Town Council:
PENELOPE BRACKETT, Candidate for Bovina Town Council
Why I’m running
I came to Bovina for the beauty, but I’m staying for the community, people willing to give your car a jump, share a bumper crop of squash, or post-storm internet access. In two short years, I’ve found so many opportunities to participate in the community – moderating a primary debate for congressional candidates, running the scarecrow contest for Bovina Farm Day, helping get out the vote as a Bovina Representative of the Delaware County Democratic Committee, making black-eyes peas for the Bovina Historical Society crockpot cookoff and working with the Bovina Collaborative launching a Folk Art show and kids activities.
I jumped in with both feet because community is what makes a place a home. And you take care of your home. Running for council, I get to talk to more people about what’s important to them – everyday realities like restoring the playground with a shady place to chat and a reliable fence, repairing the sidewalks, paving the roads, and developing reliable cell service.
Like most places, people can feel their differences acutely, whether they are city people or country people, here for 200 years or 2 years. It’s a challenge to get beyond our assumptions: conservative, liberal, democrat, republican, independent, young, old. As a member of the council, I will find ways to bring people together, to get beyond our assumptions, to foster and fulfill our vision, and to make a great place even better. People around here value the beauty and the community and that’s something we all have in common. And that’s why I’m running for council.