Municipal Election 2026: Caleb Lee Whidden Candidate for Ward 5

Join us for a special series of CAC: In Conversation, covering the 2026 Municipal Election in the Fundy Albert Region. 

In this conversation, we chat with Caleb Lee Whidden, Candidate for the position of Councillor of Ward 5.  

All candidates were given a list of potential questions at least 24 hours in advance of their interview and were asked the same questions. We have completed light editing for clarity, length, and sound quality. All views and opinions represented in the interviews are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect those of Connecting Albert County. 

Connecting Albert County thanks our presenting sponsor, the Bennett & Albert County Healthcare Foundation.

For more information on Connecting Albert County, please go to our website or find us on Facebook or Instagram.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome to Connecting Albert County in Conversation. This is a special series about the municipal elections that are happening in 2026 here in Funday Albert, where I am interviewing all the candidates that are running this time through in the election. I'm Melody, coordinator of CAC. And today I'm here with Caleb Lee Witten. He is a candidate to one of two for Ward 5. Thank you very much, Caleb. So as we begin, maybe you could just take a minute and tell us a little bit about yourself.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Yeah, absolutely. So happy to be here. Happy to be able to chat with you and be able to put my uh hopefully not so uh gross sounding sound waves out to all of the wonderful residents of Funday Alberts Wards one through six. So my name is Caleb Lee Witten. I currently live in Rosevale, which, if you know where that is, you'll know the nine houses, and I'm one of those nine. Um, and I am a self-employed subcontractor. This will be my third year in business, so I do a variety of skilled work. Uh before that, I was an industrial management specialist for more than eight years, so managing people, HR operations, and distribution and logistics environments. Uh, and I have bought a house as of seven years ago with my wife, who is native to this ward, uh and we have been living here ever since, making our uh paths in life connect to each other and to the wonderful people around this uh community, Nelbert County.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Super. So you mentioned um you have management background, working for yourself definitely takes a lot of drive and initiative. How would you describe your leadership style and how have you demonstrated that community leadership in the past?

SPEAKER_01 1:43

Yeah, so my leadership style, Melody, would be very down-to-earth. Um, in all of the teams that I've managed in the past and my past employers before I was self-employed, it was always um very important to me to be able to do every aspect of the job, be able to understand how each uh part of the wheel, so to speak, works before I would ask anybody to do anything. So if you were to talk to my past teams, they would tell you that I would be the first one to go to bat for them when they were being held to unrealistic expectations, but I would also be the first one to kind of say, hey, you know, uh you're you're falling short in a few areas, let's pick up the pace a little bit and make sure that we hit our targets. Um but yeah, dealing with uh with leadership in the community, um, I definitely try to step up wherever I can. Out here in ward five, specifically, I know we'll talk about uh all of the wards in a in a greater uh light, but specifically we will be addressing my ward. So it's very rural, it's not so urban. It's uh a lot of 910 and uh some 114 and virtual estates and a little bit of Caledonia Mountains. So it's very rural. And one of the ways that I take leadership in my ward is after uh there's a storm, uh I usually throw a chainsaw on the back of my truck and make sure that the roads are kept clean and free of debris, whether it's helping people who have been stranded because they didn't realize they're far from civilization out here and they don't have gas, uh just being a friendly neighbor, making sure that uh we keep an eye on the community and helping pitching in where we can. So very uh taking initiative. That's kind of the leadership style that I uh present uh to those I meet in this community and around.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

So whether you're in the workplace environment or serving on council, it doesn't matter the situation. We know that whenever there's more than one person in the room, there is potential for conflict. It is human nature. And whenever you have a large group of people and you're representing a large group of people, the opportunity for conflict is almost sure to arise. And that can be a positive thing. Conflict can lead us into positive growth. How do you handle conflict in particular? And how do you navigate uh an environment where there can be conflict quite often?

