How exciting to have been through my first forum, as a candidate, and to have such great responses from people about my speech and platform.
There was a pretty good turnout, although I had hoped there would be standing room only. Maybe a bit optimistic, but with around 275+ people, it was a pretty good turnout.
I was impressed with the thought that had gone into many of the speeches (5 minutes for mayoralty candidates and 3 minutes for the councillor candidates). Unfortunately, some gratuitously nasty comments by the current mayor seriously detracted from the evening for me.
There seemed to be some continuity among candidates in the desire to see more planning and public consultation, although SAYING you want it and actually getting it done are two different things. Public engagement is an important part of my vision for identifying future direction and I'm committed to doing my best to getting it done, whether or not I'm elected.
There were a number of thought-provoking questions during the Q&A and many people stayed afterwards to talk to candidates and others. I had a chance to speak with many people, including some I didn't already know, so that was a rewarding part of the evening.
Onward to Monday's vote!
1 comment:
How impressed I was with your presentations and thoughtful responses, Leslie. I especially appreciated your response to my question about a vision for our community. Clairty of vision is not only essential to development of any plan but criitcal to daily operations. I've not seen evidence of vision or planning, nor in the 10 years I've been a TPR citizen, have I been invited to participate in the creation of such vision. I suspect a clear shared vision of the kind of community we want to be would aid greatly in economic development, in housing and anti-poverty initiatives and to address larger questions like, "do we support nuclear power".
The Forum was a great turnout (I've seen years with 25 or so people, most of them organizers. Like you, I was disappointed by the mudslinging and temper tantrums of our current mayor. The responses of incumbents like Neil Martin's snide remark to Micheline Danberger and Gordon Troup's refusal to answer a simple question on cultural activity also helped shape my election day decisions.
Most disappointing however was the overall sense of fracture and distance between the elected and the electorate. Imbedded in the statements incumbent councilors was a massive message of elitism and corporatism when the clear message I hear from the community is for a return to a more populist and egalitarian approach. Over the last nine years our town leaders have moved from relative transparency to almost total opacity. True public engagement left town long before that even. I'm hopeful for a slate of new councilors - echoing Jim Bunn's sentiment's in his letter to the editor in the RG last week.
Just to let you know that you have my vote and support Leslie...you, Berry Heinen, Wanda Laurin and Jim Hancock.
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