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Council blogger Lisa Post making renewed bid for election

June 21, 2018   ·   0 Comments

By Mike Pickford

After falling just short of an Orangeville  Council seat in the 2014 municipal election, Orangeville native Lisa Post is excited to make another run for local office this fall.

Since she’s a little more experienced and a lot more motivated, it was a surprise to no one when Ms. Post was one of the first to file her papers once eligible at the beginning of June. One of the community’s most popular political commentators through her online blog, ‘In My Humble Opinions’, Lisa wants to take what she perceives as the next logical step and put her thoughts into action as a member of Town Council.

“This was something that was always going to happen, even after the disappointment four years ago,” Ms. Post told the Citizen. “I made a commitment the day after that last election that I wouldn’t just hide away, so I started attending meetings and putting my thoughts down on paper. After a while I started posting them online. It’s made for some really interesting discussion and debates with local residents.”

Ms. Post is perhaps best known for a 2016 petition she submitted to Council asking for all seven members to resign less than half way through their current term. In that submission, she stated, “These last two years have been entertaining, but it’s time to bring this circus to a close”.

Two years on from that dramatic scene, Ms. Post says she doesn’t regret a thing, going on record to state her belief that the community deserves better from its elected officials. She believes Council needs a complete overhaul to get the municipality back on track.

“This has been a very divisive Council. Residents deserve more than that, they need people that work for them and not for their own personal agenda, not working or voting in a way that is politically minded,” Ms. Post said. “There needs to be a thought spared for the community, a willingness to work together and cooperate as a team.”

For her part, Ms. Post says that while she has her own thoughts and ideas on how to implement the changes she believes are necessary in the community, she will approach every meeting, discussion and conversation with an open mind. Touching on a few of those big issues, Ms. Post said she would be in favour of obtaining another costing proposal from the OPP, increasing spending to improve municipal roads and infrastructure and promoting collaboration with municipal neighbours on things such as transit, emergency services and library services.

Her number one goal though is to rein in spending at Town Hall, accusing the current Council of being too liberal with taxpayers’ money.

“I believe there needs to be a greater understanding at Council level of the budget. I think the right way to put it would be to look at the integrity of the spending. You have to understand you’re spending other people’s money,” Ms. Post said. “I believe there’s so much more we could be doing with taxpayers’ money. My slogan during my last run was ‘Spend Less, Do More’ and that still holds true today. It’s irresponsible to say we can lower taxes, but it’s incredibly responsible to say we can look at efficiencies to make sure tax dollars are being spent reasonably and correctly.”

Ms. Post said she’d like to see more money put towards hosting community events, similar to the Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival, bringing the twin benefits of giving local residents something to look forward to, while supporting local businesses.

One of the key issues Ms. Post says she’s learned about through her blog is relating to economic development, particularly as it relates to industrial growth.

“We need to do more to encourage different types of businesses to invest in Orangeville. This is a wonderful community and has a lot to offer, we need to make sure we’re relaying that message to prospective investors in this area of the province,” Ms. Post said.

As she looks to build on the 2,117 votes she received in 2014, Lisa says she will be out on the campaign trail next month as she seeks to secure the votes needed to land a seat on Council.

“I come with integrity, an open mind and I’m ready to listen. I put the community first and I will always put the community first,” Ms. Post said. “I want to be someone that people can be proud to say they voted for me. I want to represent town in a way where people can be proud to have me as a representative and proud to have me serve as their voice on Council.”

After working in retail management for more than 20 years, Ms. Post launched her own writing business, Written Works, last year, where she specializes in copy writing for the business sector. She also works as a bartender part-time at The Edge Wine Bar and Grille in town.

Lisa joins Grant Peters, Simran Bhamu, Trevor Castiglione, James Jackson, Joe Andrews and Don Kidd in officially submitting her papers to run for Council.

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