To all the fresh-faced candidates, and council veterans, who have filed their nomination papers to run in the October municipal election, we offer some very simple advice.
Walk, don’t run.
Your eagerness to put your name forward is commendable. And once you’ve filed, you can begin your fundraising, certainly.
But with a campaign period nearly as long as a season of Major League Baseball, the trail can be gruelling. Knocking on doors over the course of the summer in Chatham-Kent’s typical steam-bath-like conditions can take its toll.
We also encourage you to take part in any all-candidates debates or Q&As that crop up. It’s a great way to showcase your thoughts, personal beliefs, and what you believe you can contribute to help move this municipality forward.
Furthermore, we urge you to minimize your social media banter. While it appear to be a decent option to utilize to share your message, the social media algorithms tend to place your info within a like-minded circle, often showing up mostly for your friends, and not all of them.
What’s more, the trust value on social media is in the sewer, given the fact these platforms are rife with misinformation, fakes and outright lies.
When traditional media asks for comment, we suggest you take advantage of those offers, be it with our paper or other fine local media outlets. These are media operations trusted by thousands of readers and/or listeners; people across a broad spectrum of political beliefs.
On social media, you are basically preaching to the choir; with traditional media, you are at the pulpit of the masses.
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Some of the greatest stories we hear come from some of our community’s oldest souls. That was the case when reporter Pam Wright spoke with Marg Ramsden during celebrations of Marg’s 103rd birthday.
From coming into this world on the kitchen table at the family farmhouse in Saskatchewan to moving to Kent County during the Second World War, to work in support of the war effort, and on settling in our part of the country, Marg, had experienced a great deal.
Sadly, just a few days after celebrating her 103rd trip around the sun, Marg Ramsden passed away.
We are glad we were able to tell her story. The world is a little worse off without her.
