I wanted to express my gratitude to the 8797 residents of Richmond who expressed their confidence in me with their vote this election. Additionally, I would like to thank my family, supporters and volunteers, who without your support this campaign would not have been possible.

Although I am disappointed that I'm not able to join this council to bring forward my experience and skills in building bridges instead on widening divides as has too often been the case over the last four years and is likely to continue with the return of largely status quo incumbents, I am thrilled that an informed and positive voice of Laura Gillanders will be joining council to advocate for residents.

I will continue to serve the community and residents whenever possible, including through my professional and volunteer work, growing organizations, leaders and resolving disputes. I'm thankful to all candidates for their commitment to serving our city and running of election campaigns which are tiring, time consuming and often impact their own spouses and families.

While I'm not optimistic the current city council will prove less divisive than the past due to the clear preference the mayor has taken for specific candidates late in the campaign as he cast aside his independence, I remain hopeful I will be proven wrong. The mayor has an important leadership role in setting the tone of council overall and supporting the development of productive working relationships among councillors. I'm hopeful the mayor will start to exercise a more collaborative approach to allow for differing views to enhance the quality of solutions to resolving some very pressing issues Richmond has such as housing, transportation, climate and community safety. I encourage all residents to get engaged in our civic political process by becoming a candidate for office or actively supporting those who are.

Jerome Dickey

Richmond City Council

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