Protected. Responsible. Resilient. Accountable. Lasting.

Ask residents what they love about Saanich and they rarely begin with buildings. They talk about parks, urban forest, wetlands, Gary Oak ecosystems and the wildlife that shares this community with us. These are the places that make Saanich special. Environmental concerns and questions about accountable growth have risen together in recent years, and residents have made it clear that protecting these special places matters.

Residents shouldn't have to choose between a growing community and a healthy environment, between new neighbours and mature trees, between attainable housing and clean streams. Saanich needs an approach to growth that protects what matters for everyone.

Environmental stewardship should guide how we grow together. Too many narratives frame this as protection versus development. That's not how responsible communities grow. They build homes, protect habitat, and plan for the future together. The real question isn't whether Saanich grows. It's whether that growth respects the natural systems this community depends on.

Environmental stewardship is more than setting land aside. It is about treating wetlands, forests and watersheds as infrastructure in their own right, because they manage stormwater, reduce flooding, cool neighbourhoods and prevent costs that would otherwise fall on engineered systems and, ultimately, on taxpayers. At the same time, protecting these systems doesn't mean growth has to stop. Every part of Saanich's landscape matters. Development and stewardship must work as one system.

I'm running on protecting what makes Saanich home.

Why Environmental Stewardship Matters to Me

My involvement in this issue goes back more than fifteen years to advocacy that began with a simple concern: a piece of environmentally significant land in our community was at risk. Securing lasting protection required sustained work with residents, community organizations, non-government organizations and Municipal Hall, coordinated over many years and across multiple Councils.

That work resulted in protected status for Panama Flats. I know what it takes to turn a community environmental concern into lasting protection, because I have done it.

That experience became the beginning of over a decade of community advocacy on habitat protection, urban forest retention and responsible land-use decisions across Saanich. I’m proud to say my effort to help secure protected status for Panama Flats is a tangible example of what can happen when residents, community organizations and government work together towards a common goal.

Environmental stewardship isn't resisting change. It's guiding change responsibly:

1. protecting biodiversity while creating attainable homes,
2. preserving mature trees while accommodating responsible growth,
3. improving transportation while protecting natural areas,
4. strengthening infrastructure while respecting the environment around it.

My approach to environmental stewardship is grounded in both community advocacy and professional experience. During my career in information technology and management consulting, I worked with organizations across Canada and the United States to improve systems and simplify complex processes to provide better decision-support. As a former Director of Local Government, I developed a practical understanding land-use planning, permitting, licensing, finance and asset management. That experience taught me that complex decisions are rarely solved by looking at one issue in isolation. It taught me how interconnected municipal decisions really are, and how important it is to build environmental considerations into planning from the beginning rather than adding them once the major decisions have already been made. I understand the mechanisms required to turn environmental commitments into lasting results.

Current council has counterposed development and accountability, pitting urban expansion against environmental responsibility; however, in a practical government, fiscal and environmental accountability are the principles that guide development. Deficit spending and transparency have grown as issues at the same pace as environmental concerns. Residents deserve councillors who can explain the purpose behind every tax dollar, how it's used, and how it benefits our community. Good stewardship means caring for today while protecting tomorrow.

Before Saanich commits to its next stage of growth, Council needs to understand which natural assets are irreplaceable and protect them accordingly. Our parks, forests, and wetlands aren't just green space on a map. They are the systems Saanich depends on every day.

My approach is straightforward: protect what's irreplaceable, guide growth responsibly, prioritize what matters most and make sure public decisions deliver lasting results.

Protecting biodiversity. Guiding growth responsibly. Delivering lasting results.

That's protecting what matters.

Homes You Can Actually Afford

On July 6, during my launch speech, I asked: “How do we create attainable homes while protecting the characteristics that make people want to live in Saanich in the first place?”

Land-use planning is one of the lowest-rated municipal service areas in Saanich, and housing affordability is a major concern for residents. Speaking with community members, I hear from seniors who feel forced out of the neighbourhoods they helped build and young professionals who can no longer picture staying in the community where they grew up. Today's housing policies should not inadvertently make long-term home ownership less sustainable for seniors or attainable for the next generation.

