The Downtown Residents Association is hosting a Victoria Mayoral Debate tomorrow (October 10th).
Matthew Yee, a member of the DRA, says due to a time constraint, only 4 candidates are invited to the debate.
"Before I got involved with organizing this event, the venue had already been pre-selected. And unbeknownst to us, there was some time and scheduling constraint which limited how much time we could spend in the venue. So, as a group we looked at it, and saw that maybe it was best to limit the number of participants, just so that everyone that would be there, would have the best opportunity to share their message."
Lisa Helps, Michael Geoghegan, Bruce McGuigan, and Stephen Hammond were invited to debate.
Yee says DRA members looked at all the information the candidates had made available, and the group came to the consensus to host these 4 candidates.
Yee says the debate will focus on the needs of those who live downtown, and one of their top concerns is "Street Life"
"Street noise, street activity, street safety, so it's stuff that happens around our homes. We as residents who live downtown, it's always at the top of our mind because we're directly affected anytime there's changes in policies and stuff that affects the streets."
He says new developments are also a key issue.
"We welcome development, as long as we see that it's beneficial for residents and the community. That means we hope to see amenities included as part of the developments, making it a friendlier more welcoming space for people, for families, to be, as well as making it safe. And that's for everybody, not just people that buy and sell condos and stuff like that, but people that live downtown or interact downtown, it needs to be a safe and welcoming space."
Yee also says the DRA would like to see the future council to direct their focus on the lack of green space in the downtown core.
The debate tomorrow will have 6 questions for each candidate, allowing 2 uninterupted minutes to answer, followed by a 5 minute moderated discussion.
Yee says he hopes to see the candidates not be "wishy-washy" and voice their opinions, speak their minds, and speak honestly so that those who go to the debate can be properly educated when the event is over.
The debate begins at 6 o'clock tomorrow at the Victoria Event Centre on Broad street, doors open at 5:30.