Each of the candidates running in the November 15 municipal election have written their own announcements
Bev Berger
I am very pleased to announce that I have decided to run for council for a third term. I feel honored that the people of Sooke have allowed me to represent them at the council table for the past six years.
Being a member of council is an exciting, challenging, and sometimes frustrating job, and I love it! I cannot think of a better way to give back to the very community that helped raise me.
Sooke is such a unique and diverse community, we have the most amazing volunteers and it has been a pleasure to be a part of fostering those relationships with our service groups throughout this past council.
The pride and dedication that I have for my hometown knows no boundaries, I truly hope I am given the opportunity to be a voice at the council table once again.
Ebony Logins
You may have heard the rumours. Well, they’re true. Ebony Logins is indeed running for a council position with the District of Sooke. A passionate champion for youth engagement in Sooke, she intends to promote intergenerational community development that makes youth and young families an integral and valued focus of municipal decision-making.
Born and raised in Sooke, Logins, 28, is a Community School Coordinator for the EMCS Society and also oversees the Sooke Youth Council. She would bring commitment, leadership skills and a positive example of the possibilities for the town’s next generation to council. She’s taken to heart the words of Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand, who recently said “our democracy needs young Canadians to be creative, to take action and make their voices heard.”
Over the summer Logins co-coordinated Sooke CHI’s Getting It Built: Community Centre Project for the District of Sooke. The black-belt martial artist volunteers for Special Olympics BC, the Sooke Martial Arts Association, and coaches the Junior Girls Basketball team at EMCS.
A major turning point in her life came when she was working for the Sooke Youth Council and Volunteer Victoria during the 2012 Youth Friendly Community Project. A group of 50 students were asked if they planned to leave Sooke after graduating.
“Every one of them raised their hand and my heart sunk,” she recalls. “But then we asked how many of them planned to return to Sooke one day and up went their hands again. I knew right then that working to develop a community capable of providing them and their families with sustainable, long-term futures was going to be a big part of my life and career.”
It’s a familiar pattern for Logins herself. After graduating from EMCS, she obtained a degree in Tourism and Recreation Management from Vancouver Island University, then traveled and moved around the province before being irresistibly drawn back home.
“It’s beautiful that a chunk of the population has grown up here, left to gain experience and education, then returned home,” she says. “People like me want to buy homes, raise families and work in the region. I represent a generation that cares deeply about Sooke and how it develops in the years ahead. I want to inspire more people to register, vote and be politically active.”
Also confirmed to be running are: David Shebib for mayor, Mark Whiteson and Justin Hanson for councillor.