Too often, the housing conversation gets flattened into growth versus no growth. I don't believe Saanich has to choose between housing and the community we love. Saanich needs thoughtful growth, housing choice and predictable planning, not growth for the sake of increasing unit counts.

The real question is whether Saanich is creating the right types of housing people can actually afford, in the right places, with the infrastructure and services to support the people who will live there, while protecting environmentally sensitive areas and neighbourhood livability.

I'm not calling for fewer rules. I'm calling for a practical approach with clearer, more efficient processes and predictable decisions. People shouldn't have to wait years for a decision on housing that already aligns with established community objectives. Across Saanich, there are lots that once had family homes that are now overgrown and vacant; properties that could accommodate neighbourhood-appropriate family homes, with secondary and garden suites providing additional housing choice and opportunities to improve affordability.

As a former Director of Local Government, I led modernization work across finance, land-use planning, permitting, licensing and asset management. That experience taught me that affordability is as much a municipal service-delivery issue as it is a housing-supply issue.

Saanich residents deserve a Council that manages their money responsibly and is accountable for how it is spent. That means setting clear priorities, considering the full cost of municipal decisions, and ensuring residents can see what was promised, what was spent, and what was delivered.

Fiscal responsibility is about making thoughtful financial decisions. Financial accountability is about being transparent and delivering on those decisions. Both are essential to earning residents' trust and making every taxpayer dollar count.

Fewer than half of Saanich residents believe they get good value for their taxes, and the only budget option that has earned real public support was holding services steady with a modest, managed increase. Too often, Council has approached finances from a purely ideological perspective. This has left necessary maintenance underfunded and new development over budget. Housing decisions have infrastructure costs; transportation decisions have lifecycle costs; environmental decisions have long-term community value, often mitigating future costs; and every one of them needs transparent prioritization.

Residents have a right to know that every tax dollar is spent with care, precision, and purpose. My work on the Burnside Road Streetscape project taught me that the real cost of municipal infrastructure isn't what it takes to cut the ribbon it's what it takes to implement, maintain, operate, and deliver value over the next twenty years.

My approach starts with the basics: core services and aging infrastructure come first, ahead of lower-priority, high-visibility projects. Every major spending decision should answer three questions: What problem are we solving? What will it cost to implement, operate, and maintain? How will we know whether it delivered the intended results?

Council needs to direct staff to identify efficiencies before asking taxpayers for more. When a tax increase is genuinely necessary, residents deserve a clear explanation of why it's needed, what alternatives were considered, and what they will receive in return.

Growth must contribute to economic opportunity rather than quietly becoming a burden on businesses and communities. Fiscal planning, housing, transportation, and environmental stewardship cannot be treated as separate conversations. Their costs, benefits, and long-term impacts must be considered together.

Saanich needs to strengthen its economic and commercial tax base. That means setting measurable economic development goals, building partnerships that create opportunities for investment and employment, and understanding the conditions local businesses need to remain and grow here. A commercial business retention and expansion plan should identify barriers, track business outcomes, and assess whether municipal policies and investments are supporting a sustainable local economy.

Residents have raised concerns about declining transparency and accountability. Passing a budget is not the end of Council's responsibility. Council must report back on what was promised, what was spent, and what was delivered and be accountable when outcomes fall short.

Every dollar Council spends belongs to someone who worked hard to earn it.

As a former business owner, information technology and management consultant, and Director of Local Government, I have spent my career working with organizations across Canada and the United States, including municipal and provincial governments, to improve systems, manage resources, simplify processes, and support better decisions. That experience gives me a practical understanding of how to manage resources, assess and mitigate risk, and deliver results.

Council is not simply deciding how much money to spend. It is responsible for deciding what to spend it on, when to spend it, what it will cost over its lifetime, how it will be funded, and whether residents are getting the results they were promised.

Saanich residents work hard for their money. They deserve a Council that treats every taxpayer dollar with the same care, discipline, and accountability they expect in managing their own household budgets.

Fiscal responsibility isn't about saying yes to everything or about saying no to everything. It's about setting clear priorities, making thoughtful decisions, and delivering lasting value.

