I’ve been anxious because Facebook is full of MAGA supporters, oops, I mean Stew supporters while Reddit is full of the other side. Here’s my list of reasons:

1) Almost all the ongoing issues, especially traffic congestion, were caused by overdevelopment.
The promise of lower property taxes was illusory, as the savings were offset by overdevelopment. We should have had slight tax increases year by year as the community grew.

2) Stew gave an awful concession speech when he lost “unexpectedly,” blaming Langford citizens. I’ll never forgive him for that. It definitely showed his true colours.

3) There’s a rumour that Stew would consider building an AI data centre. I asked him to confirm whether this was true, but he never responded.
I was removed from a Langford Facebook group when I challenged him or his fellow candidates with respectful comments.

4) Facebook groups are full of his supporters who act like the MAGA supporters we laugh at. Every time someone posts a comment or asks a question using publicly available data to challenge his proposals, his supporters call it “lies” or “full of false information.” Their reactions resemble those of Trump supporters.

5) Stew’s major election donors are developers with deep pockets who make large donations. Scott’s donations, on the other hand, mainly came from individuals making smaller contributions. Guess who stands to benefit the most when Stew gets elected? It makes you wonder whether backroom handshake deals have already been made. This raises concerns about fair and transparent procurement.

6) Four years wasn’t enough time for a new mayor to take over after someone had been in power for 30 years. If you’ve ever had a job, you understand that it can take time to learn the ropes, especially when the new council has uncovered so many questionable things. We should give Scott a chance to serve one more term and then reassess his performance.

Stew may have been the right person for Langford back in the day, but it’s time to slow down and do things more ethically and sustainably.

I hope we won’t go backwards.

A narrative that’s been making the rounds in the community is that property tax increases have flowed through to tenants’ rents to the point of making life unaffordable.

I know a renter whose monthly rent has gone up enough to make a difference to them, with the landlord blaming council and property taxes for the increase. But how much of that claim stands up when you look at the numbers?

I think the narrative is misleading for at least two reasons.

The first is that close to half of the property tax bill on any property comes from decisions not under Langford’s control.

Items like School, CRD, Transit, Library and Hospital are made by other bodies and added onto the bill that a homeowner or landlord pays.

A total increase of around $1,500 on a detached family home’s property tax bill would not be particularly unusual for these four years. But when you isolate the portion attributable to municipal taxes that Langford council controls, the increase is closer to $900 over four years or closer to $225 per year.

For a more modest apartment, the figures could be lower, although the actual amount would depend on the property and how its tax costs are allocated.

These are illustrative figures rather than a calculation for every property. To get an exact comparison you would need to look at the specific property, its assessments and the tax rates in each year.

The second are the cost pressures on many landlords that far exceed property tax.

My own home insurance has increased by more than $1,200 over the past four years. That increase alone is greater than the increase in the municipal portion of my property tax bill over the same period.

Then there are mortgages. Someone who took out a mortgage in 2020 at a particularly low rate and renewed in 2025 could face hundreds of dollars more in monthly payments, depending on their outstanding balance, amortization and renewal rate. For some borrowers, the increase could reach $500-$1,000 per month.

If a landlord is imposing the maximum allowable annual increase and attributing it specifically to Langford council’s property tax decisions, I think it is fair to ask for a little more explanation.

Housing affordability is a serious issue. But if we want to have an honest discussion about it, we need to distinguish between municipal taxes, the other costs of owning a rental property, and the actual reasons a tenant’s rent has increased.

Anyone want to make any predictions on what’s gonna happen this weekend? Based on social media activity, I unfortunately think that current council is going to get blown out of the water… I really want to be wrong. I just think the majority of folks won’t dig into the reasons behind the property tax increase. I like the current mayor and council, and I think that they did the “right” things, but I think it was political suicide to raise the taxes the way they did. Personally, that’s another check box for me as I don’t want elected officials to be making decisions based on what is politically advantageous… but I really don’t think the voting majority agrees.

Are there any other indicators that would make a different conclusion? Advanced voting last night was busier than I’ve ever seen, which usually indicates a lot of people with really strong feelings about something…

We have officially released our second interview of the Talk Tales series based in Victoria, BC. Split Sphere, featuring Prevail & Moka Only of Swollen Members fame, sit down with Sean Flynch Behnsen (Me) for a deep dive into their roots, accompanied by custom mocktails created by our Mixologist, Mike Higgins.
This ended up being one of my favourite interviews I’ve conducted to date. It had such a great flow to it and a real genuine vibe. Thanks to our crew for their time and skill to make this a reality. Shoutout to Ishkan for helping with my research, and adding a little shock and awe to the interview. And finally, thanks to Prev and Moke for being a part of this. Split Sphere has been absolute fire since hitting the scene, and I’m here with a marshmallow on a roasting stick.
Click the link to check out this piece of Canadian Hip Hop history, and if you enjoy our videos, Like, Subscribe, and Share! Thanks for your support!

Sean

I do most stuff myself. Id like to find a reliable mechanic for the big stuff… any recommendations? Not dodge. Not can tire. Preferably someone back yard or private.

Does anyone else take Atkins down towards island highway pass the train tracks and bike paths and notice there have been a lot of drivers going pass the center line? I drive down and up atkins everyday and on a daily basis there are cars passing the center line that separates traffic. Like what in the world? And they are speeding down, like there are kids and also many cyclist paths!!!