New to council
Political neophyte Ty Walsh decided to take a chance in the recent municipal election.
Born and raised in Berwick, the 30-year-old threw his hat in the ring as a candidate for town council in hopes of one day adding his voice to the discussions that directly impact his community. On Oct. 15, he got his wish. “When the results came out I was definitely really pleasantly surprised,” he said.
Walsh will be the only rookie at the table when the newly elected town council is sworn in Nov. 8. In addition to winning a seat along with four incumbents (Mayor Don Clarke, Rod Reeves, Anna Ashford-Morton and Jane Bustin), Walsh will also serve alongside former councillors Barry Corbin and Mike Trinacty.
“For this election it never once felt like I was running against anyone, it always just felt like I was running to be a part of something,” said Walsh, who will balance council duties with his job as a residential rehabilitation worker at the Kings Regional Rehabilitation Centre in Waterville.
“All of the councillors who are in are such great people to be able to learn from.”
Walsh counts recreation, community building and economic development among his chief interests, and he’s already brainstorming ways to attract more young families to the Town of Berwick.
“We’ve got so many services here that other towns don’t have and I think that we could do a lot more to promote those businesses and services.”
Walsh commended the current council for agreeing to lower the deed transfer tax that applies to property sales within town in recent years, and he’d like to see council consider further reductions or the eventual elimination of this tax.
Walsh says he’ll always be open to suggestions from the public.
“I want to be as approachable as I can be,” he says. “I want to be a positive person that people in the town can go to and hopefully we can work out some of the issues together.”