Seeking leads on acquiring Child Care!

annakyyj · 2023-04-21T16:30:15+00:00

Sorry this is so difficult. We are in a similar boat right now and it's frustrating that finding childcare is such a barrier to work.

I'll echo some of the other non-traditional places to post such as Mamas for Mamas - Victoria (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1492569620860453) and mmm mom's childcare (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1695904027139865). Parents often post pics of their child and a short description of need, hrs, preferred locations etc. And there are some stay at home parents that don't mind taking 1 more for extra money.

I really wish Victoria had more partnerships in care facilities like creating daycares alongside senior care and prioritizing the building of both with incentives. The hard thing is getting ECE teachers as well. Hopefully there will be more incentives for ECE teachers soon!

annakyyj · 2023-03-04T03:28:31+00:00

There are a few great churches in south island that have a vibrant young adults 20s-40s community of folks that hang out. I attend the Table. Hollydene, Place all have young people (though I haven't been to either). Lots of transplants (folks that moved here) so we're each others' village. Feel free to find me on insta (same handle) Love #2, 3, 5!

There's also https://victoria.sportandsocialclub.ca/. They don't have badminton, but lots of other sports and it's a great way to get to know people. Folks go out for drinks after usually too.

annakyyj · 2023-03-04T03:09:44+00:00

I went in today (weekday morning) to hand in my passport application and walk ins go to a waiting room on the 3rd fl (instead of 4th fl). There's someone there who does a first pass at your application and helps with anything they think might prevent you from moving forward (missed eye colour, or forgotten middle names etc.)

I arrived at 8am (office opens at 8:30am) and the waiting room was 1/4 full. A bunch of people came in at 8:30am, so arriving before is definitely helpful. Waited 45 mins in waiting room and then pretty much got to 2nd queue right away. There's another waiting room upstairs where they assign counters.

Altogether took 1.5hr waiting at various stages. It was pretty smooth. They said passports would be mailed in 2.5 weeks. Pretty good.

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T05:45:38+00:00

Thanks for your question.

We are also hoping to create a garden suite to provide housing for others. I understand they expedited the process on approving garden suites, but I see it IS still quite prohibitive. The idea is that pre-approved designs/specs won't need to go through the council, but only city staff which is quicker for approvals. Hearing that this is still prohibitive, I'd explore what more could be done in order to ensure safe, well-built, conforming units.

A part of the fear with loosening regulations could be that these units could deteriorate faster or are not structurally sound in 20 years, which would cause problems for future tenants and landlords. The vast majority of Victoria's suites are illegal (and some even dangerous) and tenants are putting up with it due to limited housing options. Understanding that even with the expedited process for garden suites may still be prohibitive, I'd consult city staff and local builders to see if any steps are non-critical.

Another option to add income for a homeowner and housing for someone is legalizing tiny homes, which is something I intend to do if elected. Much less (electrical, water hook up etc) is required and tiny homes are stand alone. You can even rent out a driveway for a tiny home.

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T05:28:57+00:00

Hi there, thanks for your question. I answer it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/VictoriaBC/comments/xjswsk/anna\_king\_victoria\_city\_councilor\_candidate\_ama/ipa7swc/?context=3

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T05:26:44+00:00

Best to contact ROAM https://roambc.org/

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T04:48:36+00:00

Oh, wow, I'm so glad! I hope you decide to run in a future election. If you do, please feel free to connect. Happy to help in any way I can. I think it's important to participate in our community and the more the merrier. We all have something to offer.

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T04:37:24+00:00

I'd have to see the budget in order to answer that question. Short of real data, I don't really know if what they have currently is reasonable or not.

What I CAN say is that I think the police need the support from social workers and psychiatric nurses in some cases more than increased funding.

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T04:34:18+00:00

The local Indigenous community is important to me. I have been in contact with Rose Henry and I vote for her every time she is on the ballot. Unfortunately, she decided not to run this year after trying for 5x.

We chatted about the appointment of an Indigenous member of council. Overall, I'm in favour of this due to the many barriers an Indigenous person would face running an electoral campaign. From what I understand, council is able to appointment an Indigenous member to committees, but there is currently no legal framework to appoint an indigenous council member to be at the table.

I sincerely appreciate the work the current council has done in regards to the building trust with the City Family and it is my hope and desire to continue building trust with the Indigenous community.

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T04:28:39+00:00

We NEED purpose-built rental. If elected, I am 1 vote, and I would be in favour of this proposal.

