Cornwall Ontario — Stephanie White is withdrawing her name for a City Council bid, although her name may still appear on the ballot.

According to the City of Cornwall website:

September 12, 2014

Nomination Day – 8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
City Clerk’s Office, City Hall, 360 Pitt Street

Last day for filing or withdrawing nominations or withdrawing from one office, and filing a nomination for another office.

Here is Stephanie White’s press release to media and candidates:

To all council candidates and residents of Cornwall:

When my name was submitted to run for a council seat I believed at that time I would be able to dedicate 100% of my time, if elected, to serving the residents of Cornwall to the best of my abilities. I believed I would no longer have to travel far from home for my work as a Business Intelligence consultant. This belief was amiss and as fate would have it, I will soon be away from Cornwall for extended periods, far too often to provide the dedicated effort I feel is a responsibility for city council.

Given this, I am withdrawing my name from any consideration for a council seat as I do not want to be a distraction from the important issues that face the electorate for the remaining candidates.

I will now take the opportunity to congratulate the majority of the previous council on a job well done and wish them the best in their quest to return.

Going forward, I ask all Candidates to keep the level of debate professional and focused on Cornwall’s future while balancing all of our resident’s needs and not on self interest groups. Ask yourself what your true motivation is for running. If they are not for the greater interests of all residents, withdraw. If you truly have what it takes to balance the needs of business, city administration and residents, from our youth who will be the future leaders through our seniors who may be struggling on fixed incomes, make sure they are all considered.

I ask the residents of Cornwall to be as informed as possible before they vote. Please understand what each candidate stands for and whether they consistently work to balance benefits for all residents. Take the time to listen to the debates or watch them on our local cable channel.

I would ask the new council support that part of my platform to improve activities for our youth and further engage them. Make it easier for parents to access facilities for local sporting activities and expand those activities currently available. Provide proper outdoor rinks that allow hockey games to break out spontaneously – are we a hockey town or not? Start a mentoring program to engage students from High Schools and/or St. Lawrence College that would introduce them early on how business and the city works, a program that should be led by example by the new councilors.

Thank you to those who encouraged me to run and showed tremendous support. Mostly I thank the residents I had the privilege to talk to in my limited time. Your comments and knowledge are a tremendous resource that our new Council must definitely tap into.

Thank you all, I remain yours truly

Stephanie White