Articles from incumbent Councillor Ryan Mennie to read prior to the Campbell River election!

Well, it’s advance voting day today in Campbell River at the Baptist Church on Dogwood (across from the RCMP building) til 8pm tonight.  And Saturday Nov. 19th is general voting day at Discovery Passage, Phoenix, and Southgate Schools from 8am to 8pm.

If you’d like to hear more from me prior to voting, please read these articles.  Thanks to both the Campbell River Mirror and the Courier Islander for the opportunities to be heard!

CAMPBELL RIVER MIRROR:   A PLACE WHERE EVERYONE DESIRES TO BE-RYAN MENNIE ANSWERS THREE QUESTIONS

1. I envision a community that takes care of it’s citizens equally, no matter what age.  Support for our children, making sure all are ready to enter the school system, helping them become our future productive citizens in a city with less crime.  I envision a thriving economy where those who want to raise their families here will have the means to do so. I envision Campbell River being a place where everyone desires to be, not a place that people come from.

2. I’m still the highly positive, motivated and community minded person I was three years ago when I was first voted in. And now I have three years of municipal government experience under my belt to help navigate the financial challenges of the 2012 budget and beyond. Every Tuesday in the council chambers I look for balance and do my best to keep perspective on behalf of the entire community. Albert Einstein sums it up best as to how to tackle the next three years and beyond: “Learn from yesterday.  Live for today.  Hope for tomorrow.”

3. Three years ago I ran specifically to improve communication between City Hall and the community.  We now have a corporate communications strategy, and staff continue to work on ways to improve their messaging and engagement.  This year my word is “clarity.”  Moving forward, I want you to know why something is being done.  This also requires work on your part.  Be prepared to listen.

Most importantly, if you need clarification, go to the source, your council.  Your neighbour may have the best intentions, you may enjoy the heated discussions in the newspaper, but your council has the facts.

COURIER ISLANDER NOV. 16TH 2011 EDITION

With this being one of my last chances to talk to you prior to voting day, I’d like to sum up the last three years of work I’ve done on council and emphasize two key things to focus on in the next three.

Being elected to council in 2008 was one of the most exciting things I’ve experienced in my life. Learning what it means to be a good councillor has been mind expanding. The job itself has been very challenging and rewarding. The scope of the job and the scale of representing 32,000 citizens is immense. And my municipal education came during a global economic downturn and time of substantial change locally. But what an education! I’ve officially graduated from the school of hard knocks, and me and my young family are ready to commit to another three years of serving you.

In that time, I’ve learned that two things get you by when money is tight. Creative thinking and collaboration. This is the era of collaboration…finding partners within the community who believe in the same goals, and being creative in achieving those goals. Collaborative achievements in the last three years include the community garden, greenways loop and lacrosse box. Just wait for the next one…the spray park!

This quote from Albert Einstein has guided me on council the last three years and I will use it to guide me again. Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.

Ryan Mennie stands by photos of others who have served on Campbell River city council

p.s.  This photo and others used in my campaign thanks to my fantastic wife Ludy from www.menniememories.com 

You’ve heard from the candidates, you’ve seen the signs, now GET OUT AND VOTE!

The first opportunity to vote for Campbell River’s next mayor and six councillors is today at the Baptist Church on Dogwood.  I took some video of my experience, and added some sobering statistics from the 2008 election in our city, showing that more people need to get involved in our community’s future and have their voice heard.  Check it out!

 

Gearing up for the 2011 Campbell River municipal election…

Councillor Ryan Mennie at work in the Campbell River council chambers

Can you believe it?  Three years have passed since the 2008 municipal election in Campbell River.  It’s time once again to select a group of seven individuals who will represent your interests as a team in the council chambers at city hall and at large in the community, the province, and the country.  It’s been an honour to do just that in my first council term.  It’s also been one of the most incredible learning experiences of my life.  I’m looking forward to putting three years of municipal governance experience and an even stronger understanding and connection to the community to effective use in another term.  And it definitely hasn’t been just any three years of our city’s history to come to grasp with the true job of being on council.  It’s been the official school of hard knocks.  We’ve all lived the upheaval and transition our city has had to face the last several years in our daily lives.  In my press release sent to the media today, I reflect on some of the challenges we’ve had to face as a community, and the kind of environment I entered into at city hall as a new councillor.  But I also want to remind us all of some of our achievements during that time, and move forward with a sense of satisfaction and optimism that if we can survive those past few difficult years, we can survive anything.

COURIER ISLANDER story

PRESS RELEASE OCTOBER 7, 2011

Incumbent councillor Ryan Mennie has officially put his hat in the ring once again. As his first term on council comes to an end, he puts the last three years into perspective.

