As she found out, running a campaign to win a seat on St. Thomas municipal council is hard work.
For Tara McCaulley, who had originally hoped to enter municipal politics in 2026, the hard work paid off Monday evening. She captured the eighth and final councillor seat by the slimmest of margins, edging out Earl Taylor by five votes.
An early priority for the newly elected city councillor is housing options. Specifically accessory dwelling units. These include an apartment over a garage, a tiny house on a foundation in the backyard and a basement apartment. McCaulley suggests information on these options should be readily available on the city website.
McCaulley has worked at the St. Thomas Economic Development Corporation (EDC) since 2014. Most recently, she was the Manager at the Small Business Enterprise Centre – a branch of the EDC and the City of St. Thomas – since 2016. With her election win, it means she will not be going back to her position.
McCaulley says explains that she wants to be accessible to the residents of St. Thomas.
McCaulley says there was a strong field of candidates to choose from this year.
In St. Thomas, the voter turnout was 30.6%, the second lowest in the past 60 years. The lowest was 29.3% in 1970.