SPEAKER_01 3:40

Yeah, good question. And being um very experienced in people management, and uh I think of back when I was a fleet manager for a distribution company managing four departments, 17 employees, you would oftentimes get people with personalities that would not mesh. And you have to understand how to use their personality strengths to uh your advantage while making sure that uh communication is clear. So, how I deal with that, uh Melody, is making sure that uh there's there's lots of respectful open debate. I mean, I don't think we get anything accomplished unless we talk about it, and I am all for talking about it. Uh and I just want to take this uh opportunity as well, just to uh meant to do this in the beginning, but just to uh uh give my best wishes to the other candidates, um, especially the one in Ward 5, Rebecca Davis. She's doing a phenomenal job. Uh so I just want to shout her out really quick and I really appreciate the work that she's doing and uh good luck to you. Uh but yeah, dealing with uh conflict and conflict resolution, you have to be organized, be willing to uh take constructive criticism. That's something that I take very well. I'm always looking to improve upon myself, develop professionally, and take constructive criticism where necessary. So these are all important aspects, I think.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

All of those skills being said, why did you decide to use those skills and abilities and decide to run for council in this particular municipal election?

SPEAKER_01 4:55

Yeah, the big million dollar question. So this is a really important topic to me. And the why for me is because I believe we need strong youth representation. I believe that uh, of course, uh it will help us to pave the way for our local communities to thrive, uh see our way of life protected, respected, and prosperous uh under common sense policies and clear communication. And I think the drive and determination, a lot of my uh peers um have been inspired by that. And uh, you know, I've grown up in this community and uh I know I can make a difference and I'm going to.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

So, what have you been doing to run for municipal office? What have you been doing to prepare yourself and uh hit the ground running here?

SPEAKER_01 5:35

Yeah, yeah, good question. So I have uh partnered with some of my close friends over at Allegra Printing. Uh, I've got some uh some merchandise available that I've been passing out, uh, just with some of my campaign information on it. I've been very busy door-to-door making sure that I uh reintroduce myself to those who don't know me and talking and having conversations with people that I haven't talked to in a while, making sure that I know what's important to them. Um, and then being honest and transparent about where I'm at and why I'm doing this and what I will do if elected, um, and uh making sure that I'm uh keeping up to date with all proper legislation, uh best uh standards, uh operating procedures and practices. And uh sometimes it can be a little tricky finding out information that you need to, but um I've definitely been diligent in finding it out when I need to.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

So, what is your platform that you're running on, or if you haven't had a chance to develop it yet, um the most pressing issues that you see for Funday Albert?

SPEAKER_01 6:28

Yeah, good question. So we'll hit on a lot of these a little bit later on, Melody. But for me, the kind of, if you were to ask my general, like my opening statement, um, since we, as you know, recently amalgamated, my top priority if elected will be restoring trust and accountability in our municipality. Um, you know, uh, we need to make sure that as time goes on, we flesh out what this really looks like and our services remain and surpass expectations and that the daily lives of everybody are better.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

We do know that time is a precious commodity, and serving in municipal council and a municipal government can be incredibly time consuming. There are multiple meetings per month, various times of the day and evening, as well as community events, boards to sit on, other projects that come up. Can you speak to any concerns that voters might have about how you will manage your time and how available you'll be to serve your constituents?

SPEAKER_01 7:23

Yeah, very important to make sure that uh if you're gonna vote for someone, they're gonna be uh able to put in the time to uh be present and involved and uh instrumental to their ward and their area, the region that uh you will be representing. Uh so just to kind of maybe quell some of those concerns. If you don't know me, uh I am self-employed, so I do have some leeway with my scheduling. Um, and as I'm aware and have been researching on council meetings, there is lots of flexibility and communication. It is uh put ahead, you know, uh usually set in stone ahead of time. Uh so you know, it's just being proactive, making sure that you're organized. And these are things that I will be doing, and I have no issue with the uh the time constraint there.

unknown 7:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

Thank you. Earlier this year, there was a lot of discussion around mandatory training for municipal counselors, the availability of said training, um, all those sorts of things. It was all over the news and social media. Are you for or against required training? And have you done any training that has been offered?

