Coey kicks off council run

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This article was published 13/07/2010 (5763 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon school trustee Ramona Coey has officially announced her desire to jump from the realm of school division politics to the world of municipal politics.

Coey, who is just finishing up a four-year term on the Brandon School Division’s board of trustees, launched her campaign for Linden Lanes city councillor yesterday afternoon on the steps of city hall. Coey first confirmed to the Sun last month she’d be running for the council seat being vacated by current Linden Lanes Coun. Ken Fitzpatrick. So far, Coey is running unopposed in the ward.

Flanked by her husband and three children, the stay-at-home mom told a small crowd of supporters she’ll be campaigning on the issues of economic development, affordable housing, capital planning and the growing demands on the city’s recreational infrastructure.

"We need strong leadership at city hall," she said. "Economic growth and recreational infrastructure is vital in the continued health and growth of our community. We need to ensure that taxpayers are receiving value for their dollar," she said.

While she admits she has taken some heat for being a staunch supporter of the school division’s soon-to-be-opened single-track French immersion school, Coey doesn’t believe it will be an impediment in her run for city council.

"It was a unanimous issue of the board. Whether or not a group of people want to paint me with that … that’s going to happen and I’m fine with that," she said. "I walk away (from) that knowing that that was a unanimous decision of our school board … we listened to our public. I think that that proves that I have the ability to hold my head high and work through such a controversial issue when people are still making it personal."

Brandon East NDP MLA Drew Caldwell says he supports Coey’s commitment to building the community.

"We need to have a council that puts community first," he said. "Having councillors that are engaged in building community co-operatively is very important and Ramona can do that. She’s proven she can take aggressive stands on issues, but also adapt those positions based on communication with the public."

Brandon Chamber of Commerce general manager Nathan Peto says he came to Coey’s news conference to hear her ideas on how she plans to move the city forward.

"She’s a new candidate (and) a blank slate in a lot of respects," Peto said. "A lot of her ideas sound good, they sound positive and they sound like things that the chamber would traditionally support. We’re encouraged to see her run and look forward to hopefully seeing a lot of these ideas transition into full-out debate within council."

Also in attendance at Coey’s announcement yesterday were her fellow BSD trustees George Buri, Doug Karnes, Brian Mayes, Jim Murray and Marty Snelling, as well as mayoral candidate Shari Decter Hirst. Coey’s campaign manager, lawyer Bob Harrison, also made an appearance.