that Isitt is running Fortin said “I’ll defer that question until later.”
Some of Isitt’s policy planks – such as supporting a safe injection site, lobbying for a sewage treatment plant and banning the use of pesticides in the municipality, fit well with the VCE’s vision for the city.
However, other ideas, such as Isitt’s call for the city to sever its relationship with RG Properties and take over management of Save On Foods Memorial Centre, will require further discussion, Fortin said.
Incumbent councillors who have worked on the arena deal have a clearer understanding of the complexities of parting ways with RG Properties.
“If it was cut and dry it would have been done by now,” Fortin said. “We don’t want the thing boarded up for the next five years while we’re stuck in court.”