Fiscal Responsibility → Cost Control → Understand Lifecycle Costs → Connect Growth to Economic Output → Diversify Revenue → Retain Existing Businesses → Measure Results → Financial Accountability.

https://hollishodson.ca/financial-accountability-make-every-taxpayer-dollar-count/

I will advocate to modernize Saanich’s governance and update the Council Procedure Bylaw restructuring how residents provide input to Council. Residents frequently tell me they do not feel heard or valued. I would restore a structured open public input opportunity at the beginning of the meeting for issues not on the agenda and change the current process back to have public input heard immediately prior to the applicable agenda item being considered, rather than requiring all speakers to speak at the beginning of the meeting.

While maintaining options for both in-person and online participation, I would introduce mandatory pre-registration for public input using a public facing website portal, email and phone to provide the public with options aligned to their preferred communication method. This would allow staff to schedule meetings predictably for the public, manage full agendas, and ensure public feedback receives the focus it deserves.

Scheduling should prioritize first-time speakers during open public input. Addressing council takes courage, and every resident deserves to know their voice matters. Scheduling should also prioritize Community Associations as they speak on behalf of their membership. A well-structured, time-boxed process respects both council’s time and the public’s democratic right to participate.

Your Community. Your Voice. Your Council.

Protecting What Matters.

With two sons, 21 and 25, it is important to me to stay current and connected with youth organizations. My sons have experienced my continued community advocacy throughout their lives and it has had a positive impact. I am proud to say they have both now served on advocacy boards and/or committees too in their community, as well as educational institutions. I am encouraged to see youth engagement on the rise and will continue to advocate and support these initiates: supporting youth is important for their future and ours. I am proud to say I am endorsed by Young British Columbians for Better Governance (YBC4BG.)

Safe. Connected. Accessible. Efficient. Accountable.

Getting around Saanich safely shouldn't depend on which street you live on. Residents have clearly identified traffic management, infrastructure and road safety as significant concerns, with traffic management among Saanich's lowest-rated services. That's not a coincidence; it's a call to action.

Saanich needs a transportation system that works for everyone. Residents shouldn't have to choose between safe streets, reliable transit, efficient traffic flow and infrastructure that works for people walking, cycling, rolling and driving. We can have all of them.

Transportation shouldn't divide us. Transportation should connect us. Too many narratives promote transportation as a divisive issue. That's not how Saanich moves. We drive, walk, take the bus and bike, often all in the same day. The real question isn't which mode wins, it's whether we're getting the right projects, in the right places, at a cost residents can afford.

I'm not running on a transportation ideology. I'm running on transportation that works.

Transportation is more than moving vehicles. It is about connecting people to their homes, schools, jobs, businesses, parks and services safely, reliably and affordably. When traffic doesn't move, everyone is affected including buses, deliveries, local businesses and emergency responders. At the same time, improving vehicle flow can be accomplished with safe pedestrian crossings, accessible sidewalks, cycling infrastructure and reliable transit. Every mode matters. The network must work as a whole.

Why Transportation Matters to Me

My approach starts with community safety, particularly school routes and pedestrian crossings. These are the sidewalks and pathways our seniors, students and residents with mobility challenges rely on every day. Twenty-two years ago, unsafe school routes for my sons called me to civic advocacy. Addressing that concern required sustained coordination with residents, municipal staff, elected officials and multiple levels of government. Within five years my efforts prioritized and saw through completion, the Burnside Road Streetscape improvement project. I know what it takes to move a safety concern from a kitchen-table conversation to a completed project, because I have done it.

My professional experience adds another perspective. I built a career in information technology and management consulting across North America, including municipal and provincial governments. As a Director of Local Government, I led modernization initiatives involving municipal finance, land-use planning, permitting, licensing and asset management.

That experience taught me how interconnected municipal operations are and how important it is to establish priorities, coordinate across departments and agencies, manage project delivery, measure results and make responsible use of public funds. I understand the mechanisms required to turn transportation policy into results.

Before Saanich commits to the next big-ticket project, Council needs to understand the condition and capacity of our existing transportation network and establish clear priorities, with safety for our most vulnerable residents first. Major arteries continue to congest while funding is allocated to projects with confined scope and little democratic engagement. Our streets aren't just lines on a map. They're how people move through Saanich every day.

My approach is straightforward: protect people, get the fundamentals right, prioritize what matters most and make sure public investment delivers results.

Prioritizing safety. Expanding efficiency. Delivering results.