Meeting and greeting
Therrien holding series of drop-in conversations in bid to become mayor
Coun. Diane Therrien, who is running for mayor in the municipal election in October, is about to open a campaign office downtown and has organized a series of drop-in conversations with citizens.
Therrien will open her office in midJuly at 414 George St., formerly The Spill.
People are welcome to drop in there, she said, and she’ll soon be planning campaign fundraisers – complete with live music – in the former bar and performance venue.
Therrien will also be at The Silver Bean Café on Fridays from 1 to 3 p.m. throughout the summer (she has met with citizens there twice already on Friday afternoons in June).
She will also be holding similar meetings in different locations across the city on Tuesdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.; each time she will be at a different ward.
On Tuesday, she was at Roper Park (off Fair Ave. in Monaghan Ward).
On July 10 she’ll be at Makin Bacon at 833 Chemong Rd. (in Northcrest Ward) and on July 17 she’ll be at Ashburnham Ale House (in Ashburnham Ward).
“We’re just inviting people to come and talk to me about their priorities and concerns,” Therrien said at Roper Park on Tuesday. “Let me know what the future of Peterborough looks like.”
She also said she’s heard that some citizens would like to attend similar drop-in gatherings in the evenings, and she’ll be planning those soon (her website, www.dianetherrien.ca, will have more information, she said, once those events are planned.)
Therrien, 32, was elected to council in Town Ward in 2014.
She’s running for mayor on Oct. 22 against only one other candidate so far:
Cameron Green, the co-owner of both Kettle Drums restaurant and McThirsty’s Pint downtown.
Mayor Daryl Bennett hasn’t announced yet whether he will seek re-election. Prospective candidates have until July 27 to file their nomination papers.
In the extreme heat on Tuesday, Therrien sat in Roper Park with campaign volunteer Ryan Perks, as well as her two dogs (Bean and Sprout, adopted from the Peterborough Humane Society).
One citizen attended: Charlene Avon arrived with her dog Max, saying she wasn’t going to let the 31-degree heat keep her away.
She’d met Therrien on occasion before, she said, but she wanted to come and give her support.
“I’m 72. I’m just excited to see youth take an active role,” she said, speaking of the mayoral race.
Avon added that she’s particularly excited to have a young woman activist running for mayor. “She has me completely,” she said.
Therrien said she will release a platform near the end of summer.
In the meantime she said she wants people to come approach her and tell her what they think of the city.
“I believe strongly that elected officials should be accessible,” she said. “I’m always happy to learn.”