By Dan Jones, LJI
Northumberland 89.7 FM
Bobbi Wright is committing to being the listening mayor if elected in Brighton next month.
As a councillor in the current term, Wright said she believes some voters are not being heard.
“At the end of term, I was hearing that the rural community doesn’t feel like they are being heard,” she explained. “I want to listen first, then create the action plans that come out of that.”
Wright will campaign on fiscal management and transparency with the voters. She said she was recently troubled by the council’s decision to approve a water booster station, which had approximately doubled in cost over the past year.
While Wright doesn’t take issue with the need for such an infrastructure project, defining where the money is coming from is important. She states that the project was slated to cost $1 million, yet the new price was over $2 million.
“It was decided to go ahead and spend that money with no clear path on how to spend that,” explained Wright. “I found that really disturbing. “I want to know where that money is coming from, and I think the taxpayer wants to know where that money is coming from.”
Brighton is undergoing infrastructure development, including the construction of a new long-term care home, a wastewater treatment facility, a fire hall in the south end, and a possible new recreational center.
Managing the projects without ballooning the tax rate, Wright believes, will be a balancing act. She is contesting for mayor against Brian Ostrander and Christina Bergmann. The election is Oct. 26.
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