In the early hours of March 12th 2012, southeast winds of up to 137 km/h (recorded at the Maritime Heritage Centre) hit Campbell River, BC causing road closures, damage to homes and parks, and power outages that lasted for 60 hours or more. Here’s some of the footage of the storm I caught on video.
Today’s a big day! It’s officially TWO MONTHS since election day in Campbell River, and I’m very excited to find myself a city councillor representing you once again. Two months is a long time without a post, and I apologize. This blog hasn’t been silent because of a lack of things to talk about. On the contrary, there’s been a substantial amount of activity in that time… I just didn’t know what I should write about! Well, that’s changed, thanks to some fantastic stuff going on in our city that I wanted to share.
First, a short summary before I get into the events you want to check out. Since elected for a second term, I’ve been appointed as a full time director with the Strathcona Regional District, as well as the Comox Strathcona Regional Hospital Board, and the Comox Strathcona Waste Management committee. As a councillor, I’ve been given the Public Safety (Crime Reduction) and Youth portfolios, as well as School/City liaison. For ALL the councillor portfolio and liaison appointments go here:
2011-2014 CAMPBELL RIVER CITY COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS
Okay, now for the inspiration for this post… Campbell River YOUTH!
A young Carihi student by the name of Emily Koopman took on a fundraising initiative for the organization Spread The Net. Spread The Net provides treated mosquito nets to protect children and pregnant women in African countries. It was Emily’s idea to put on a music concert at the Tidemark Theatre in Campbell River Saturday, January 21st 2012 to raise some money! Listen to my interview with Emily Koopman and celebrity MC Gig Morton from the YTV show “Mr. Young” in the video below.
There was an embarassing amount of congratulations to Emily on my part in the interview, but when someone takes the time to make the world a better place, they deserve some recognition. Especially when that someone is a young member of our community who could easily be distracted with a million other things at the moment in their teenage life. Show your support for Spread The Net and Emily’s hard work. To get YOUR tickets to the show go to www.tidemarktheatre.com and click on “Spread The Net”. To get you even more excited, here’s a video of Brock Zanrosso, one of the entertainers of the night. I’ll see you there!
Today’s the big day folks! The day when you pick the people who will be your voice in the city hall council chambers for the next three years. A HUGE thank you to everyone who got involved, engaged, informed, and inspired about what we can accomplish in Campbell River! VOTING RESULTS for ALL COMMUNITIES and ALL CATEGORIES can be seen at this site after the polls close at 8pm.
CIVIC INFO (CAMPBELL RIVER AND OTHER COMMUNITY VOTING RESULTS)
-Campbell River’s results will first be posted at www.campbellriver.ca
–97.3 The Eagle (streamed live at http://www.973theeagle.com) will have coverage of our entire region starting at 8pm.
-SHAW channel 4 will have coverage starting at 8pm.
Thank you again for caring about our community’s future and VOTING in the 2011 MUNICIPAL ELECTION!
Ryan Mennie and his family thank you for voting! It's about our PRESENT and our children's FUTURE!
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
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!
Hello! If you’re visiting my blog for the very first time after typing in the website on my campaign brochure, WELCOME! Feel free to skip the info on this pic and scroll further down to my press release and other information that I’ve blogged about for the past three years as a member of council. Some items are of special interest to me, some are issues I’ve tried to provide further information about when both sides of the story weren’t being shared through other outlets. ALSO… you can visit my facebook page HERE: RE-ELECT RYAN MENNIE FACEBOOK PAGE
The Campbell River Chamber of Commerce recently held an all-candidates business forum, and posted candidate answers to their nine business related questions. You can READ MINE HERE.
Finally, if you would like a snapshot of what I’ve done with my time as a volunteer in Campbell River the last 13 years, please click on RYAN MENNIE’S BIO (or at the top of the page)!
Ryan Mennie in the Campbell River council chambers
This year the voting locations in Campbell River have CHANGED. Below are the new locations and times, as taken from the City of Campbell River website.
Advance and Special Voting Opportunities
Advance Voting Opportunities will be provided on Wednesday, November 9th and Wednesday, November 16th at the Baptist Church, 260 Dogwood Street, main entrance from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. for those persons unable to vote on November 19th .
Special Voting Opportunity will be provided at the Campbell River General Hospital Thursday, November 17th 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Campbell River Voting Places
The following Campbell River Voting Places will be open on Saturday, November 19, 2011 from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Ecole Phoenix Middle School 400 – 7th Avenue
Southgate Middle School 740 Holm Road
Discovery Passage Elementary School 2050 Pengelly Road
…to COUNCIL and back, THAT’S where! This week, it’s officially 8 months that I’ve been on the job as a councillor with the City of Campbell River.
No, even through the craziness of it all, the shiny coolness of the honour of the position has not worn off. It’s been 8 months of getting/keeping my head on straight…learning how to function in a completely foreign society (government!) while not completely abandoning my duties at my “day” job (more like a “crack of dawn” job) and at the Mennie Ranch as a husband and a dad (the shrimp just turned 18 months old this week! hooray!)
Anyway, this post was long overdue, but not possible until I got proper perspective on what the job at city hall is really all about. I had a good idea (and I still have some good ideas!) but it’s been a whole lot more on top of that. Not more than I bargained for… just… more. I don’t think anyone getting involved in municipal government for the first time TRULY knows what it’s all about. And the impact that it has on your life. And how it changes how some people see you.
Now the REAL reason I created this blog many moons ago (beyond getting my messages across during my campaign) was to stay in touch with the community, and offer up true layman’s terms and perspective on what is going on at city hall. I’ve made it very clear to many folks in the community that I got into this (the P word… politics!) to truly represent the average Campbell River citizen… and that I need to remain a regular Riverite in my head and actions in order to do so! (I think the political word is “accountable”)
So keep posted to my “Accountability Blog”…I’ll certainly be updating it more frequently. I’ll also be discussing issues as best (and extensively and thoroughly) as I can. All I need from you is your understanding and trust when something delves too deep (into legal issues…potential disrespect to my fellow council members) that I may have to respectfully decline further discussion. Comments and feedback are encouraged! This is just one of many ways to stay connected with one representative of your city’s council… and one more way for you to be heard!
the Municipal Musings of Ryan Mennie 