Part 1
I have mentioned that I am involved in politics and I was even elected school trustee from 2014 for a four year term. I decided not to run again for family reasons, but I gave it a go this past fall because I both missed it, and felt I had a lot to offer in this current divided socio political climate.
There were many things different from running in 2014 to last year, from the length of the election campaigns, to the polarizing issues that have parents inflamed.
In 2014, the local election cycle ran from the first week of January, until the October election. There was plenty of time to knock on doors, attend debates and community discussions, do radio interviews, and carefully formulate my messaging and issues of focus.
This time around, although the writ was dropped in the spring, it took until the final deadline to submit nomination papers mid-summer, for me to apply as a candidate in the election. It wasn’t because I didn’t know if I wanted to do the job again. I had not stopped following the issues, or being involved including applying for a trustee vacancy left early last year.
The reason it took me so long to find the courage to throw my hat in the ring, was that what I had to say was not popular among local progressive circles.
One of the issues that I had followed very closely, was the case of 4 local trustees being called racist and having their characters attacked all over social and mainstream media. Two of these individuals – whom I also consider friends – were my colleagues during my term in office. The other two I did not know but when the report by a third party first came out, I dug deep.
End Part 1