Election Wrap Up - three more days to get your vote in!

When you first start running for office, you get a lot of advice. The biggest one? Don’t make promises you won’t be able to keep.

I have kept this in the back of my mind for the last 4 months and tried to move my campaign forward rooted in how to best represent what the community needs and what people have told me they have seen lacking in recent years for council.

It is with these things in mind I bring you a short list of what I can promise if elected to council.

1) Increased communication and transparency from elected representatives - I pledge to keep a regular newsletter for local residents both in ward 2 and the county at large with council updates as well as hosting monthly round tables in various neighbourhoods throughout ward 2. I will work with whoever the second council seat is to encourage them to join and be part of these discussions.

2) The Macaulay Village Community Safety Plan and re-instating a community hub.

This project first came across my radar months before I submitted my campaign papers. I caught an interview with Hri Neil from the Department of Illumination and Christine Durant from PELC about a joint idea they were working on to bring a hub to this often overlooked and under serviced community in Ward 2.

The plan - to create a year round indoor space that would function as a satellite office for both organizations as well as many others around the county who provide community supports.

I was disheartened to hear this plan has not moved forward as quickly as should be, given that much of the leg work and funding seeking has been done already and the absolute need for it in a community where our largest population of folks under 18 live.

I am especially supportive of it not just because of its need but because when it comes to community self advocacy MV has been doing it on their own for so long - working hard to get basics like safe sidewalks and lights, things so many people take as a given but have not been for the residents there.

If I am to accomplish one concrete task inside the first 12 months, I cannot think of a project that is more important or essential with the same wide spread impact as returning a community hub to this neighbourhood.

Working to bring this project to fruition is top of my list of plans to support residents first and foremost. It is long overdue for this need to be filled.

3) Sustainable economic growth via community collaboration and partnerships. This is something I have made central to much of my campaign so I’ll keep it brief.

We have some absolutely power house industries and entrepreneurial spirit in Prince Edward County - agriculture, food production, the arts and small businesses are alive and thriving in PEC and have so much potential for expansion and growth into year round employment opportunities. We should be working with, not against them, when discussions about how to increase meaningful and year round employment. Whether if be through creating greater efficiencies in our planning and zoning department so folks can get their businesses up and running smoother, providing seed money via programs like the MAT and the Municipal Grants Fund from The County Foundation or expanding things like PELC’s Inspire program to get local youth into apprenticeship and post-secondary programs for trades like construction and child care, we have practical options available at the municipal level to help our economic expansion.

As we head into the final days, I will be concentrating on visiting as many of the last houses on my voters list as possible so I will end it here with some thank you’s and final thoughts.

This has truly been one of the most rewarding and challenging experiences of my life. Running for office and all it entails - knocking on doors, handing out flyers, attending events, writing social media posts and building a website - while working full time, raising my two children solo and continuing to plan events and projects with The Radiator Collective has been no small task.

I want to thank my mom and my immense village who have stepped up with extra dinners and hanging out and caring for my kids when I have needed to be at evening events and my employer Lesley from Rosehaven Yarns, for her endless support and confidence behind my campaign. The people who I’ve reached out to for research that have been so generous with their time, knowledge and willingness to meet me for all those 8:30 coffee meetings squeezed in between school drop off and work. The community members who’ve taken time at their door to share their concerns and ideas. The Gazette not just for their recent endorsement but for placing their trust across the entire field in so many of the new faces, younger candidates and women running.

It has been an incredible journey and I have learned so much more about the county for the better as a result.

We’ve got just a few more days to cast a vote for the future of The County, let’s get those numbers up into the 60-70% range!

And lastly, if you have chosen to vote for me I cannot thank you enough for the trust and confidence you’ve placed in me.

When I moved home in 2021 mid pandemic, I returned to The County that still had so many of the same issues that were the reason I left for university in the first place. I have spent every year since working diligently to create a better future here not just for my own children but for all the young kids, families and residents who call The County home and look forward to continuing that work long into the future. 🌸❤️