Garry Herring has announced he’ll be seeking re-election as chair of Murray Harbour community council.
Herring has served as council chair for the past two years and said, in that time, the community has seen a new ball hockey rink, children’s playground and dog park.
After stating the village had a banner summer for tourism, Herring said he would like to continue improving on that.
He would also like to see the land of the former seafood processing plant developed, possibly into a 50-unit seniors home.
“When people get an ailment or they’re not feeling well, they head to Charlottetown and they’re gone from the community forever,” said Herring. “I lived in a community all my life and there was an opportunity to stay and be taken care of, I would take that.”
Herring was born and raised in P.E.I. He commercially fished lobster and was a tourism operator in the area before moving to Ontario for more than 20 years.
In addition to serving on Murray Harbour community council, Herring was previously a councillor in Peterborough, Ont. where he represented about 18,000 constituents.
He said that experience made him a good candidate to serve his hometown community once he returned to P.E.I.
“I came back to help Murray Harbour. I know a lot of ways to get money from the federal and provincial governments after being up there (in Ontario),” he said.
Herring also said he wanted to oversee the completion of Murray Harbour’s new bridge.
One of his key priorities would be working with other Kings County communities to push for a clinic in nearby Murray River, restore services at Kings County Memorial Hospital and expand services in Souris.