SPEAKER_01 8:20

Yeah, no. So I think I would be for it 100%. I have not done any at this point. Um, I will say that I consume information on a daily basis. I I mentioned earlier, just before we we went live here, that I do enjoy learning uh and I'm always open to uh making sure that I'm uh being the best at what I can be. Obviously, as a self-employed subcontractor, I need to make sure that my practices are are held up to the industry standard, both safety-wise and uh quality-wise. So, you know, if there's a practice that comes out on how to best do a piece of of my job or a project, I'm gonna be uh involved in making sure that I learn that and I get the proper tools to be able to do that. So when it comes to uh in the same way, uh I will be very diligent in making sure that I do the same thing.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

Thank you very much. Related to that question is issues around familiarity with uh policy and procedure. So the New Brunswick Local Governance Act is the primary legislation governing the municipalities, rural communities, and regional districts. And it had some major changes to it in 2023, following the major reform that did happen in the areas of regional service delivery changes, uh, local governance commission that was brand new, and the restructuring of local service districts. The act does set the framework for council powers, financial duties, and bylaws. Can you share with your constituents your level of familiarity with the New Brunswick Local Governance Act?

SPEAKER_01 9:44

Yeah, absolutely. Please don't ask me to stand on one leg and recite it by heart because I will not decide that.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

I have seen the document and read it myself.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Yeah, it's quite long, it's quite extensive. Um, but yeah, yeah, so I'm I'm familiar with it. I've been rereading through it, um, and uh that will be evident in some of my answers uh to later questions on how I work that information in. But yeah, just specifically, so the section section 10 when it talks about bylaws, making sure that I'm aware of what uh what those are, how to amend those bylaws in section 20. I'm thinking about the duties of a counselor as listed in section 48 and then in section 63 in the process of council meetings. So I've been going over all of these things, making sure that I am up to speed and uh yeah, reading through this thoroughly.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

Moving into the area of transparency and conflicts of interest. And you did mention transparency in uh your previous when you were talking about your why and platforms and that sort of thing. There have been many public conversations around concerns in regards to transparency of local council and perceived conflicts of interest that have occurred around decision making of counselors. It's an uncomfortable conversation to have, but one that the public is very engaged with. What is your response to the concern of the public in these areas?

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Yeah, no, I'm not I'm not uncomfortable at all when it comes to this. As a matter of fact, I am uh right there with the public. I want to ensure that there is uh very large uh investigations with each council member. I want to make sure that uh transparency is number one. If there's a conflict of interest, I think there should be no favoritism involved. I think there should be no uh exceptions. Uh a conflict of interest is a conflict of interest. And I wish um, you know, maybe provincially and federally it was as scrutinized as maybe municipally would be. But uh yeah, no, it's it's extremely important to me. I've been open and transparent uh since the start. I will continue to do so throughout my platform.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

If you are the successful candidate, how do you feel you will hold yourself transparent and avoid conflicts of interest and institutionalize that in your work on municipal campuses?

SPEAKER_01 11:46

I think uh it's a good question. So I think a lot of it has to do with conversations around the table with the other counselors. I mean, obviously I can hold myself to account because of my morals. I do have principle. It's very important to me. I mean, uh, I know you don't know me personally, but those who do know me personally in my ward, um, they have seen what my hard work has achieved. And I'm not perfect, of course, but I live my life by a set of uh values and by rules. And I uh I would do the same in council. And that being said, as well, it's very important to surround yourself with those in government, especially locally, uh, who have the same values. That is how you best uh protect against conflict of interest and making sure that your your fellow councilmen uh don't uh you know miss the mark in seeing something that could be perceived as a conflict of interest when maybe they they genuinely don't see it. Uh there's a great group of candidates out there. I've talked to many of them already, um, uh, and I think it would be uh a very good group of people coming into this, uh being very uh effective and making sure that we're all held to the same account.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

Moving forward in our conversation, um, we'll be speaking to a variety of files that the municipality holds. I've grouped them into bunches as best I can based upon the feedback I had from the community. So uh it will be more of the back and forth question and answer as we continue. The in regards to the nature and environmental concerns, the village of Funde Albert has a lot of resources, as we know, but perhaps the most obvious is our connection to the natural environment. And in fact, it is so significant that when the rebranding happened for Funday Albert, it is highlighted in the tagline friendly by nature. We're also part of the UNESCO Funday Biosphere region, which is a huge and globally significant designation. How do you see the municipality's role in maintaining, managing, and utilizing our natural resources?

