Nick Greer on Facebook Instead of focusing on core city business, the current Council has focused on 'woke' vanity issues: 'donut economics', declaring climate emergencies, and building bike lanes to nowhere.
The core city business has been forgotten: safety, roads, and keeping cost of living low.
This is a page from the 2022 BC Local General Elections.
Nick Greer
Independent for Nanaimo Council
Biography
submitted by the candidate or their team
Nick is a downtown Nanaimo business owner, Solicitor, Chartered Mediator, Arbitrator, and former Chair of Destination-Nanaimo.
Nick runs the Collaborative Law and Mediation Centre in downtown Nanaimo, where he has helped thousands of locals resolve legal and personal issues.
Nick began working as a lawyer in 2002, initially in South Australia, before marrying a local and transferring to British Columbia.
Prior to moving to Nanaimo, Nick was a City Councillor in Australia and co-led the successful renewal of the neglected city centre of Blackwood, South Australia. While on Council: Championed the Blackwood Activity Centre and renewal project, being the first Councillor to move for and obtain plans for a new city hub on its final determined site. Nick focused heavily on reducing waste and keeping Council rates as low as possible, and appeared regularly in local media in his campaign against excessive rate rises that for some businesses exceeded 32%. Nick proposed and succeeded in pushing through caps on Council staffing levels. When Nick joined Council, staffing expenditure had doubled (on a cash basis) in approximately 5 years – far in excess of inflation. With this major Council expense (around 40% of total expenditure) under control, tax increases for residents also significantly reduced. Nick also spearheaded a Council efficiency audit which saved hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. That Council is now implementing service reviews when staff leave – meaning that Council does not keep filling and paying for positions that are no longer required. Nick put checks in place at Council to stop blowouts in Council’s legal expenditure, following complaints of tens of thousands being spent on unnecessary legal action. Nick also arranged a campaign to have hundreds of Councillors in Australia pledge in writing to not support any rate rise above an averaged inflation rate. After relocating to Canada, Nick, then as Chair of Destination Nanaimo, lobbied Council and prospective Councillors heavily in the 2018 Nanaimo elections on their positions regarding renewal of downtown Nanaimo, and then continued lobbying and providing professional input through the Reimagine Nanaimo consultation process.
Nick has served on several boards on a volunteer basis assisting with homelessness and drug addiction services, including Teen Challenge.
Nick has an interest in technology law matters, has worked as sysop of a university computer system and has worked as counsel in cryptocurrency litigation and dispute resolution.
In his spare time, Nick follows politics and enjoys the outdoors and volunteers significantly for his children’s school in Nanaimo.
Reason for running
submitted by the candidate or their team
Instead of focusing on core city business, the current Council has focused on 'woke' vanity issues: 'donut economics', declaring climate emergencies, and building bike lanes to nowhere.
The core city business has been forgotten: keeping our city safe, roads working, and taxes and cost of living low.
As a downtown business owner, I see crime out of control. Statistics Canada figures released in August show a massive 44% increase in violent crime severity in Nanaimo (146.0 on the index scale from 101.4 in 2020). Sending social workers to try to resolve serious crime issues is not a solution - properly funding and actually supporting RCMP is the solution.
Second, I have previously been a Councillor in Australia where I led renewal of a downtown area not unlike Nanaimo, by partnering with business. I have a vision for the safe, vibrant and exciting downtown that we need.
The City is run incredibly inefficiently. As a result, Nanaimo's sky-high tax rates are hurting business and families struggling to make ends meet.
Tax take increased by a massive $18M between 2018 and 2021 during the term of this Council, much of it to fund vanity projects and yet more middle management positions in the City. I'll place caps on new staff increases, and will set up efficiency audits at the City to keep taxes manageable.
Residents are sick of the City wasting vast amounts of time and money on 'woke' projects that do little good for the community.
I'll focus on the core City business of community safety, roads, renewal of the downtown core, and keeping taxes and cost of living low.
nick4nanaimo.ca www.nick4nanaimo.ca