{"id":14531,"date":"2020-05-27T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-27T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=14531"},"modified":"2020-05-27T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-27T15:00:00","slug":"macinnis-ready-to-retire-from-east-hants-municipal-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=14531","title":{"rendered":"MacInnis ready to retire from East Hants municipal politics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SHUBENACADIE:<\/strong> Residents of Shubenacadie will not see a familiar name on the ballot when they vote this October\u2014pending any change in scheduled municipal elections due to COVID19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pam MacInnis, who has been saying to fellow community members since January she would not be reoffering, spoke to The Laker News about her decision to not re-offer under the almost-summer like sun inside the gazebo at Rex McCoul Park in Shubenacadie on May 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have given my best and will continue to do so until the election,\u201d said MacInnis, \u201cHowever, I\u2019m ready to retire and relax.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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She said that she just doesn\u2019t want the responsibility anymore after serving for eight years. She was elected in 2008; didn\u2019t re-offer in 2012; but did put her name in for the 2016 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among some of her highlights during her time on East Hants council include getting the dock in the river as a result of being on the Shubenacadie Canal Commission as the council rep and meeting Allan Billard of the Canoe to the Sea group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThrough conversations, Allan and municipal staff were able to fund and place the dock,\u201d said MacInnis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said the dock has been used by many wishing to just stand on it, and those who are kayaking and canoeing to launch their boats. Two more docks have been placed in the river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe river is such a beautiful, natural asset,\u201d said MacInnis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also enjoyed meeting many people, helping residents out and working along side passionate community volunteers during her council tenure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MacInnis said one of the steepest learning curves when she was first elected to council was to learn not to take things personally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is the hardest part,\u201d she said responding to a question about anything she found tough about being a councillor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While she may be finished in a few months, MacInnis said there are some projects she hopes to see through in East Hants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to see the trails and river access and connectivity between communities continue,\u201d she said. \u201cSidewalk continuation would be a big benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to see a new playground and splash pad at our river park. It\u2019s a real need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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MacInnis also mentioned seniors housing; affordable housing; and environmental policies as items she wants to see continued to be worked on for the municipality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was asked how hard it is to balance need for development with infrastructure needs in communities as vast and different from one end of East Hants to the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is an ongoing challenge we face, just look at Shubenacadie,\u201d she began her response. \u201cWe can\u2019t increase residential, not have seniors\u2019 homes or active living developments without a new sewage treatment plant. Without financial grant assistance from other levels of government, this will not happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does that mean for residents of Shubenacadie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn our case, that means folks who outgrow their family homes and want to downsize need to leave their community,\u201d said MacInnis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MacInnis did have a message for others who may be considering running for a municipal councillor seat. She feels municipal government is one of the most misunderstood levels of government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese are your neighbours and friends, and we\u2019re all in the business of improving quality of life,\u201d she said. \u201cHowever, with 11 councillors and differing views of what that actually means, we rely heavily on our Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said East Hants is policy driven. By that, she said, she means a framework is set out and adhered to during decision making, as much as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe MPS is a dynamic document within a fast-growing municipality,\u201d she said. \u201cWe consider updating or changing policies when the discussion unearths an inadequacy in council\u2019s strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All that leads to why one should get involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCaring about your community and future direction is enough to get involved,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you are a councillor, you have a voice at the table. This is the significant aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough you will not always vote with the winning side, you will have a say, you will represent your residents, and you will have a vote.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s something MacInnis did well representing her residents of Shubenacadie during her eight years on council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SHUBENACADIE: Residents of Shubenacadie will not see a familiar name on the ballot when they vote this October\u2014pending any change in scheduled municipal elections due to COVID19. Pam MacInnis, who has been saying to fellow community members since January she would not be reoffering, spoke to The Laker News about her decision to not re-offer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[965,12],"tags":[196,1101,1114,1044],"class_list":["post-14531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-hants","category-featured","tag-east-hants","tag-municipality-of-east-hants","tag-pam-macinnis","tag-shubenacadie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}