SPEAKER_01 13:36

Yeah, good question. So, very important would be my quick answer. My long answer is um so dealing with my ward specifically, ward five, I don't know how much you know about my ward um where it is very rural, there's actually quite a lot of industry that takes place. So there's multiple pits. Uh Phillips Bros has a pit, uh, Birch Hill has a pit. Uh, we have uh Fresh Springs, we have uh log trucks coming up and down our roads. So when I was speaking to my constituents, um, you know, people in my area, they were really driving home that the the people that come here and they and they work in in our ward and in uh in our communities with whatever it is, whether it's whether it's hauling rock or or wood or harvesting, uh, whatever they may be doing, making sure that their companies are are being held accountable to these safety standards. And that comes from our level of government by being open and honest with them, being transparent, communicating best practices to them. So it's very important for us at a local level to be involved. Um, I'm good friends with a lot of the people in Phillips Bros. I'm good friends with a lot of the people. I mean, I've cut wood in these hills for years, so I know a lot of the people that are in and out of these hills, and it's important to maintain relationships with them so that we make sure that we treat our uh treat our uh our ward uh and our municipality respectfully uh so that we can we can gather those resources and an economic benefit to our community uh while maintaining uh that uh the ecosphere.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

Okay, thank you. And specifically, a question that has kept coming up, and so I will share it with you, is in the area of spraying of glycophates to our forests. What are your thoughts about that issue?

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Yeah, I can't can't wait to answer this one. I am 100% against the spraying of glycophates. So um, if you're in Ward 5 or any of the municipalities, you're like, oh, I wonder where Caleb Wooden stands on the spraying, I'm 100% against it. Uh any legislation that comes forward or an opportunity to vote against it. Um I know that's generally the pro province's jurisdiction, but uh yeah, you'll you'll have you'll have an advocate with me.

SPEAKER_00 15:27

Regarding the housing poverty and cost of living, I've plumped those together as one file. And there is always a lot of discussion around the challenges of living in general. The cost of living, I think, has increased in almost unprecedented ways in recent years, and it is a huge impact on the residents of our village. Precarious housing is also a major problem, and some statistics suggest that a significant number of our residents are within only a couple of paychecks at to be at risk of homelessness or being displaced. There's been an increased use of food banks, other food security resources, and I could go on and on. How have you or how will you use the full range of your municipalities' tools and resources to increase access to affordable housing, reduce or eliminate homelessness, increase food security, or in general have a positive effect in any area of poverty reduction?

SPEAKER_01 16:26

Yep, good question. So, first let's establish some ground rules. So at a municipal level, although I don't, if if elected, I wouldn't have the ability to control income or social programs under the Local Governments Act. Here's what I will do. Here's what I do have the authority to do. Firstly, it would be speed of approvals. So cutting red tape, um, that is the first thing that would have a very practical down-to-earth benefit. Um, making sure that um we would um cut those red tape for things like mixed developments and that would help with the housing situation, making sure that we keep good relationships with nonprofits, developers. I mean, many of these people who are building these houses, they're they're real life people. They have homes. You talk to them every day as they're buying their material and as they're coordinating their jobs, and you need to make sure that you maintain good relationships with them so that you can make sure that you're representing well. Uh, so yeah, being clear with communication, cutting red tape, and making sure that zoning laws are in a way that benefits the people who need to live.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

Piggybacking off of that, what do you see as the municipal council's role in regards to economic development and the best ways to grow the community?

SPEAKER_01 17:31

Yeah, great question. So, what my focus is going to be on this is gonna be reliable uh infrastructure. We need consistent rules. If you don't have consistent rules, um then everybody's wondering where you know where the rules are at. And you need to have consistent rules, approvals, um making sure that things are fast-tracked again, as I mentioned, no red tape. What I am not for is over-regulation, delays, and favoritism. Uh so when it comes to economic development, one of the big areas that um I'll just touch on briefly, there is a petition right now, I believe, by James Wilson to make the Kent uh the Kent Hills wind farm as part of the municipality. Um the province currently has jurisdiction over this. I would be 100% in favor of this. I mean, it's in my, it's it's literally across the road from me. Um, this would be a huge benefit to our community. And I have heard uh and I experienced it firsthand. Um about two years ago, for those who don't know, all of the concrete forms for those windmills had to be completely torn down and redone. One actually fell. Um, and when a windmill falls in the woods, you do hear it. So there's that. Um funny tree joke for you. But um, yeah, they had to they had to come up and they had to completely redo that. It was a it was a company from Ontario, Bird Construction, and they were up and down these roads, tearing them apart all hours of the day and night, concrete trucks, water trucks, heavy equipment haulers. So what we received from that were very terrible roads and not much revenue uh from it. Uh none. So yeah, I think when when it comes to economic development, um you'll you'll have a strong voice for me in advocating for projects like that that would bring economic prosperity back to our municipality and let us distribute it to the community.

