LETTER: Tiny needs representatives who care about entire township

Every decision made around council table eventually reaches someone's kitchen table MidlandToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected] or via the website. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). Politics can get ugly and, unfortunately, when someone works hard, speaks up and challenges the status quo, there will always be people trying to discredit them. We are seeing plenty of that now. There are many candidates running who are very intelligent, successful and accomplished people. I respect that. But being successful in business or having an impressive resumé does not automatically mean you understand what it takes to represent the people of Tiny Township. We don't just need business people. We need people's people. We need representatives who understand that Tiny is much more than buildings and business plans. It is farmers, families, seniors, cottagers, full-time residents, waterfront owners, short-term-rental owners, small businesses and people who have chosen this community as their home. We need people who live and breathe Tiny. People who are here when the snowstorms hit, when roads become a concern, when properties flood, when a bylaw affects someone's home or livelihood, and when residents simply need someone at the township to listen to them. Most importantly, we need representatives who care about an issue even when it doesn't affect their own street, their own neighbourhood or their own property. Leadership means understanding that a decision affecting one part of Tiny still matters to all of Tiny. That is why someone's record over the last four years matters. Who was already showing up? Who was asking questions? Who was standing beside residents when there was no election around the corner? Who was willing to speak up when it wasn't necessarily popular or easy? Those things tell us far more about a candidate than any campaign promise ever could. Tiny needs people who understand that every decision made around that council table eventually reaches someone's kitchen table. It can't only be about business. It has to be about people. It has to be about community. And it has to be about all of Tiny. After all, Tiny isn't really so "tiny." Vanya Gluhic Township of Tiny