Meet the candidates: Alice Cotton, running in Ward 3 (Central Sackville)
Alice Cotton is a long time Sackville resident and avid volunteer, having worked with EOS Eco Energy, the Sackville Music Festival, and the Community Food Smart program. She has diverse work experience in teaching, gardening and food preparation, and is a local entrepreneur, running the Deus Ex Machina coffee truck at the Sackville Farmers Market.
Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Alice Cotton, which took place by phone on November 9, 2022.
Cotton is running for Ward 3, where residents will elect four councillors from a pool of nine candidates, including Cotton, Sahitya Pendurthi, Josh Goguen, Virgil Hammock, Bruce Phinney, Michael Tower, Allison Butcher, Charles Harvey, and Sana Mohammed. All candidates have interviews on CHMA, except for Charles Harvey who declined our request, and Sana Mohammed, who has yet to respond.
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT
CHMA: So Alice cotton, thanks for joining us. Thank you. For those who might not already know you tell us a bit about yourself.
Alice Cotton: Sure. Well, I have lived in Sackville for close to 30 years. I have raised my two sons here, they both went to Mount Allison, one is still going to Mount Allison. And I have worked at various jobs here in town and gotten to know you know, different groups of people through those those jobs and also through volunteer work that I’ve done, and board work that I’ve done, as well, I’ve been on a couple of boards for EOS Eco Energy and the Sackville Music Festival.… Continue
Meet the candidates: Josh Goguen, running in Ward 3 (Central Sackville)
Josh Goguen is originally from Moncton, and has been living in Sackville with his family for the past 16 years. He’s fluently bilingual, works for Moneris in technology operations analysis, and runs one of Sackville’s community Facebook groups.
Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Josh Goguen, which took place at CHMA on November 9, 2022.
Goguen is running for Ward 3, where residents will elect four councillors from a pool of nine candidates, including Goguen, Alice Cotton, Sahitya Pendurthi, Virgil Hammock, Bruce Phinney, Michael Tower, Allison Butcher, Charles Harvey, and Sana Mohammed. All candidates have interviews on CHMA, except for Charles Harvey who declined our request, and Sana Mohammed, who has yet to respond.
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT:
CHMA: All right, Josh, thanks so much for coming in today. Really appreciate it.
Josh Goguen: Thank you for having me, Erica. It’s a pleasure.
CHMA: For those who might not already know you, tell us a bit about yourself.
Josh Goguen: So, my name is Josh Goguen. I am a resident of Sackville, obviously, for the last 16 years. I am married to my wonderful wife, Sarah, who works at Jean Coutu. And my son Ben is 13 years old now and he goes to Marshfield.… Continue
Meet the candidates: Virgil Hammock, running in Ward 3 (Central Sackville)
Virgil Hammock has lived in Sackville for nearly 50 years, teaching at Mount Allison University for almost 30 of those years. He previously served on Sackville town council from 1999 and 2012 and has held positions on the Southeast Regional Health Authority board and planning commission.
Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Virgil Hammock, which took place at his home in downtown Sackville on November 10, 2022.
Hammock is running for Ward 3, where residents will elect four councillors from a pool of nine candidates, including Hammock, Bruce Phinney, Michael Tower, Allison Butcher, Alice Cotton, Sahitya Pendurthi, Josh Goguen, Charles Harvey, and Sana Mohammed. All candidates have interviews on CHMA, except for Charles Harvey who declined, and Sana Mohammed, who did not respond.
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT: Interview with Virgil Hammock, November 10, 2022
CHMA: Virgil Hammock. Thanks for taking some time to speak with us.
Virgil Hammock: My pleasure, Erica.
CHMA: Just to start off, for people who might not already know you, tell us a bit about yourself?
Virgil Hammock: Well, my name is, as you say, Virgil Hammock. I’ve lived in Sackville for 47 years. I taught at Mount A for 29 years, and 19 of those years as head of the Fine Arts department.… Continue
Meet the candidates: Bruce Phinney, running in Ward 3 (Central Sackville)
Sackville town councillor Bruce Phinney was born in Sackville into a military family. They lived in Germany and Nova Scotia before settling in Oromocto in 1962. After returning to Sackville in 1977, he began a career spanning four decades in facilities management at Mount Allison University.
Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Bruce Phinney, which took place at CHMA studios on November 15, 2022.
Phinney is running for Ward 3, where residents will elect four councillors from a pool of nine candidates, including Phinney, Michael Tower, Allison Butcher, Virgil Hammock, Alice Cotton, Sahitya Pendurthi, Josh Goguen, Charles Harvey, and Sana Mohammed. All candidates have interviews on CHMA, except for Charles Harvey who declined, and Sana Mohammed, who hasn’t responded to an interview request.
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT, Bruce Phinney November 15, 2022
CHMA: Bruce Phinney, thank you so much for joining us today.
Bruce Phinney: My pleasure, Erica.
CHMA: For those who might not already know you, tell us a bit about yourself.
Bruce Phinney: I was born in Sackville in 1955. That makes me 67. I grew up in Oromocto—my father was in the military. Then I moved here to Sackville in 1977, and in 1978, I started working for [Mount Allison University]. I worked for the University for 42 and a half years.… Continue
Meet the candidates: Michael Tower, running in Ward 3 (Central Sackville)
Michael Tower was born and raised in Sackville. He lived in Dorchester for seven years as he started to raise a family, before returning to his hometown. For nearly 50 years, he worked at the liquor store, seven of those years as a manager. He’s also a longtime member of Sackville town council, currently serving his fourth term
Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Michael Tower, which took place at CHMA studios on November 9, 2022.