SPEAKER_00 19:02

Okay. Thank you. Moving into the arts, culture, and history file. Do you think that history, art, and culture add value to the municipality? And if so, how?

SPEAKER_01 19:15

Yeah, no, absolutely they do. So I'll be the first to say that I'm not a very artsy person. Okay. I do some stick figures. That's about it. Um, but yeah, we absolutely need to attract tourism. I'm thinking in Hildebroke specifically, uh, there's some great places there with some awesome local people. You know, we need to be proud of our culture. And I actually do have a story. So my wife's great-grandfather went by the name of John Weir. And this was years and years and years ago. And I don't know, maybe if you're a hardcore local, you'll know the story, but um he was accidentally shot in the woods in the wintertime in his homestead in Lower Turtle Creek. Uh, he was shot by his brother, I believe it was. And unfortunately, the train wasn't running. So by the time he was able to be shipped into town, he unfortunately lost his leg. So, with the help of a local blacksmith in Elgin, they fashioned together a peg leg for him where he lived out the rest of his life. And that peg leg is in the Albert County Museum. So, really cool little story. Um, and you can actually go there and read that. You can look it up online, and that is my wife's great-grandfather. So I think it's really, really cool to have pieces like that, these crazy stories from uh locals who have lived long ago and they they were resilient and they were tough, and they were just, you know, you can't imagine the things that they would do. So I think culture is extremely important, and we need to make sure our local businesses and community spaces have the support to make sure our heritage is seen, appreciated, supported, and respected.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

How do you think the municipality plays a role in that and engaging with the history, arts, and culture files? Uh, off the top of my head, through things like strategic planning, policy, investment, programming, so on and so forth?

SPEAKER_01 20:53

Yeah, so good question as well. I think from a very kind of low level, it comes from uh being involved. I mean, uh, if you live in the area and you haven't taken in some of the uh the places that we have in regards to culture, I think you should. I think you are missing an opportunity. Um, and even some things that are, you know, uh maybe they don't seem very exciting, or you know, oh, I can't take the kids to that because, you know, they'll be bored within an hour. Well, I think it's it's it's our job to educate our kids and our families on the things that are important. And from a municipal standpoint, it is it is important to make sure that we take a look at, and I will, if elected, uh, strategic funding to make sure that these uh companies continue to do what they do and make sure that they do it well for years to come.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

In regards to infrastructure, we know roads are always a concern. You've mentioned it before. And if you can go anywhere in Funday Albert right now, that's probably going to be one of the first things off of people's lips because of the time of year that it is. How have you or how will you utilize the full range of the municipality's tools and resources in managing, maintaining, or improving important municipal infrastructure? Or Potentially developing new projects and initiatives.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

Yeah, great question. So, yeah, this is the forefront of my campaign, definitely one of the hard hitters, something that I've been talking to everybody about. Everybody's got an opinion on it. And it's great. It gives me good feedback. It allowed me to put together an observation in a case study and be able to say, okay, you know, what could we do about this? And my approach has never changed. But just to kind of lay it out a little bit, kind of give it to you, my approach is from a municipal level, so what we control is local planning and budgeting. So maintenance and budgeting, those are the things we control. And my approach will be to prioritize maintenance over flashy projects. So yeah, flashy projects are nice to have, but we need culverts so that the water can drain properly so the frost doesn't heave the road up and break it into a million pieces. And we need potholes fixed. What that also looks like is having good communication and a good relationship with those people in the trucks fixing the roads. If you're driving by, uh, you know, saying, hey, you need to fix the road a little faster and it's 35 degrees out and it's, you know, just starting your day, they're probably not gonna take too kindly of that. And you know, that that does have a trickle effect in a way, but uh making sure that we put our allocated uh funds to use and make sure that the roads are maintained properly. That is gonna be my approach.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

And in regards to alternate alternate infrastructure, we know now because of amalgamation, we have um infrastructure from you know one side of Riverview all the way down to Alma, and that includes things like municipal buildings and structures and that sort of thing. Do you have anything to add um in excess of road development?

