My parents instilled in me the belief that being able to vote is a privilege; a responsibility; something to be taken seriously. This was the start of my interest in politics. As an adult, this interest first took the form of reading about current events in Provincial and Federal politics from the view of a concerned citizen. I didn’t have any desire to get involved directly in any form of politics until I started to look at what happens at the Municipal level. Early in 2011, with the support of some friends and my family, I decided that I could make a positive contribution to our city as a City Councilor and that I would seek a seat on council in the November election in Prince George.
Leading up to the election I spent a lot of time reading about how to run a successful campaign and talking to people who are involved in many areas of our community. I knew that I was going to be starting as an underdog but I also knew that with the support of my family we could run a strong campaign: a win was possible.
October and November were probably the busiest two months of my life as my family, friends and I put everything we had into running the best campaign possible.
On election night we gathered with a group of supporters to watch the results come in. After a wait that seemed like forever, CKPG News finally got some results to report. The leader board put me in eighth place, meaning a seat on council. It was a mistake, however, and I ended up in ninth place, 521 votes short of a council seat.
While it’s disappointing to invest so much time, energy and money into something and not quite make it, running for office was still a great experience. There are so many great people in Prince George and I’m glad I had the opportunity to meet a few more of them. I look forward to working with many of them in our various roles as we each do our part to make Prince George great. Thank you to the 5117 people who put their trust in me by selecting my name when there were so many great candidates on the ballot!
Will I run again? I’ll be watching what happens in the city over the next couple of years and I’ll have to go through the same decision process again before the election in October 2014.
The video below is my candidacy announcement.