“It’s been an incredibly challenging time to come on as a new councillor. In three years, I’ve worked alongside three different city managers. As part of council, I helped to almost completely rebuild our economic development office Rivercorp, revitalizing their board with representatives from all areas of business in our community and helping them find a new CEO. The city was also severely short-staffed in several departments, including finance, making the first two budget sessions very challenging. And all of this took place while our community was losing millions of dollars worth of tax revenue with the closure of the Timberwest sawmill and the Catalyst pulp and paper mill.”

In spite of the hurdles in his first three years, Mennie remains positive about his time spent on council and optimistic about the future. “During those challenges of inner turmoil at the city and the loss of a substantial amount of tax revenue and local jobs, there were some major achievements. We extended our runway and made improvements to our airport. We replaced a massive amount of aging water and sewer infrastructure on the highway in Willow Point on time and on budget . Both of these projects, totaling about $22 million, were done without borrowing thanks to the majority of funding coming from the provincial and federal governments. In the end we have a new airport authority promoting the facility as an industrial investment opportunity that can attract larger aircraft, and the seawalk was made even more beautiful and enjoyable as part of the highway project. Now imagine what we can achieve as our city gets on it’s feet again!” Amongst all the work done in the city the last three years, there’s one project Mennie is most proud of. “Being the voice of young families in the community, I fought hard in my very first budget session to make sure the rest of council was aware of the need for replacing the playground at Willow Point Park. Seeing the smiles on the faces of the kids enjoying that new playground as I push my daughter on the swings made those long, late night budget sessions all worth it.”

With election day looming, Mennie has some thoughts on how to move forward as a community. “We have a soon to be adopted sustainable official community plan that many people provided input into. That maps out the direction Campbell River needs to go over the next 25 years or so. In the short term, the city needs to continue to work on public engagement and communication. Improved communication was a big key piece of why I ran three years ago, and although we’ve made some big steps in the right direction, we need to continue working on that. The engagement side really paid off with some smaller projects in partnership with folks in the community like the Laughing Willow community garden, the building of the lacrosse box and the continuation of the Greenways Loop. I’m really excited about working with other community members who come forward in the next three years to help them achieve their goals.”

You can read more of what Mennie has been up to in the community during his time on council at www.ryanmennie.com.

Join the discussion on the Re-elect Ryan Mennie for Campbell River City Council facebook page.

Follow on twitter at www.twitter.com/ryanmennie

O Canada!!! Fun with the Campbell River Canada Day committee in 2011…

I can’t believe it.  IT’S ALMOST CANADA DAY!  TWO WEEKS from the day I’m writing this post, we’ll be celebrating in Campbell River like no other community.  And like all of them!  From all the exclamation marks, capitalizing, and previous Canada Day videos I’ve recorded and put together over the last several years, can you tell I GET EXCITED about CANADA DAY!?

Well, it’s a HUGE day for the community, and a big day of fun for our city’s guests as well.  In fact, this year’s theme is “From Far And Wide.”

That theme for 2011 sums up how I’ve approached an extra duty this year as a volunteer member of the Campbell River Canada Day committee.  Dave Tabish, a local businessman, father of guitar prodigy Brice Tabish (from past Canada Day entertainers Lymozeen), and all-around neat guy passed the baton to me this year as the person who books the entertainment for the Eagle Spirit Stage in Ostler Park.

Musician Stef Lang and Councillor Ryan Mennie VERY excited about Canada Day 2011!

Through a combination of  a set (and small!) budget from the committee and my contacts with artists and promoters through my 13 years at the Eagle radio station, I’ve had a lot of fun over the course of the last 10 months wrangling the final lineup of entertainers for 2011.   In fact, It’s been a huge learning experience.  Not everything transpired the way I or others thought it would or should.  But what I had envisioned from the beginning that has transpired is this:  I’ve found very exciting, very talented musicians who were willing to lower their fees to come and play for Campbell Riverites and their Canada Day guests and bring us all something we’ve never experienced before.   Musicians like Stef Lang (in the pic above), Chantel Upshaw, and Wil.  In the end,  I believe this lineup is going to provide a great musical experience on par with other years.   It’s also going to showcase some amazing musicians who are very excited to be a part of our city’s big day for the very first time.

The EAGLE SPIRIT STAGE 2011 LINEUP can be found here!

Did I mention it’s a FREE SHOW?

p.s.  I would love to sum up the work of the other incredible, dynamic, tireless Campbell River Canada Day committee members in this post, but it truly can’t be summed up in words.  Check out this link for more details of the day they’ve helped cook up for you this year, and when you see them on the mainstage in Ostler Park at cake cutting time, please give them your thanks with smiles!