The municipality of Oak Bay has elected Kevin Murdoch as its mayor. Murdoch defeated his competition, Nils Jensen, with a total of 5,042 votes for Murdoch.
Before being elected, Murdoch served as an Oak Bay councillor from 2011 to present.
“My primary concerns are good governance and the advancement of policies from generalizations to concrete plans and actions; this approach should be evident to anyone who has come before Council,” says Murdoch on his campaign website.
“My focus is on pragmatism, efficiency, and the implementation of community planning. My financial policies are based on a long-term (50 to 100 year) plan, fully costed with a realistic forecast of infrastructure replacement needs.”
Murdoch uses a “four pillar” policy foundation: Plan, Fund, Build, and Foster. ‘Plan’ housing and commercial development, ‘Fund’ financial transparency and long term planning, ‘Build’ infrastructure replacements, and ‘Foster’ efficiency, service, and ownership of results.
The previous mayor, Nils Jensen, has a long history of politics in Oak Bay. He was first elected mayor in 2011, and was re-elected in 2014. Before that, he served as an Oak Bay councillor from 1996 – 2011.
Jensen garnered a total of 2,138 votes for his campaign.
Councillors
Besides mayor Murdoch, the 18,000+ residents of Oak Bay will also be represented by the following 6 councillors:
- Andrew Appleton (3,707 votes)
- Hazel Braithwaite (incumbent) (5,149 votes)
- Cairine Green (3,871 votes)
- Tara Ney (4,001 votes)
- Esther Paterson (3,688 votes)
- Eric Zhekla (incumbent) (3,754 votes)
According to the District of Oak Bay website, these results are unofficial, and the official results will be posted by BC Electoins
The Oak Bay community is located East of downtown Victoria, and borders just south of UVic.
According to the 2016 Canada census, the largest age bracket residing in the municipality is the 15-64-year-old group comprising 55% of the population. The next largest age bracket is 65 years and older, which sits at 31.6%.
A total of 7,232 people turned out to vote, out of the estimated 13,499 eligible voter population.
