If you’re one of the more than 4000 members of OneCity, you have some hard decisions to make over the next week. Your vote will pick:

• 4 city council candidates (who will join Lucy Maloney on the ballot)
• 5 school board candidates
• 3 park board candidates

Actually, one of these decisions is easy. There are only 3 park board candidates and 3 spots. But for school board there is 6 school board nominees. And the really, really hard choice is narrowing the field of 11 highly qualified council nominees down to 4.

Council

The 11 OneCity council nominees are all excellent and it’s a real shame the unity agreement limits them to running 5 (including Lucy). I might be a bit biased, but it is arguably a much stronger field than COPE and the Greens are choosing from. Here is the full list of nominees from all parties for reference.

Regardless, the task to members is to rank everyone. The good news is, whomever places in the top 4, they will have an excellent chance of beating ABC in October and making positive change in Vancouver over the next 4 years. Here is how I plan on ranking my ballot.

1. Peter Waldkirch – He’s really impressed more than anyone over the campaign. I learned a lot from the walking tour he gave through Fairview and Mount Pleasant. This guy understands zoning and housing like no one else. He also had one of the best answers at the debate as he talked about how dense, walkable neighbourhoods as a carbon reduction and climate adaptation strategy. Also a wicked accordion player.
2. Iona Bonamis – Great advocate for better transportation in the city – especially walking, cycling, and public transit. I’ve personally seen how hard she works to make Vancouver a better place to live. She came so close last time and I’m sure she’ll be a great city councillor when she wins this time.
   
   The top 2 for me are clear winners. But ranking the rest is a little harder.
   
3. Caitlin Stockwell – Ran for Park board in 2022 and almost won a spot. Committed environmentalist who wants to see more cycling. She was the only candidate that talked about reconciliation during the debate and did a great job.
4. Frances Bula – Her blog and newspaper articles are how I learned about Vancouver politics. I don’t think there is anyone with a deeper understanding of how this city works. Her politics are a bit unclear, but she seems committed to OneCity’s policies.
5. Russil Wvong – I voted for Russil last election. He’s similar to Peter in that he understands zoning and housing deeply. He’s also a software engineer and I have a personal affinity toward nerds.
6. Mike Tan – Small business and Chinatown advocate. Part of the Builder slate with Iona, Frances, and Jarrett.
7. Armor Valor – Love his enthusiasm and his focus on workers rights. During the debate he talked about increasing density around hospitals and care homes.
8. Jarrett Haglund – Another housing advocate, but with a huge emphasis on co-ops.
   
   I could see arranging my 3-8 votes in a different order, but my bottom 3 are:
   
9. Ashley Fehr – I was impressed with her energy when I met her in person, but she really struggled in the debate.
10. Azeem Ali – I love that he represents the neighbourhoods in South Vancouver, but I’m not crazy about his Vancouver Investment Guarantee to ensure each neighbourhood gets the same spending from city programs.
11. Aaron Chapman – Someone has to be last. As a historian, he brings an interesting lens, but I don’t think he has what it takes to be a politician.

I know the Abundant Housing folks are ranking Peter and Russil 1-2. And the alliance that has formed between Iona, Frances, Mike, and Jarrett – the OneCity Builders – will be a strong force if they can convince their voters to back the slate. I took that into consideration with my list, but ended up choosing the candidates I personally thought were the best.

Two notes about my list:

• Even if my top 4 candidates win, a lot of great candidates will lose. This is going to hurt.
• It’s really hard to pick a representative slate with only 4 ranked choices.

If you missed it, here’s the full council debate – it’s great for hearing the candidates talk policy and get a sense of how they would perform on council.

School Board

There’s not a lot separating the 6 school board candidates who are running for 5 spots. They’re all excellent and will do a great job replacing incumbent Jennifer Ready. 5 of the candidates have cross-endorsed each other, leaving Christopher Lee out but I really like him (and not just because of his name). My ranking is.

1. Sherry Breshears – DPAC and Dyslexia BC
2. Krista Sigurdson – Barely missed a spot in 2022. I’m glad she’s back. Another DPAC member.
3. Steve Cardwell – Former Superintendent who really understands the school board.
4. Christopher Lee – School boards should have a stronger youth voice
5. Kareem Hassib – Involved in student politics at UBC. Smart guy.
6. Rory Brown – former President of the Vancouver Secondary Teachers Association. Feels weird ranking him last when he also ran in 2022 and came close to winning, but all 6 nominees are excellent and someone needs to be last.

Park Board

No need to rank the park candidates, as the only choose will be to acclaim or not. But if I did have to rank them, the order would be.

1. John Irwin
2. Dominic Denofrio
3. Tyler Petersen

Summary

Voting runs May 3-10. See the OneCity How to Vote page for more details.

If you have a pitch for why a candidate should be ranked higher, leave a comment. It might change someone’s mind.