While rumours around town have swirled regarding Nick Brindisi’s run for council, he says the truth is very simple.
Brindisi put his name in as a councillor candidate back in July but since then, things have picked up for his local business NAKB Design. He’s also the race director for the Collingwood Half Marathon, which takes place on Oct. 6.
“My business has taken a huge upswing, so that, along with this race coinciding with campaigning time for the election... it’s just a huge thing. So I didn’t really have time to campaign,” he said when reached for an interview on Friday.
“I’d have more time to be a councillor than I do to campaign,” laughs Brindisi. “It just ended up that way.”
Brindisi has lived in Collingwood all his life, aside from a short stint in Toronto, and feels that being on council is something to which his experience could lend itself.
“I met with quite a few friends who had suggested I run because I do so much in town anyway. I’m involved in so many different things... from coaching Special Olympics to coaching soccer for 16 years, a lot of charities and different things I do around town. They kind of talked me into running,” he laughs.
While he’s disappointed he hasn’t been able to afford the time toward active campaigning, he sees his business doing well as a positive as there have been times in his life where his business has seen hardship.
“It’s a good thing, and a bad thing,” says Brinidisi. “I have to pay the bills and I had a really rough ride through the recession in 2008. I’ve been self-employed since 2001. When things go really well, I have to really go after it.”
Brindisi says when he went downtown and spoke to the town clerk about withdrawing from the election race due to his increasingly busy schedule, he was told he can’t withdraw at this point according to municipal election law.
“I’ll still be on the ballot, but I'm not actively campaigning right now,” he says. “It’s something I’d love to do and I think I’d be a great councillor and a good asset to the town, it’s just that at this particular juncture, things got a little out of hand with my business.”
Looking to the future, Brindisi says he’d definitely put his name forward again in 2022.
“The fact of the matter is, I have a really long history in this town. Even just with my name on the ballot I might still get lucky,” he laughs, adding that if he were voted in despite not campaigning, he would still accept the position.
“I would, because I know I can do good,” he says. “It’s just that this time... I’m being torn in 15 directions at once. It was kind of unexpected and it just all mounted in a hurry.”
“You just never know what life’s going to throw at you.”
