Five Weeks. One Community. Real Conversations.

Meet & Greet Nights: Collaboration Starts Before Election Day

One of the things I hear consistently from residents is that they want a Council that can work together, communicate and get things done.

I believe that should start before Election Day.

That is why I created Meet & Greet Nights. Not as a traditional campaign event focused only on me, but as an opportunity for residents to meet me and other people who are putting their names forward to serve Bradford.

Why Every Week?

Not everyone can make one campaign event on one particular night.

People work shifts. They have kids in sports, family commitments, businesses to run and busy lives. If I held one big event and you couldn’t attend, you would miss that opportunity.

So instead, I am opening the doors every Thursday until the election.

Five weeks. Five different nights. Different candidates and different conversations each week.

Come once. Come every week. Stay for ten minutes or stay and have a real conversation. The choice is yours.

Why I Waited

I also made a deliberate decision not to rush this.

Every candidate had the opportunity to organize events, create their own forums or find other ways to connect with residents.

Out of respect for the other candidates running for Deputy Mayor, I waited to give them the opportunity to announce or complete their own events before launching this five-week series.

Then I decided to do something different.

Rather than hold one traditional campaign event focused entirely on me, I wanted to create five opportunities for residents to connect with me, one every Thursday right through to the election, while also opening the platform to other candidates running for Council.

That distinction matters to me.

I am running for Deputy Mayor, but I am also currently serving on Council. I know firsthand that after an election, the people who are elected have to sit around the same table.

We can campaign against one another. We can disagree on issues. We can offer residents different ideas and different choices.

But when the election is over, Council has to find ways to work together.

So why wait until after Election Day to demonstrate that?

It Filled Up in 48 Hours

Before putting the series together, I conducted a survey to better understand what people wanted.

Once the idea started circulating, candidates also began reaching out to me asking if they could participate.

Within just 48 hours, all five weeks were filled.

To me, that response demonstrates the value of simply creating the opportunity.

There is an appetite for a different kind of election conversation. One where candidates can share a room, residents can ask questions and people can hear different perspectives directly from the people asking for their vote.

Fingers Crossed!!! Myself and the other Deputy Mayors invited for a SPECIAL Deputy Meet & Greet...

I’m opening up an additional night at my campaign headquarters and have invited my fellow Deputy Mayor candidates, Stephanie Sinclair and Yolan Williams, to join me.

The invitation has been extended and I’m hopeful they will accept.

If they do, residents will have an opportunity to meet all three Deputy Mayor candidates in one place, on one night, ask questions and hear directly from each of us.

Confirmed: Joseph Giordano (Current Ward 4 Councillor), Deputy Mayor Candidate

Confirmed: Emil Alkhnov, Mayor Candidate

Invited: Stephanie Sinclair, Deputy Mayor Candidate

Invited: Yolan Williams, Deputy Mayor Candidate

Collaboration Does Not Mean Agreement

I think this is important.

Collaboration does not mean agreeing on everything.

It means being willing to listen, communicate respectfully, challenge ideas and still find ways to work together when the conversation is over.

The next Council will include people with different experiences, priorities and perspectives. Whoever is elected will need to sit around the same table and make decisions on behalf of the entire community.

That is the kind of working relationship I want to encourage.

And I believe we can start demonstrating it now.

This Is Bigger Than One Campaign

I am providing the platform, but I deliberately did not want these evenings to be only about my campaign.

Residents should have opportunities to meet different candidates, ask their own questions, hear different perspectives and make their own decisions about who they believe should represent them.

No expensive venue. No elaborate production.

Just candidates, residents and real conversations about the community we all call home.

Most importantly, I am not asking you to fit your schedule around one night.

I will be there every Thursday until the election.

If you cannot make one week, come the next.

Come once. Come every week. Bring your questions. Bring your concerns. Bring your ideas. Challenge us. Talk to us. Get to know the people asking to represent you.

Because collaboration should not be something we start talking about after an election. We can start now.