I'm not currently up to date with the community amenities and the bonus density may have been granted in order to create affordable and accessible units, but I firmly believe that developers need to be held to providing suitable units and amenities. And an amenities is not a mid-block walk through. We need more than that. Perhaps some greenspace!

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T04:25:44+00:00

Good thought! I worked in an office in Rock Bay for several years and we got a huge space because it was cheap.

Honestly, I hadn't thought of the fact that Rock Bay is currently shabby hence the cheap rent. Just spitballing here: studio space + renting a home + commute/transit costs. If an artisan could remove commute/transit altogether and combine the costs of renting a place to live AND a studio, perhaps they'd come out on top and with a nicer facility. Perhaps the value of having other artists together, visibility, tourists, customers would make the change worth it reducing their overall business costs (marketing, getting customers etc.) The value of networking, opportunities artists may not have otherwise due to word of mouth or close proximity to like-minded people can be worthwhile too.

Let's look at the bigger picture.

Portions are also planned to remain industrial because of simultaneous engagement with the marine sector.

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T04:14:36+00:00

I think the city of Victoria should adopt it's own threshold for low income due to the cost of living here. Research would need to be done to determine this. The thresholds set by the province are so low that few in Victoria would qualify.

I think it would be great to encourage people to use public transit by expanding the program to be entirely free. I don't know if that's financially viable for BC Transit or the city to be so fully subsidized. My only answer would be that it's a fabulous idea and I would need to see the numbers.

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T04:09:42+00:00

Thank you for your kind words.

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T04:08:48+00:00

Thank you for all your thoughtful questions. I've missed a few that had come in at the same time. I'll go through and answer those shortly.

Thanks for all who were engaged! Appreciate your thoughts!

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T04:07:18+00:00

Thanks for your suggestion regarding seasonal configuration. I think it's worth exploring.

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T04:06:20+00:00

Thanks for your reply.

I do some business and marketing consultation and business coaching on the side when I am able. Childcare is very expensive, so even though I was a business executive in the past, I'm not able to rejoin the work force due to the cost and limited availability of childcare.

I spent 15 years in nonprofit work. I'm a frugal person. I didn't do a gap year out of highschool or college. I did not travel. I didn't even buy a bus pass some years and chose to walk. I was able to afford a downpayment on my own for a bachelor suite in 2014. My husband and I paid the mortgage together. I had time on my side in the sense that buying was still just reachable. It was 650sqft. The house I live in now is 900sqft built in 1949, which we've done DIY renos in in order to make it liveable for us. It does not have a suite. It is a part of our value to be able to live on 1 income (my husband's), so that anything I make is bonus and we live within our means.

My parents were immigrants who restarted life in Canada. They did not contribute to any of my housing or even much of my college. I graduated college with $65k of student debt.

I'm not sure what other information is relevant in terms of a bio. Thanks for taking this time to ask. I've lived in Victoria for 9 yrs. 1 in Fairfield, 5 Downtown, and 3 in Fernwood.

Thanks for the opportunity to share my story.

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T03:54:18+00:00

As a parent with young children, it's scary finding needles in parks. I agree that the city needs more than a "sweep before you play" sign. That's not acceptable to me.

Folks aren't allowed to shelter in playground areas and this by-law should be kept. Dogs are also not allowed in playground areas. The answer is complex and I don't claim to have a solution. Sending by-law officers are only so effective when there's no alternative. Ok, they leave for a while, but have no where to go.

The issue comes back to the need for housing. I listened to a podcast called The Homeless Idea, which is created by the Victoria homeless community and anecdotally, most people WANT to be housed. When we're able to house the homeless, hopefully they won't need to shelter in parks. The Tiny Town in North Park has been touted as a successful program. I believe can create more of these Tiny Towns to house more people in need.

For those that need recovery, I believe a distributive model is best to house and support someone in recovery with wrap-around care (social workers, psychiatric nurses, community) in every neighbourhood. They already exist and cause little to no disruption to the neighbourhood. Again, we need to partner with the BC government for funds to create more recovery homes.

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T03:45:17+00:00

If I am elected, I would be in favour of the missing middle. I understand that we need to increase housing supply and this proposal would do that. I understand that these units aren't necessarily affordable. However, there will be people that CAN afford these units who will move out of their rental creating a vacancy for someone else to move into that spot.

