Why Victoria mayor Lisa Helps matters to students

Features February 18, 2015

If you haven’t heard yet, there’s a new mayor in town. Students in particular should heed this development with interest. Victoria’s new mayor, Lisa Helps, is making a concentrated effort to address the questions and concerns of the student body through initiatives and promoting youth involvement.

Sworn in on December 4 after defeating previous Victoria mayor Dean Fortin in a close municipal election (there was a difference of only 89 votes), Helps’ term is still in its infancy.

But let’s start from the beginning…

Who is Lisa Helps, and why should students care?

Striding into Habit Coffee on Yates Street, Lisa Helps exudes a presence of discrete authority; she doesn’t flaunt a suit or briefcase, but her posture and clean-cut manner convey confidence and openheartedness. The other patrons seem to regard her with silent respect, taking notice of her unique demeanour.

Victoria mayor Lisa Helps in her office (photo by Jill Westby/Nexus).
Victoria mayor Lisa Helps in her office (photo by Jill Westby/Nexus).

It seems a fitting place of introduction, as the choice of venue says a lot about Helps herself. Habit is all about sustainability; the coffee-doctoring station filled with compostable sleeves, organic honey, and reusable cutlery. Tethered to the bicycle rack, adjacent the cafe window, is Helps’ bicycle: a worn commuter, blue paint flaking gently off the frame, sporting hefty saddlebags that carry important council documents.

It seems Helps has not forgotten her Fernwood roots, where the bicycle is king in matters of transport, and where Helps’ foundation in economic development and operating a community micro-lending organization began.

Helps did not fall into the position of mayor, however.

“The biggest benefit I have in adapting to my role is that I was a city councillor first,” explains Helps, attributing a seamless transition into office to pre-existing relationships with city staff.

“My objective is to bring as much of myself to the job as possible, to not leave those elements of openheartedness and generosity that usually might get checked at the door in a political or bureaucratic context,” she says once we get to her office, gesturing to a wall covered with inspirational sticky notes and small personal effects, such as a My Little Pony doll, which was a gift from a close friend’s daughter.

The settling-in period is often most difficult for new mayors, but Helps seems to be coping well. She feels that her new position has helped her breach the barriers she felt previously contained her.

“One of the things that frustrated me as a councillor is we had lots of lofty goals. We never said, ‘This year we’re going to do this, next year we’re going to do this, and next year we’re going to do this,’ and to really measure ourselves,” she says. “Right now we’re in strategic planning, and I really look forward to a concrete plan with concrete goals.”

While the effectiveness of this council is yet to be weighed, Helps’ honesty is refreshing. But Victoria City Council Member Jeremy Loveday notes that her approach has caused her some trouble. “Mayor Helps has made some bold statements about the completion of the sewage treatment plant and the Johnson Street Bridge. Completing these major projects efficiently and cost effectively while progressing on other issues will be a tough balancing act.”

Observing Helps during meetings exemplifies her thirst for concreteness: she requests specific details and is willing to fill in the blanks when plans are too vague. This might include producing the contact information of a developer, citing historical examples, or simply giving constructive criticism.

“I’m a quick learner,” she chimes to a client presenting a pitch back at Habit. Her notes, contained in a black Moleskine notebook, follow a complex pattern of diagrams and tightly woven cursive akin to the modest tattoo on her left forearm. Her attentiveness is clear, and she maintains it all the way to City Hall, astride her muddy-rimmed bicycle.

Passing the open offices of councillors and staff, Helps introduces them individually, explaining what function they have within the City.

They regard her with equal enthusiasm, referring to her as “Missus Mayor” or, simply, “Lisa.” This attitude follows her, whether she is in City Hall or in the community.

“She is inclusive in the way that she approaches politics and I think she listens with an interest to learn from the public,” says Loveday, who mentions her efforts to include youth in civic affairs. “I think students and young people in general have too often been left out of decision making and direction setting at City Hall. Lisa’s approach is a step in the right direction.”

While the bulk of her time is spent in formal council meetings, Helps outlines the importance of connecting past the boardroom.

“I have, as often as possible, one-on-one cups of coffee with councillors to check in to see what they need to feel supported,” explains Helps. “When we’re together as a council, we’re really focused on driving forward initiatives, making decisions, and not just there to ramble and talk with each other, whereas over a cup of coffee it’s a lot more casual.”

With small, local coffee shops like Habit composing a extensive network in the downtown core, Helps is utilizing the comforts of her newly adopted city in a way that contributes to these small businesses and strengthens internal relationships.

These attributes should make Helps intriguing, especially to students; she’s relatable, environmentally conscious, even sporting a little ink. Personality, however, has little weight under the mayoral title without strong policies.

Affordable housing

“What I’d like to see in the next four years is to keep funding and supporting housing needs, but also to broaden our lens and broaden our policy toolbox to make sure that regular, working people can afford to live,” says Helps, when asked if she’ll continue her and former mayor Dean Fortin’s focus on affordable housing.

“The city is not a builder, not a developer, but we can certainly be a partner through tax incentives and fast-tracking applications for affordable housing,” she says.

Unlike Fortin, whose experience as an addictions counsellor pushed him to focus on housing for the homeless and at-risk, Helps’ plans are more broadly focused on providing housing for the next generation through conversion of pre-existing heritage buildings and condos into low-income housing.

