Former Nelson, B.C. councillor shares stories from City Hall to persuade others to run

With B.C.'s municipal elections on the horizon this fall, a former city councillor in Nelson is sharing tales from her time in civic politics to encourage others to consider running.

Surviving City Hall is the title of Donna MacDonald's memoir, and after 19 years of serving her community, she's sharing her wisdom about the ins and outs of running and serving as a councillor.

"In retrospect, I can say the positives outweigh the negatives," MacDonald told On The Island's Gregor Craigie.

"If you can maintain your focus on what your values are and initiatives that you want to carry forward and stay with that focus, then you will survive."

But it's a job that never stops, she said, remembering trips to the grocery store that would end with complaints about stop signs, or parties where discussion would turn to the most recent comments made by the mayor.

"It's always in your face, and that's good in the sense that you get the feedback from the community, but on the other hand, sometimes you just want to run away," she said.

MacDonald's motivation for encouraging people to run for office is driven in part by the pride she feels in the projects she accomplished in office.

She said it's empowering and gratifying to create change in your community.

Although the pay isn't great and the hours long, building strong communities is important as bigger issues like climate change arise, she said.

"I just stress that you really can make a difference to your community… and we need to sometimes think about how we can step up and help to be part of the governance."

MacDonald spoke at the downtown branch of the Greater Victoria Public Library Tuesday night.

With files from On The Island