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MY VISION FOR A THRIVING COMMUNITY DEPENDS ON YOU!
BY REV. TRACY B RICHARDS

“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another
in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”
1 Corinthians 1:10
With our Municipal Election approaching on October 24th, I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to speak with so many
of you! While there are still a few weeks before the voting period begins on October 11th, I will be doing my best to continue
to connect with as many of you as possible. I have loved hearing your stories and learning more about what’s important to
you and I look forward to earning your vote as your representative on Council.

For this reason, I wanted to take this opportunity to share my proposed vision statement for Centre Hastings which goes
something like this: “My vision is a thriving community of Centre Hastings that serves the needs of every sector of our
urban and rural residents, possessing the core values of faith, family, community, education, and economic prosperity. We
will advance these values by recognizing our past, taking action in the present, and pursuing a bright and dynamic future.”

But what do I mean by a “thriving community”, exactly?
As someone who has spent a lifetime invested in community building, I believe a thriving, prosperous community is one with
a commitment to strong values, a long-term vision, and a measurable plan for its success. Based on conversations with my
fellow residents, our community does want to be successful but we don’t want generic solutions. We are a unique community
and our needs are specific to that uniqueness. For this reason, it is crucial that the entire community must be involved in
writing its plan for success. If not, then we won’t truly be invested in the plan and we will lack the commitment to follow
through with it in the long term.

One of the mottos I try to live by is “Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’” and that means not making promises I can’t keep. There is a lot to
be said for this approach in government as well. Every community is different and each has its own issues. No one person
can know them all or turn all the “wrongs” into “rights” but we can, as a community, assess our current strengths and
growth areas and analyze what our greatest risks are and what new opportunities are awaiting us.

We are so fortunate that Centre Hastings has a strong foundation and that's because the people who went before us cared
enough to look ahead and carefully plan for our success. In order to do the same for our future generations, it’s important
that we are able to connect how the decisions we make today might impact, or even undermine the vision we have for our
community tomorrow.

If we want to be a community that achieves permanence, we must be willing to examine our attitudes, think outside the box,
and be determined to do everything necessary to create and execute our long-term plan for success. I have a clear plan for
how to achieve this and I am excited to share it with you and to watch it unfold, as your Councillor.

If you share my vision for Centre Hastings, there are 5 ways you can show your support:
1. Vote for me on October 24th (the online voting period begins October 11th. For instructions on how to vote visit:
https://centrehastings.com/municipal/elections/)
2. Order a sign for your lawn or business window (email info@tracybrichards.ca)
3. Raise awareness for my campaign by starting conversations with people who might want to learn more about me and
direct them to my website or Facebook page (see below)
4. Reach out to me anytime to let me know what you feel needs to be prioritized in our community
5. Join my email list (tracybrichards.ca)

My campaign email is info@tracybrichards.ca
The campaign website is tracybrichards.ca
The campaign Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/tracybrichards.centrehastings

If you enjoyed this post, I encourage you to subscribe to my blog at tracybrichards.com/blog.
For more information about my ministry email me at tracy@tracybrichards.com.
For wedding or life celebrant inquiries visit xolifecelebrations.com
Listen to my Practical Ministry segments on the Born To Fly Podcast here