“While shelters are a really important place for us to focus our efforts, we’ve missed a whole larger spectrum of people who simply needed an affordable place to live,” she says.

Though most can agree housing has become a near-crisis issue, Helps’ solutions are often where she faces criticism. “It involves giving property tax exemptions to private land owners for designating some of their units as affordable,” she says. “Some say, ‘Why would you give private developers money?’ Well, because people need housing.”

Daniel Reeve, Social Sciences chair at Camosun College, and Rachael Grant, External Executive of the Camosun College Student Society, agree.

During their work in the classroom and the office, college staff often become acquainted with the hurdles facing students, whether it be exhaustingly long bus commutes from outside the city because they can’t afford to live in town, or negatively impacted productivity due to financial constraints.

“Helps can continue the work of the previous council and Mayor Fortin to push for more low-income housing. More housing availability means lower rent for students. Rent is typically students’ biggest expense,” says Reeve.

Grant agrees, content with the goals Helps has set so far.

“Housing is a huge issue for postsecondary students, and it’s great to see Mayor Helps making quality, affordable housing a priority,” she says.

With Victoria recently being rated the second-least-affordable low-income housing market in Canada in an international study of urban housing markets, students can only hope Victoria sees an improvement in the next four years.

Transportation

Transportation should also be something students hold the City accountable for. Currently in the “strategic planning” phase of office, Helps and her council are setting their goals for the next four years.

Mayor Helps at her new job (photo by Jill Westby/Nexus).
Mayor Helps at her new job (photo by Jill Westby/Nexus).

Loveday is working on expanding Victoria’s cycling network, which includes more bike lanes and lock-up stations. “I am pushing for the completion of the cycling network by 2018,” he says. “If we are able to complete our grid and better collaborate with Saanich to make sure the network doesn’t stop at municipal boundaries, then students will have a safer, more sustainable, and cost-effective option for travelling to and from school.”

Grant notes that with expansion should come an equal focus on safety.

“Cycling is an important aspect of conversations involving public transit. Many students are avid cyclists, and it is important that a thoughtful strategy that includes ensuring that safety and efficiency is prioritized,” she says.

With many of the roads around Camosun, such as Shelbourne Street, Hillside Avenue, and Foul Bay Road, being notoriously narrow, providing students with safer alternate routes to improve both student safety and traffic flow are goals that will hopefully accompany the expansion of the cycling network.

While expanding the cycling network benefits those living within city limits, transit is the main form of transport for students and low-income individuals.

According to Grant, council needs to address the large percentage of students who live outside the city but work and study within it if they want them to contribute to development.

“Helps currently has a seat on the Victoria Regional Transit Commission, a body that makes decisions regarding public transit, a service many students rely on every day,” points out Grant. “It would be great to see her support a seat on the commission for a student representative.”

Camosun’s Reeve explains the effects improved bus service would have, especially for late-night riders going in and out of the downtown core.

“The previous council and mayor pressured the province for more funding that allowed Victoria to expand its fleet of late-night busses,” says Reeve. “This not only means bar-goers can exit downtown in a timely fashion, but more allows all those students who work in restaurants and bars to go home without having to spend their tips on cabs.”

For Helps, this would mean a student population with more incentive to be green and utilize transit rather than driving because night bus routes are inconvenient and infrequent.

Youth involvement

Often disenfranchised and disinterested in municipal politics (and politics in general) students don’t realize the pull they have in government.

Though representing a large body within Victoria’s population, many students don’t vote and often do not have their interests promoted as a result. For those just entering high school and college, Helps points to a unique opportunity in the City of Victoria Youth Council.

“They range in age from 14 to 24, and part of their mandate is to connect with younger kids and draw them in to civic life,” she says.

This means being active in the community, as well as promoting youth interests. This focus on youth involvement is important to Helps in establishing effective government.

“One of the most profound things said to me just after I was elected was from our outgoing director of planning, Deborah Day, and this was also the last line in my inauguration speech. She said, ‘The most important decisions we make are for those who aren’t even born yet,’” says Helps. “That’s really hard for people to grasp.”

While the current focus is on engaging those youth entering high school and college, Helps notes older students have the ability to promote the cycle of bringing the next generation into civic life.

Another opportunity arising under Helps’ leadership is the emergence of what she calls “pop-up committees.” These are two-hour, one-off committees composed of approximately 10 people from a certain sector or demographic. This presents an efficient avenue for students to have their voices heard directly by municipal government.

“Assemble 10 people, and give me a presentation on what you need and would like to see. It’s to say, basically, ‘Hey, I’m your mayor, what do you need?’” says Helps. She plans to begin implementing pop-up committees after strategic planning is completed.

Acknowledging the many movements and demonstrations by college students lobbying for their causes, Helps hopes to mend the gap between youth and the government.

“I decided a long time ago I would way rather be for something than against something,” says Helps. “I did my ‘protest against this, against that’ phase, but sometime in my early 20s I thought, ‘You know what? It’s way more productive to be for something than against something.’”

However, unifying local government and students to meet their unique needs through avenues such as the City of Victoria Youth Council and pop-up committees is a two-way street. The more students and youth take advantage of these opportunities, the more municipal government will be held accountable. Whether Helps will deliver on her end is yet to be seen, but the acknowledgement alone is a step forward.