Oak Bay volunteer and sustainability professional throws his hat in the ring for municipal election

Community volunteer and sustainability professional Andrew Appleton threw his hat in the ring for a seat on council this fall.

“I’m running because I have a great passion in developing a better dialogue in the community about how the district and citizens can work together,” said Appleton, a fisheries biologist for the province. “I really believe that we can retain what makes Oak Bay great while planning for a future that’s even better. I’ve spent the last three years speaking to hundreds of residents in my volunteer roles and I’m ready to take that input forward as a member of council.”

Appleton and his wife Jodi (owner of the Playful Pencil art studio) live in south Oak Bay with their two sons, ages 11 and 14. The family moved to Oak Bay four years ago, just shy of the election, having come shortly before that from the Lower Mainland.

“We wanted to be in Oak Bay because it has the strong sense of community,” Appleton said. In a bid to “plug in really quickly” to civic affairs he applied for, and earned a seat on, the Advisory Planning Commission.

“I wanted to get specifically a pulse on how the OCP (official community plan) was being implemented,” he said. “It’s the things that affect people’s day-to-day lives the most.”

Appleton is an environmental professional with 15 years experience in the non-profit sector as well as four levels of government. He is currently works for the province of BC as a biologist, working with regulations to protect fish habitat. His experience also includes roles as environmental educator, non- profit director and municipal environmental coordinator.

Appleton is also a board member of the Greater Victoria Placemaking Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating more vibrant public spaces. On behalf of the GVPN, Appleton helped lead a year-long community conversation in Oak Bay on the future of Turkey Head. This experience in turn led to an invitation to be a member of the mayor’s task force on community engagement.

There he saw ways for the municipality to offer better avenues for public feedback as, “different people want to do that in different ways.”

Appleton’s priority policy items include: implementing the OCP by creating new bylaw and policy language as well as amendments to existing bylaws. Updated supporting material for the OCP will allow the community to have a better conversation about standards and expectations pertaining to development.

Ensuring robust environmental protection and sustainability initiatives for the district including updating and strengthening the tree protection bylaw, implementing the Urban Forest Strategy and providing more rigour in the Shoreline Development Permit Area.

Supporting active transportation and safer streets for all residents including implementing the Complete Streets analysis accepted by council in 2012, and completing a comprehensive review of street safety and accessibility issues through the district.

Creating new and updated tools to support open, transparent and accessible government. The recently completed public engagement task force report goes beyond buzzwords and lays out specific recommendations, directly informed by public input. Implementing these recommendations should be a top priority for the district.

“I have a real interest in great community conversations,” said Appleton. “I’m a very approachable, accessible person and I’ve always sought out opportunities to lead public engagement both in my career and volunteer roles.”