Seventh in a series of profiles of Victoria’s eight mayoral candidates in the Nov. 15 municipal election

Steve Filipovic may be the third horse in what’s being cast as a two-horse race to be Victoria’s next mayor, but he’s running at his own stride and getting noticed.

Victoria native Filipovic, 42, runs a small business which builds fences, decks and does small renovations.

After years renting around the city, he and wife, Leah, bought a house in Vic West and had a baby girl in the past year.

He’s an environmental activist, helping to organize the annual Earth Walk for the past eight years. He’s also a member of the Green Party, though he’s not running under the party banner – he missed the nomination meeting to be at his daughter’s birth.

While this is his first time running for office, he has served on the city’s social advisory committee and chaired it for 18 months.

He threw his hat in the ring “to avoid the risk of allowing Victoria to continue on the path it’s on,” he says.

“We really need someone with the vision to change the direction we’ve been travelling. We’ve been suppressing the poor people of our community for far too long. We’re a very rich community and a very rich country – it’s ridiculous to have 1,500 homeless people on our streets.”

He claims affordable housing wouldn’t be an election issue if he hadn’t made it one. The city can and should throw more support and funding to housing non-profits and co-ops, Filipovic says.

While supportive housing is the ultimate answer, he would provide support for two or three tent cities as an emergency, a temporary fix to the lack of shelter space. He says the Dignity Village tent city in Portland, Ore. shows it can work.

“What you saw was the Cridge Park camp (in 2005) evolve without support from the city. We would have supports from the city in there; counsellors, street nurses.”

Climate change is another big issue for Filipovic and the city’s role is often underestimated, he adds, pointing to simple measures such as switching streetlights to LED bulbs – a move he says could reap big energy savings and ultimately pay for itself.

Better bus service and amenities for cycle commuters, including lock-up and shower facilities, could save car trips, he says. “Things that encourage people out of their cars are the path we should be on.”

Filipovic wants clear community plans developed by community associations - making sure to include renters - and accountability from council if it deviates from them. He would reject police budget increases for 60 more officers, a point he says differentiates him from front running mayoral candidates Rob Reid and Dean Fortin.

“I would spend that $6-million annual budget, which is what it would cost, for affordable housing and supportive housing,” Filipovic says.

kvass@vicnews.com