Kelly Elliott is the Deputy Mayor for the Municipality of Thames Centre, as well as Councillor with Middlesex County. She is a member of the Women’s Caucus of Middlesex County Council, Director with both the Ontario Good Roads Association and Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Board Member of the Middlesex-London Health Unit. She sits on various Committees both on a local and federal level. Outside of her Council duties, Kelly is a business owner and a proud baseball/hockey/soccer Mom of two kids who spends most of her free time watching her kids play.
Twitter: @kellyelliottmcm
Deadly Roulette by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3625-deadly-roulette
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
To frame the conversation below are some topic areas.The first half of the show is standardized (more or less) with each guest talking through these themes.
- The first part begins with you, as we introduce you as the guest. Who are you? What is your day job (if not a full time politician)? How do you engage the community? Why did you run for council? What drives you?
- Who are your people? If you represent a ward/whole community what does it look like (urban, suburban, rural)? Who are your constituents – what do they do for a living, what are the issues you see in your inbox or talking to people week in and out.
- Describe your municipality as a whole. Paint a picture for someone who has not been to your town or community before or has only seen it as a sign on the side of a road. What is working, and what is not, what are you building towards? .
- You are the first deputy mayor we have had on so what does a Deputy Mayor do in Thames Centre?
- What is your region, what is in common/different between your community and your neighbourhood? Most municipalities are a part of some upper tier government, how does your community fit into that upper tier?
- Finally, how does your community and constituents fit into SW Ontario as a whole? Why should someone in Kitchener or London (as examples) care about your community? What should a Torontonian know about your community and why it is important?
The second half of the show is a bit more political/policy related. We may not get to all of these topics and this might not be the order we discuss them in.
- COVID Impacts on Thames Centre?
- What would be talking about if COVID didn’t happen?
- Female elected officials banding together forming a woman’s caucus
- Your council make up seems to be unique where Mayor and Deputy Mayor are female and the rest of council are male.
- Can you talk about that Council Dynamic at all?
- Your council make up seems to be unique where Mayor and Deputy Mayor are female and the rest of council are male.
- Provincial Budget is March 24th, anything you are watching for?
- The relationship with London? Directly the City.
- Rural Broadband – SWIFT investment?
- Where do you want Thames Centre to be in 10 or 20 years? What are the Challenges/Opportunities
- Magic policy wand – change one thing, what do you change and why?
Thames Centre
SW Ontario Council Watcher 