Dear Editor,
Wow! I was very impressed with Nancy Peckford at the Mayoral Candidates Debate in Kemptville on Thursday, September 20. She demonstrated that she comes with a wealth of experience and skills in working with and understanding various levels of government and with the ability to take a number of ideas and issues and integrate or synthesize them. Not to mention her positive solution focused and engaging approach. Nancy answered all the questions posed by the audience and was able to bring the conversation back to the questions when the other candidates went on tangents, got defensive or responded to each other’s off track responses. One example includes when the other candidates had quite a reaction to Nancy stating (in the context of a full response about activities for families and seniors) that she would have ‘conversations’ about a pool – just conversations – ‘no promises’. At another point in the debate, Nancy seemed unfazed when Jim Bertram explained exactly what she had so eloquently just said as if she couldn’t speak for herself – which she is clearly able to do. I strongly encourage anyone listening to any of the candidates to read between the lines, listen to how they respond, what they say and what they don’t say; check it against what you are actually hearing from others. For example, I was not going to take Jim Bertram’s (to me minimizing) response at face value when he stated that Nancy had ‘a good point’ but that supporting business requires ‘more than just the BIA’ – Nancy had just clearly articulated a multifaceted approach (one of which was the BIA) on how to support and foster healthy vibrant business development and maintenance in North Grenville. Kudos to you Nancy! All round, you’ve got my vote!
Jill Wylie, North Grenville Resident