Tower is running for Ward 3, where residents will elect four councillors from a pool of nine candidates.
Along with Tower, those candidates include Allison Butcher, Alice Cotton, Josh Goguen, Virgil Hammock, Charles Harvey, Sana Mohamad, Saditya Pendurthi and Bruce Phinney. CHMA has interviewed all of them except for Charles Harvey, who declined an interview request, and Sana Mohamad, as we’re awaiting a response from that candidate.
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT. Interview with Michael Tower, November 9, 2022.
CHMA: So for those who might not already know you, tell us a bit about yourself.
Michael Tower: Well, I was born and raised in Sackville, and lived in Dorchester for seven years as I started raising my family and moved back to Sackville. But worked at the liquor store for 47 years, seven years as a manager.… Continue
Grassroots efforts to attract nurses to Sackville Memorial Hospital got results, volunteer committee reports
A local volunteer committee says its efforts to recruit health-care workers for the Sackville Memorial Hospital are paying off.
The Rural Health Action Group updated town councillors on a partnership with the regional health authority on Tuesday, and suggested their grassroots approach could become a model for other communities.
The hospital’s emergency department has been operating 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. following service cuts linked to widespread labour shortages in the health-care sector.
In December 2021, Horizon health authority also converted all acute-care beds at the hospital into long-term care, citing the nurse shortage.
On Tuesday, John Higham — who co-chairs the committee with Pat Estabrooks, both of them former Sackville mayors — presented figures that showed improved staffing numbers.
Listen to highlights from the Rural Health Action Group’s Nov. 8, 2022 presentation at Sackville town council:
Higham also confirmed that a highly anticipated return of acute-care beds is happening.
“It’s important to note that the inpatient services are coming back,” Higham said. “Major investment in two operating rooms was announced last week, that’s significant.
“It’s going to be aligned with the waiting list for the region on operations, which is what we’ve also talked to [Horizon] about for quite a while, the Brunswick beds are turning back into inpatients.”
Improved staff vacancy rates in that unit were also noted in background documents circulated among Sackville town councillors.… Continue
Meet the candidates: Andrew Black, running for mayor of Tantramar
Andrew Black was just elected for a second term on Sackville town council when the province decided to amalgamate surrounding areas and create a new town of Tantramar. After serving the past year as Deputy Mayor and taking an active role in the Union of New Brunswick Municipalities (Black was elected president of the organization last month), he decided to run for mayor of the amalgamated municipality. Black says the coming year in municipal government will be a tough one, dealing with unknowns and a new council composition.
CHMA’s David Gordon Koch has interviewed all three mayoral candidates for Tantramar. Listen to his interview with Andrew Black here:
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT:
CHMA: So thanks for taking the time today, Andrew Black. Could you start by telling me a bit about yourself and how long you’ve been involved with council?
Andrew Black: Well, I’m 47 years old. I was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia. And I think it was five months old when my parents moved out west., I lived in Calgary until I was about 10 years old and moved back to the Maritimes, to Sackville, in 1985. So I’ve lived here most of my life. Graduated from Tantramar High School, graduated from Mount Allison University and my parents are both from the area.… Continue
Meet the candidates: Shawn Mesheau, running for mayor of Tantramar
Shawn Mesheau has a long career on Sackville town council, first elected to council in 1998 and serving off and on for nearly 12 years, most recently as the mayor of Sackville, elected just 18 months ago in May 2021. Mesheau is running for mayor of Tantramar in part as a continuation of the commitment he made as mayor of Sackville, and also because he believes the coming years will involve difficult decisions for the new council which he says will require strong leadership.
CHMA’s David Gordon Koch has interviewed all three mayoral candidates for Tantramar. Listen to his interview with Shawn Mesheau here:
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT:
CHMA: I’m speaking to Shawn Mesheau, currently the mayor of Sackville. He’s running for the position of first mayor of the new town of Tantramar. Mayor Mesheau, before you became mayor of Sackville, you served for a number of years as town councillor. For listeners who might not be familiar, can you introduce yourself and include any previous involvement on council?
Shawn Mesheau: Sure. Well, I was born and raised here in Sackville. After college, I spent about five, six years in the Fredericton area, came back to Sackville, transferred here through Atlantic Wholesalers, and worked with Atlantic Wholesalers for several years, until they left town.… Continue
Meet the candidates: Bonnie Swift, running for mayor of Tantramar
Bonnie Swift is an environmental engineer who worked for years in Alberta, moving east to Sackville in 2010 and serving as the town of Sackville business development officer for two years. Swift describes herself as a “small town girl” from Dorchester, and says she’s running for mayor of the new municipality of Tantramar after encouragement from friends. Swift became active in Sackville politics this past year, advocating for reconsideration and public consultation of a zoning change that made way for the AIL pipe plant now under construction on Walker Road.
CHMA’s David Gordon Koch has interviewed all three mayoral candidates for Tantramar. Listen to his interview with Bonnie Swift here:
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT:
CHMA: I’m speaking with Bonnie Swift. She’s one of three candidates in the race for mayor, the first-ever mayor of the new town of Tantramar. Bonnie, thanks for speaking to CHMA today.
Bonnie Swift: Thank you. You’re welcome. Glad to do it.
CHMA: First of all, can you tell me a little bit about yourself? This is your first run for a municipal council seat, isn’t it?
Bonnie Swift: Yeah, well, as far as I go, I’m a small town girl. I grew up in Dorchester. I went to high school in Sackville.… Continue
The Saxby Gale: Historical storm reminds Tantramar leaders of extreme weather and its devastating consequences
Listen to Tantramar Report for Tuesday, November 1, 2022 :