I would like to take this opportunity to thank the residents of Guelph for their continuing support over the last 8 years. It has been my honour and privilege to represent Ward 2.
I started this blog early in my first term to engage our community in something new called social media. It was the first blog by an elected official in the City of Guelph, and indeed, one of the first by a politician in Canada.
It was a steep learning curve for myself and the City of Guelph. At the time, the City did not have a social media presence. No Facebook, no Twitter, no Linkedin and certainly no policy guiding staff and elected officials for such.
We have certainly come a long way since then. The City of Guelph now has a guiding policy and an active presence on social media. The City has almost 16,000 followers on Twitter.
Much of the early content of this blog came from internal staff information memos and by your emails and letters to me and Council. What maintained the authenticity of this blog in my opinion, was it’s unfiltered content. I did not edit for spellin, grammar or whether I agreed with the author. Many times, emails were unflattering or even hostile towards me. This is how life is in public office and this is what I believed, you needed to see.
The Ward 2 Blog was always intended to be a collaborative dialogue between your two Ward 2 Council representatives and you. It started with Councillor Vicki Beard and myself. Vicki was very involved in the pollinator community and contributed many opinion pieces posted here.
After the 2010 election, I offered to work with Councillor Van Hellemond on the newly renamed Deuce. He declined. Not sure if he knew what I was referring to. Maybe still doesn’t.
I am now offering it to your 2014-2018 Ward 2 representatives to continue this honest and authentic engagement.
Councillor James Gordon has readily agreed to take on this challenge.
So after 8 years and 4600 posts (almost 2 per day), 526,000 views (180 per day average) and 4500 comments (lead by Ron, Don, and John), I happily hand over the reigns to Councillor Gordon.
Best of luck Sir and thank you.
The Deuce wouldn’t be the success it is today without the continuing support of our subscribers and readers. It is to you that I am truly thankful.
I hope that the Deuce continues to be your valued community resource for Ward 2 information and discussion.
Ciao for now,
ian