Caye Caulker Chairlady Seeking Re-election with Independent Slate
It was nomination day this past Sunday at E.P. Yorke High School for persons contesting the village council elections on Caye Caulker to officially submit their names. And as News Five found out over the weekend, there are three full slates that will go head to head, a P.U.P.-aligned slate, and two independent slates – one headed by the incumbent chairlady Seleny Villanueva-Pott. Now, there is no secret that the Villanuevas are supporters of the People’s United Party, but despite requests for support from the area representative, Villanueva-Pott says that she had to run independent once again; this time with a complete slate.
Seleny Villaneuva-Pott
Seleny Villaneuva-Pott, Independent Candidate, Caye Caulker Village Council
“I had initially looking for an endorsement from my area rep, but the people said maybe it is best that you go independent. Living on Caye Caulker, we’ve never seen a political slate and I decided that I will stay with what I know so I opted for an independent slate.”
Duane Moody
“Let’s talk about not getting that support from the area rep because you had said that you would run again if you got that support.”
Seleny Villanueva-Pott
“You know going through COVID which was long and hard, leadership under COVID for anybody under leadership position was hard. And I believe at that point my spirits were dampened and I didn’t want to look for a challenge. But after consultation with the people of Caye Caulker I decided that you know what, we could do this, with or without an endorsement and I opted to listen to the people and that’s why I decided to go independent.”
Reporter
“Following this term that you are coming out of, how confident are you that you can win?”
Seleny Villanueva-Pott
“I will tell you what I tell everyone. I believe I worked hard for my community. COVID changed everything. A lot of the projects that we wanted to accomplish, unfortunately we couldn’t. But we know and I know that during the time when my community needed me the most, I was there. Having a health background I believe was of paramount importance to my community. Leading into the unknown, it was scary – the world didn’t know what was happening and to have the health background made you provide some level of security for my Caye Caulker community and we did what we needed to do to ensure that we were okay. I believe I worked hard – not yesterday, not today, but the entire six years that I’ve been in council. The people will ultimately decide what they want.”
The slate goes by slogan: Generation Caye Caulker – Resilient and Strong, Advocating for All.
