An independent examination of Stew Young’s mayoral record.
This site was created to shine a light on Stew Young’s track record. We acknowledge his role in growing Langford into the city it is today. We do not believe he is fit to lead its current phase of growth or its future.
We are not political candidates or part of an election campaign. We are concerned citizens who see a worrying rewriting of history. The articles link council minutes, staff reports, financial statements and reporting so readers can examine the evidence behind the argument.
Have a correction or additional records? Email hello@stewyoungmayor.ca with the article, the details and supporting documents or links.
Growth became an excuse for everything else.
Young’s reputation rests on rapid development, new amenities, and low taxes. Those achievements have dominated the story of his time as mayor. The liabilities, failures, and treatment of people who challenged him have received far less attention.
We made this site because residents deserve to understand the whole record. The city he built came with obligations that outlasted him, infrastructure that failed to keep pace, and decisions whose costs became clear after he left office.
Taxpayers inherited the consequences.
The YMCA deal guaranteed a lease on a building the City did not own. Under Young’s leadership, the City went years without the operating reports its agreement required. When the operator reported more than $10 million in losses, residents faced a demand for more public funding.
His council bought waterfront land for public access. By June 2026, spending across two administrations had reached $6.19 million. The City now says the property should not become a park. Closed, catered council retreats had gone ahead there in the year it was bought.
His low-tax budgets relied on growing reserve subsidies to pay ongoing service costs. The next council inherited the funding gap and residents paid the adjustment. Keeping the tax increase low while spending reserves did not make running the city cheaper.
Development moved faster than planning.
Young had 29 years to lead Langford. He left without delivering a transportation master plan. Missing sidewalk connections and a fragmented cycling network became work for the council that followed. Promoting growth without delivering the connected infrastructure people need is a failure of leadership.
The same governing model gave developers access to budget-priority retreats, while residents struggled to have their objections change the direction. From the South Langford forest proposal to the Speedway rezoning, development kept moving despite serious public concerns.
Danbrook One exposes the consequences of failed building-safety assurances. The City issued occupancy permits in 2019 and 2022 while Young was mayor. Both were later revoked over structural concerns. Residents were displaced twice, and the owner now expects to dismantle the tower.
Core services also fell behind. The staffing model failed to deliver promised round-the-clock coverage in South Langford. The next council funded 27 additional career firefighters, and Station 2 reached full 24/7 staffing in 2025. A growing city needs core services that keep pace.
The way he treated people matters.
Young opposed adopting a council code of conduct before his final term ended. Two long-serving councillors said they felt bullied by him; he denied bullying. Reports of his response to dissent describe a mayor blaming and talking over colleagues who challenged him.
A mayor’s legacy includes how he exercises power, how he handles disagreement, and whether residents can challenge his decisions without being treated as the problem. Toxic conduct damages the city’s government just as poor deals damage its finances.
A legacy does not erase responsibility.
These decisions are too often remembered separately, or buried beneath the story of Langford’s growth. Together, they show a pattern: private interests given access, public concerns brushed aside, long-term planning neglected, and costs left for residents to absorb.
This site puts that pattern in one place. Each story names the decisions, explains the consequences, and links the records behind them. Young’s achievements do not excuse the mess he left behind.