The Mayor-elect of Stratford took to social media on Tuesday to express his gratitude to everyone who voted for him.
Martin Ritsma says on Monday night he spent two hours alone in his “own space” to reflect while waiting for the results to come in.
Ritsma says when he learned of his election win, his first emotion was a feeling of being humbled. He said he paused and regrouped because when, “You invest that much time and not only during the campaign and it’s a crazy amount of work, but work I was blessed to do. But the work over the last 35 to 40 years in the community it’s kind of a culmination of that work and it’s kind of like getting the ‘Amen” from our residents that yes, we believe that you know, you can be an effective leader on our behalf.”
Ritsma also thanked the city clerk’s office, the staff, and volunteers for their work during the election and sent a congratulatory message to all the candidates who have been elected to council.
Although he ran into a lot of people on the campaign trail, he said housing is number one on the minds of Stratford residents, whether that is housing for the homeless or housing for youth at ShelterLink, or people just trying to find rental units, and seniors who are looking to downsize.
But Ritsma also tackled transparency at City Hall. A review last week revealed that most public motions to move into closed sessions failed to meet transparency requirements under Ontario’s Municipal Act. Ritsma says council can do a better job and that part of his job will be to “sort that out”. He says he recognizes the concerns around transparency and wants to remain open for conversation and understands his job is to represent all citizens of Stratford, whether they voted for him or not.
Ritsma will be sworn in as Mayor of Stratford later in November.
To watch his Instagram post from Tuesday click here
