Hello! This is my first blog post, and it is about why I decided to run for a seat on the Erie Town Council. I will start by saying that after I was elected to the Erie Home Rule Commission, I decided that I would never run for another position, and that I would let others fill those roles. But then in 2024 there was a monumental shift in the Erie government, and they started taking positions that hurt the Town's reputation. The main one that bothered me was the rescinding of the Town's Flag Policy. This caused significant blowback from the surrounding communities, including a boycott of Erie businesses. There were other questionable activities, such as the sudden proposal to have a large church built on property that the previous owner had sold to the Town with the idea of having a combination of open space and (workforce) housing. It seemed that there were a lot of decisions being made in the "back room", without much transparency.

At this point I had to make a decision; do I sit back and let this continue or do I take the plunge and decide to run. Those who know me know that I don't feel I have a right to complain about what is going on if I make no effort to change things. So, I came to the conclusion that it was more important to stand up and run, and if I win to do whatever I can to increase transparency and to try to bring increase the meaningful conversations within the Town.