Hey folks,

I'm Tavis Joron, and I've been showing up for this community for a while now, both online and in person; maybe you've crossed paths with me already, somewhere between Friends in Mississippi Mills, a night market, a Seedy Saturday, or just a conversation at the bakery or my front yard.

I'm putting my name forward to run for Pakenham Ward Councillor this fall.

Here's what I can tell you about how I operate, because it's the same whether I'm at council or in my own backyard:

• I listen before I talk. I'd rather be thorough than fast.
• I look for the common ground, even with people who start from a different place than I do; diversity of thought makes for better decisions, so I actively go looking for the perspectives I don't have.
• I'm level-headed, with a committed attention to the things that actually affect your daily life.
• I get a kick out of creating unconventional fixes to problems.
• I take the work seriously without taking myself too seriously. I'll do the homework, but I'll also say hi to you at Fred Millar Park, and I'll happily volunteer to be the one in a fair's dunk tank.

I haven't sat at the council table before, and a glossy platform isn't going to make up for that. What I can tell you is I've spent years on a committee with over a dozen different bargaining units at the table, all with different interests, all needing to land somewhere everyone could live with. That's the kind of consensus-building this seat needs, and it's work I already know how to do.

For now, here's what I'd ask: follow along with my page Elect Tavis Joron, and reach out and tell me what matters to you. Pakenham is its own amazing place, but it's also part of something bigger, and I want to hear how those two things connect for you. Start turning over the question of what you actually want in a councillor, too: what's worked for you, what hasn't, what you'd love to see more of. I'll be doing a lot of listening over the next while, and I want yours to be part of it.

More to come.
— Tavis