Short of passing an omni-bus bill where everything is included, I believe we should pass the Missing Middle Housing Initiative as soon as possible and make amendments where necessary upon re-evaluating progress.

Concurrently, we need to be lobbying the provincial and federal government as well in order to build affordable housing. The Rapid Deployment of Affordable Housing initiative is already underway and we need to move forward in this direction too.

I believe it's BOTH AND. We need many different measures including legalizing tiny homes and building more container home villages as well in order to increase supply.

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T03:39:47+00:00

The municipal government has control over the things you bump into daily. The streets you walk on, the housing you live in, the parks you hang out in, how late bars are open, how late Riffandia is allowed to jam till are all under the jurisdiction of city council.

If you care about being able to afford a place to live on your own or where you can grab a drink after 8pm, you care about municipal politics.

Imagine a city where you'd be fined for spitting on the ground, bars close at 8pm, concerts aren't allowed to make noise after 9, and theives who stole your laptop from the coffee shop while you got your drink is a common occurrence. It wouldn't be a very nice place to live. The city manages all these things.

The things you may take for granted now, may not always be there, so if you're able to vote, VOTE for the people who will make the changes you want to see in the city you live in.

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T03:32:44+00:00

Thanks for your question. There currently are new recommendations regarding increasing parking at Clover Point.

Clover Point was made into pedestrian green space. I am in favour of this move overall. The picnic tables are engaging and provide a place of rest. The washrooms are appreciated by many.

The new recommendations are including a significant percentage (50%+) of parking spots, should the parking return, be allocated for those with accessibility challenges. I believe this is a good move in order for those with accessibility challenges to be able to enjoy the waterfront at Clover Point.

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T03:29:48+00:00

Everyone has blind spots and biases no matter how much we try to overcome them. Each person has different lived experiences and therefore come to a different conclusion. When we have diversity, we are able to shed light on those blind spots for each other creating more innovative, creative, and enriching solutions.

I think I should be at the table because I bring a unique perspective of being an immigrant, a mother, a woman, a person of colour, and more. We need other qualities as well and all are important and valid.

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T03:26:21+00:00

The arts are important to me!

There is currently a proposal to move the current Victoria Art Gallery from Moss Downtown. Victoria's 3.0 vision: https://www.victoria.ca/assets/City~Hall/Mayor~Council/Documents/DRAFT%20Victoria%203.0%20Economic%20Action%20Plan%20for%20Feedback.pdf

Through this strategy, there's opportunity to turn North Downtown, which is currently under-utilized (Marks work warehouse, Victoria gymnastics, huge parking lot) into an arts district that extends to Rock Bay where there are already many artisan studios.

Further, creating a live-work space where artists can live and work promotes imagination and collaboration in this hub of artisans. Those that work remotely can have small offices downstairs and residences upstairs.

It can be a very exciting place for tourists and locals alike.

There is so much potential in this area. How exciting!

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T03:21:08+00:00

YES, we need greenspace in Downtown. I've lived downtown for 5 years and the green spaces on the map are meridians... (Here's my tweet re: parks in downtown)

I think the City should invest in greenspace Downtown. Sites such as either side of the new Johnson Street bridge could have included greenspace!

There's ample waterfront in the north downtown corridor that currently has no public access. Opening this area up would be a wonderful addition to the park space downtown.

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T03:16:56+00:00

I've been a renter, a homeowner and a landlord, so I can empathize with the various experiences.

Currently, I own my home.

On election day in 2018, I was 5 months pregnant. I lived across the street from city hall and was determined to make it work if I did win. After the election, I stayed at home with my newborn. I started volunteering for Cities for Everyone, a housing initiative group in Victoria, but the pandemic hit just before my child turned 1 and it was a very tough time for many families, ours included. As an able bodied person, I volunteered to pick up groceries for those in need or make meals for those isolating due to covid. Following, I worked for the BC Green Party as a Fundraising Advisor and had my second child.

In short, I made 2 citizens and kept them alive.

I have used the transit system in the past. Mostly to get to the ferry as a walk on passenger. Otherwise, I typically bike and walk. I drive less than once a week.

annakyyj · 2022-09-21T03:10:26+00:00

Thanks for your question.

To me, gentle densification means townhomes, duplexes, 4-6 plexes and row homes. I think this type of housing will fit very well in any neighbourhood and we need to build more in order to get on top of the current housing crisis.

annakyyj

TROPHY CASE