Picton Gazette - The Slate & Values, Priorities and the end of the campaign
"Ward 2 - In Bloomfield/Hallowell, eight candidates are vying for two seats. The Radiator Collective’s Erynn Ahern and former urban planner Victor Lind are standouts. Ms. Ahern, a proponent of the affordable housing initiative at the former Queen Elizabeth school in Picton, is not afraid to say food insecurity might be more important than the roads, while Mr. Lind is already well known from his volunteer work, formerly with Save Picton Bay and now Stop Illegal Quarries PEC. Meanwhile, Bloomfield dairy farmer Kane Rutgers is a young family man, active in community clubs and sports, who promises to represent the County’s crucial farming sector, as well as the needs and dreams of younger families."
Thank you to the Gazette for the endorsement for one of the two seats at council this fall and their inclusion of my editorial along side it as well.
In a packed field it truly means a lot to be recognized for the hard work, commitment and ideas I have put forth over the last few months and years of prior community engagement.
When it came to looking at the issues facing Prince Edward County as I started my election campaign, I looked first to the residents I would be representing when choosing which issues to focus on.
This came through conversations at doors, an online survey I launched in mid August, meetings with small business owners and representatives from organizations like Visit The County and the Chamber.
Overwhelmingly what I heard was concerns about food insecurity, lack of attainable housing, and the rising cost of living - 70% of the people who responded to my community survey listed this as their top worry about life in PEC.
I spoke to families who worry about whether their kids will be able to stay in the communities they grew up in due to lack of year round employment and the increased financial hardships the next generation face.
I heard from small businesses who wish to expand, but struggle because our work force population grows smaller and they lack full time employees.
Residents who are stressed about our high water rates and our rising debt both of which are caused by the fact that we do not have a population large enough to sustain our infrastructure needs. This includes the 1100km+ of roads we struggle to maintain despite it being our single largest budget item each year.
All of these issues at the top of people’s minds come back to the same root problem - a lack of year round employment, our struggle to retain the youth that grow up and want to stay here but often cannot, while our outside growth rises and falls by almost the same number.
The expansion of our four season economy, working with and empowering the industries we have here first to expand into year round businesses via things like value added products and exports and e-commerce, supporting the organizations who actively catch the residents falling through the increasingly large gaps via direct support and training are my top priorities because this is the only real, sustainable path for the future of PEC.
To do this we must also contiune to advocate for increased support and funding from higher government levels to create housing that is affordable and attainable, a transit system that allows for better worker mobility and ensure the current youth population is supported and given a voice in shaping the future of PEC.
There has been a lot of talk this year about the need to cut and slash budgets. This is frankly short term thinking that will only cost us all more down the line, roads and water will still need to be addressed and fixed. If we fail to create a community where people can actually live and thrive year round, each and every one of us that stays will be paying a little more of our share for all of this.
As councillor I would bring solid background of hands on community and housing advocacy, a deep knowledge of the county’s seasonal economy I have actively played a role the expansion of already as an events organizer, and creative out of the box immediately solutions and ideas that work with our current demographics.
My connection to residents across all backgrounds via the daily conversations I have working in a front facing role have given me a strong appreciation and knowledge of the different needs of people who live here, and has helped me build successful partnerships and collaborations across varied industries as well. This willingness to listen to residents and collaborate is also something essential to the future of our next council, and is one of my greatest strengths as a community memeber.
If you chose to cast a vote for me this Monday, you will cast a vote for building a sustainable future with a councillor who knows first hand the struggles of county life for some many, while all the while actively choosing to love and build our community into something better.
And I will leave you with this - in recent weeks I have been asked several times - “what of you don’t win? What will you do with these ideas and plans?”
The answer to this is simply this - I will do them anyway via advocacy, activism, volunteer work and collaboration as I have already done for the last four years, because my dedication to Prince Edward County’s future does not end on Monday, October 26th 🌸❤️
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