
Photo by Erik Gingles.
Erik Gingles has entered the race to become Mayor of Moncton in the upcoming municipal elections.
Gingles is the founder of Greater Moncton Area video news website, BuzzLocal and says it has allowed him to connect with the community.
While he has minimal political experience, Erik Gingles says he’s previously been involved in campaigns, ‘off and on’.
“Shawn Graham was a friend of mine from university. We lived in Japan, my wife and I, for 9 years. And his wife, she was there for 7 of those 9 years. So when we came back from Japan, he was just getting started so we could kind of get a sense and were able to help him at that time which was kind of fun,” he says.
Having covered city council meetings with BuzzLocal for a number of years, Gingles says resident’s ideas or concerns often go unacknowledged.
“They have online opportunities to say things, which is great but it doesn’t really give an opportunity to state your point of view, it says ‘here’s our point of view with Point A or Point B, which one do you like better’. A lot of people have great ideas and I would really like to see those come forward,” says Gingles.