SPEAKER_01 23:32

Yeah, so I I guess what I would say to that is although maintenance would be my first priority, what I have mentioned to people as well is yeah, we do need those infrastructure projects, and that would that would be my my number two. So while other people may be focused on some other long-term projects, which are great, the number two thing that we will need is the infrastructure. I'm specifically thinking of things like bridges. So on the on the 910 specifically, uh, we've just had uh a small bridge repaired, but before that, all of our bridges are rated. I don't know if you guys know this or not, uh if the listeners know, but they're all rated on the government's website. And technically, if they're below, I believe it's 75%, they're supposed to be repaired. Well, for the longest time, Melody, for for a stone throw down the road from my house, the bridge was sitting at like a 45%. The ballasts were showing, like it was terrible. Uh, we finally were able to get that repaired. Uh, I was one of the ones that made a couple of phone calls and said, hey, you know, listen, we need to get an inspector out here. This is this is bad. Um, but yeah, those bridges uh and infrastructure are extremely important. Sometimes I feel like uh, you know, they get overlooked, and I understand resources can be tight and budgets can be overlooked sometimes or overexpenditured, but uh those are very important, and I will continue to look at each and every one of those in all the small corners of our wonderful county.

SPEAKER_00 24:44

As we wrap up our conversation today, um, is there anything we haven't covered that you want municipal residents to know about you and your bid in this election?

SPEAKER_01 24:53

Yeah, um, I guess I would just kind of like to speak a little bit um to my roots. So yeah, I've been in Albert County my whole life. I've got family in Culpin Settlement, Little River, Parkendale. Um, and you know, as I married my wife from Turtle Creek, and uh she's got lots of family out this way. So I've I've always been around here, specifically in Rosevale, in the last eight years. If if the people in this area know, you know, they're kind of saying, okay, I want a little bit of a deeper picture of who Caleb Whitten is and what are we going to get if we vote for him. Well, there is not, I I would dare say there's probably not a hill in Albert County that I have have not tricked. And my my approach and and my my feeling is I want to serve this community because I love it so much. You know, I often hear the tagline, I'm sure you're aware, Albert County, and then underneath for marketing purposes, God's country. And I love that because I'm a Christian, first of all, but second of all, it's beautiful. I mean, I there is not a hill that I haven't snowshoed, uh, cross-country skied. I'm a I'm a huge uh supporter of Club 20. I snowmobile every year, helping maintain the trails and making sure that the the cabins are stocked with firewood. And it never ceases to amaze me that you can be walking, snowshoeing through a valley in the midst of a ridge, and then all of a sudden, an hour later, you look back and you're halfway up a switchback and you're like, how did I get here? And this is the this is the the beauty of our landscape here. We have natural springs, hardwood, we have pits, we have industry, kind people, and community that feels like home. And that's why I want to do this. I want to do this because I want my kid, I have a son, his name is Jack, he's 10 months old, and he's already running. My goodness. But I want him to grow up in the same land that I appreciated, that I worked off of, that I harvested my firewood from, that I was able to see the sunset over the tops of the mountain and snowshoe and appreciate the wildlife while keeping what matters close to home and being respectful of it. So that's why I'm doing this, and I hope that gives the listeners a little bit of a better picture of who I am, um, a little bit of my character. Um, I've been consistent in working for myself and in my professional career. I've I've not been perfect, but I've always been consistent. And that is what you will get uh with Caleb Whitney. I am black and white, um, clear as they come. So that's a little bit about me.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

Awesome. Thank you. And I think that is a great place to wrap up our conversation today, Caleb. Otherwise, we could be here all evening, and I'm sure you have other places to be as well. But I thank you so much for your time. This uh was very informative, and I hope that our listeners found so as well. So I do appreciate it. Um, part of what we're trying to do with Connecting Albert County and doing these interviews is to one educate people that the election is happening, educate them on the issues, and so people can get out there and vote and vote with information in their pocket. And so that's what we're hoping to do. So thank you for being a part of that.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

Absolutely. All my best to you and the other candidates, and I appreciate your time so very much. We'll see you on the flip side.

SPEAKER_00 27:54

We will see you then. Thank you so much. This is Melody from Connecting Elbert County, and uh stay tuned for the next interview.