I never saw myself in the world of politics. The longer I lived here and the more my family and I laid roots and made greater connections to this valley and its people, the more my sense of belonging in, and passion for, Pemberton grew. Recognizing how special this community is to me and seeing that major change was inevitable presented an interesting opportunity that pushed me to get more involved. Eleven years ago, I decided I wanted to play an active role in this opportunity and I ran for council; three years later for Mayor. The work has proven to be fulfilling in more ways than I ever expected. The amount of learning has been and continues to be incredible, and the same can be said for the relationships I have developed. I feel privileged and grateful for the trust that has been put in me and I hope I have done a good job representing the diverse and changing needs of this community.
When it came time to decide whether or not to ask you for your support for a third term, I took some time to think about it. Through dialogue with my incredibly supportive partner and some deep inner dives that I am running again for solid reasons. Why the doubt? I wanted to make sure that I haven’t become entrenched as a ‘career politician’, that my mind remains open to new ideas and diverse approaches. I wanted to make sure that I was still reaching out and embracing challenge, variety of thought and input. I also wanted to make sure that I could balance 4 more years and the associated busy-ness that being an elected representative brings with it. Pemberton is at a point of incredible change; this is both exciting and scary and I continue to want to be part of co-creating and managing conversation around that change. Making sure that what makes Pemberton unique and special is protected and that we plan carefully for a changing community, changing world, and changing climate.
My passion for Pemberton, for this community and the job has grown and I am ready and willing to bring the energy, time, open mindedness and commitment to the work that you deserve.
Over the days to come I will put out some thoughts on what I believe to be some of the biggest challenges, opportunities and issues facing Pemberton over the next four years. I would invite you to have a look and mostly to let you know that this is a starting point for dialogue. If you would like to follow up any of the thoughts that you read, please do so through any of the platforms linked here or even better give me a call and we could set up a time to chat.
Thanks,
Mike.
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