Former Qualicum Beach town councillor Anne Skipsey is in the running for the open seat on council and hopes to use her 15 years of experience in municipal politics to serve the town again.
“The person that is elected will need to hit the ground running and I have been closely following this council and keeping informed on the issues and I know the job and I am ready to start working full-time for the residents of Qualicum Beach,” Skipsey said.
She said as a councillor she would focus on open dialogue with residents, affordable housing and developments that align with the Official Community Plan (OCP), which she helped review by acting as town liaison during her time on council (2014–2018).
“I value the OCP, the official community plan to me is our roadmap,” she said. “It’s the result of that extensive community input and it evolved over decades and it reflects our community’s shared values and visions.”
Part of the OCP she would like to focus on is a housing task force, which she said can help the town explore new options to reach its goals.
“We keep talking about affordable housing, but I believe we can’t simply build our way into affordability — that we need to know what our housing needs are and what would be an appropriate housing mix for our community,” she said.
Skipsey said she values transparency and two-way discussions with residents. “I want to hear from residents what it is that is important to them,” she said. “I’m not going to say it is lacking, but I think we can do better. I think some people in the community don’t feel that their voices are being heard.”
Skipsey said she decided to run in the byelection after receiving a lot of support and encouragement from community members. She would like to see a Qualicum Beach that both attracts young people and keeps the community charm as it is.
“We just have to keep doing the things that we have done right in the past,” she said.
Though campaigning looks different during the pandemic, Skipsey said she wants to hear from people through email and phone calls to learn what is important to residents.
See more Oceanside News coverage of the 2021 Qualicum Beach byelection and read about all the candidates here.
