Bio
Meagan Brame, 45, is running for re-election to Esquimalt Council because she is committed to the community and believes that Esquimalt truly is the best place to live in all of Greater Victoria and wants to continue doing her part to make sure it stays that way.
She has been involved in Esquimalt for more than two decades and owns and operates a licensed group child care facility in the community with her husband Steve and has raised two great sons in Esquimalt.
Her proudest accomplishments on council are the “Youth Engagement Policy” which allows young people to sit as full members on a number of Council Committees. The work the council has done with regards to the sewage treatment issue, our residents spoke and we listened.
Why should I vote for you?
Why vote for me? I am approachable and listen – If I don’t have the answers, I will help you find them. I am a voice for you, the residents and businesses of Esquimalt. I have a strong community spirit that shows through and during the past two terms, my council decisions were always made in a thoughtful, mature, transparent and trust-worthy manner; I worked together with my colleagues, promoting collaboration and team work, both within council and with the residents and businesses in our exceptional community. I am very proud of the work I have done, along with the rest of council, over the past six years; but we still have much more to do. Esquimalt is in the midst of some major changes and I want to be a part of that, your voice on council. I believe that my experience and dedication will serve the community well.
Your main goal if elected?
Economic development for our community is huge. We need to diversify our business. We have a lot going for us, and we need to promote those opportunities.
Esquimalt has free parking, commercial vacancies, a community that likes to shop local, and one of the largest employers in the entire Region. With all the positives, why are we not getting the businesses? One of the issues I hear is that Esquimalt Rd is not very attractive. So, how do we fix that? This past term the council has worked hard with various stakeholders to develop an Economic Development Plan. We are about to move to the implementation stage of that plan and through the plan, council has asked staff to develop a tax incentive program for sections of Esquimalt Rd. This would likely be in the form of property tax reductions for properties where a certain amount of work is completed to improve the street scape of the business district. This has to be done carefully though, as the municipality would still need to collect that income in other ways. Esquimalt has held taxes at 0% for the past three years but we must be careful that we continue to support our infrastructure and to allow for the incentives to improve our “downtown”. A zero percent increase every year is not feasible if we want to accomplish our goals and try to maintain our services.
I hope that on November 15th I can count on your support to continue working for you as an Esquimalt Councillor. Look for Meagan Brame – Number 4 on your ballot.