Aaron Hall For Victoria City Council – Cell: 250.361.6986

What an excellent time we had! I am so happy to have been a part of this, it was one of the best experiences in my life. I do not know what the future holds but I am meeting with the Open Victoria http://openvictoria.ca/ on a regular basis to discuss what aspects of Open Government have been adopted by the new council.

When I remember how everyone jumped on our bandwagon of Open Government I was very skeptical of what the outcome would be. It turns out that the Open Data initiative put forward right before the election may have been a smoke screen. This initiative was mentioned very often during the election but has never come to fruition as noted in the Focus Magazine actice title Limited Transparency found here: http://www.focusonline.ca/?q=node/313

Anyways, if I cast aside the predictability of false campaign promises, I am very happy to say that we were a part of something positive. I feel that the outcome of our campaign was good, and that Victoria can now begin to look for more accountability in it’s local Government.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns, I am here to help any way I can.

Aaron.

I have three things that are near and dear to me.

1. Creating a budget for municipal spending based on the same pricipals that you use at home in your own budget.

2. Creating an opportunity for developers to be able to increase our tax base in areas of town that do not threaten our Character Neighbourhoods.

3. Create a positive working relationship with other municipalities to tackle our Regional Issues.

Feel free to send your thoughts on these topics, I am an open minded person who is always looking for new information and ideas.

The link below takes you to an interview I had with Adam Stirling about our World Cafe and we also talked about why I have decided to run for City Council. This was my first time on Radio and I think it came off pretty good

Any comments or questions would be great.

CFAXAaron11Nov2011 (1)

Below is a Wordle from all the data collected from table 3 of our World Cafe at Sauce Restaurant, what an awesome time! Cheers Steve, we really can’t thank you enough for the space!

I believe that municipal spending has not been taken very seriously. It seems as though there has been little to no effort put into creating a realistic list of priorities when it comes to municipal spending. What I do see is that the spending that does take place seems to be more geared towards items that come up in the media, such as the Blue Bridge and crystal Pool issues when no one seems to be talking about the massive and imminent expenditures that we face relating to our sewers and storm drain system. I feel the most glaring example of this lack of real priorities lies in the motion to spend upwards of a half a million dollars to close a large number of parking stalls and hinder traffic in the Beacon Hill Park. I am in the park on a very regular basis, (once or twice a week) and I have never noticed any need to address traffic in the park. It moves at a slow, safe, and predictable manner. Your comments here would be greatly appreciated.

I want to talk about my 3 favorite topics relating to our Municipal Election.

1- We should be asking for municipal spending to be based on a realistic budget.

2- I want to talk to you about what are municipal concerns, and what are Regional concerns.

3- I want us to come up with an effective development plan that preserves our character neighbourhoods, but allows business to flourish at the same time.

Please send me you questions and concerns on these topics, we cannot come up with an effective municipal development strategy without your input. I am a part of Open Victoria and we are calling for Open Government in the City of Victoria.