Creative and critical thinking are keys to Dennis Fudge's candidacy for the School District 57 board of trustees.
"I always tell people I don't have a platform. I'm pretty wide, I cover all angles," says Fudge, who is a first-time candidate, though he says he's considered it for the past two elections. "There's so many issues out there that there should be no reason to be focused on one direction. You've got to be flexible to drop things and jump on it or whatever's required at the time."
Fudge says his background as an air quality meteorologist makes him adept at finding patterns and noticing irregularities - a skill he expects would come in handy as a trustee.
"I spot things that people normally don't spot."
He also draws from seven years spent sitting on District 57's Parent Advisory Council and says it's important that the seven trustees come from a breadth of backgrounds.
"I'm looking at it from the parents side of things," says Fudge who has both a son and daughter in the school system. "You really need different angles to get different opinions."
There are a couple things voters should consider Nov. 15, which he says set him apart from the other candidates.
"One, I'm more vocal. Two, I'm very creative. I could come up with innovative ways of pulling things off."
Though he doesn't consider debate his strong point, he says his deep-thinking approach would complement the board.
"If you don't have people challenging other people, there's really no reason to improve. That's the way I usually am. I'm constantly thinking of how to better do something. I'm a critical thinker."
Fudge says voters shouldn't take his joking Newfoundland nature as a sign that he isn't serious about his candidacy.
"I am serious [about running] even though I do like to make somebody smile, but unfortunately making someone laugh costs me votes."
He says voters should have a reason to smile soon when he finally prints his signs:
"My signs right now are going to be 'Fudge, not just another brown lump,' to show that I'm not just going to sit there, get elected, and do nothing. I want to make changes."
