Three local Victoria school kids were sworn in as honorary mayors of Victoria for a day.
After winning a City-wide colouring contest last October, Their Worships Olivia Xie, Brayden Chin, and Norah McTavish were sworn inside City Hall, Friday.
The three got a firsthand look at municipal politics and learned about the various duties of Mayor and Council.
“I think everyone should run for mayor because everyone should at least get this opportunity, cause it’s really fun to learn off of this,” said Norah.
Victoria’s newest leaders took a tour of the Fire Hall, got to wind the historic clock, raise and lower the Johnson Street Bridge, and eat a pizza lunch with Mayor Alto.
The kids were given goodie bags, buttons, and an honorary plaque.
From cleaner school bathrooms to affordable housing — and taxes, the new mayors were ready to make changes on their only day of duty.
“I would make it be one more day of the week to be weekend, so it’d be five days a week, but then three days of weekends,” said Norah.
“Maybe building more properties that unhoused people can have shelter and food,” said Brayden.
The kids admitted that being a mayor was difficult and were surprised at the number of meetings, interviews, and time spent talking to people.
“You have to be thinking ahead of everyone else cause there’s a lot of things happening in one day,” Brayden.
Mayor Alto will resume her leadership duties at the end of the day and says if she had the chance she’d vote for any one of them as mayor.
“I can honestly say that they’ve approached their job with enthusiasm, with an open mind, lots of fun, and I would vote for any one of them,” said Alto.
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Oli Herrera
