Wellington councillor Corey Engelsdorfer / PHOTO: HAILEY MACDONALD
WELLINGTON – Journalists tell each side of every story. Remaining neutral, unbiased and fair are some of the most critical rules media personnel must follow, arguably the most important factor when covering politics.
But what happens when you decide to challenge those ‘rules’ and run for council when you own a local newspaper, one that runs stories about the same table you sit at?
That’s exactly what Corey Engelsdorfer, decided to do. And it worked out in his favour.
Engelsdorfer, 38, was born in Belleville and raised in Wellington where he currently resides. He has been the owner and editor of The Wellington Times newspaper since 2017, keeping residents of Wellington and the surrounding areas up to date on local stories and events.
In 2022, Engelsdorfer decided he was going to run for council in ward 3- Wellington.
He says he spent the summer ‘knocking on every door’ in the village.
When asked how he felt on election day in October 2022, Engelsdorfer said he was ‘fairly confident’ he was the one who was going to be elected after the all candidates meetings, until the advanced polls came in and it was a tight race between him and the ultimate second place finisher, Jennifer Cobb.
“It was nerve wracking and my family was there too which added to that. But, it was a sense of relief when I realized that I was going to be the one representing Wellington.”
As a very active and well-known journalist in the village of Wellington, Engelsdorfer faced questions about how a journalist could could do both jobs well.
However, it was his career as a journalist in Prince Edward County covering political stories that sparked the bold move.
“I knew that it would be a touchy area right from the get-go. When I ran, I made the decision that I wasn’t going to write anything in the paper that had to do with local politics. I do remain neutral, but it’s even tough being the editor because you see letters come across that may be critical of my colleagues, but at the end of the day, free speech,” Engelsdorfer said.
“People are allowed their opinion and we pride ourselves on allowing people to have that opinion,”
“I was following it closely anyway as I own The Wellington Times and I just got really interested in local politics. I think those are the politics that affect people the closest,”
“I care a lot about this village and I thought it was important to run and do my part. I think it’s important to help this village grow in a way that it’s meant to grow.”
When asked if he has faced any scrutiny with the journalist to politician crossover, Engelsdorfer said he has.
“I’ve had people contact me after some stories, I’ve had people from the start ask how I’m going to do both jobs. Anytime there’s a controversial article in the paper, I usually get calls or emails from readers and even some other council members too, and they just want to pick my brain on why I decided to run an article like that,” he stated.
“I think a lot of it is just having that discussion. I don’t hide from it. If people want to know why I made a certain decision, I’m always happy to talk about it. We might not agree at the end of the conversation, but at least they can understand why I did something.”
When asked if there were specific concerns he came across that made him want to run, Engelsdorfer pointed out how extensively Wellington is planning to change.
“When I saw that Wellington was going to more than triple in size with all of the developments on the books, I wanted to make sure that I was involved there, to make sure that it was responsible development, that it works with the village charm we have here,” he said.
“Growing up in Wellington, it’s tough to see the village change, but I understand it needs to. So, I wanted to have a part in how it changes in the future.”
Additionally, when he first ran, Engelsdorfer wanted Wellington ‘to be beautified a little bit’.
“Those are the things I find really rewarding. I was a part of the accessible Wellington Beach, the Rotary Club helped the County install an accessible map so individuals in wheelchairs can get to the water,” he said.
“It’s really neat to see those projects and realize that you’re helping out people in the community. I’d like to do a lot more of those things in the next two years as well.”
Slightly over halfway through his first term as a councillor, Engelsdorfer says he’s continuing to enjoy his position, but is still learning as he goes.
“When I ran, I thought that I was going to be able to affect a lot of change in our small village. Once you’re thrown into that seat, you realize that you’re dealing with a lot of big issues that come at you very quickly. It’s big decisions, big money and a big responsibility,” Engelsdorfer said.
“It’s also a lot of time management if you want to do the job properly. You’re reading 300, 400 page agendas every other week, it takes a lot of time and you really do have to read it to be up to date on council. That’s been the biggest learning curve. It’s meant to be a part-time job, but I think realistically, if you’re doing the job right, it’s more full-time,”
“It’s hard because people expect perfection, they expect you to deliver on everything you say you will. But at the end of the day, people just want to be able to reach their councillor, to be able to talk to them, I try to make that a priority here.”
Another side to Engelsdorfer that makes him stand out on council is age. He is the second youngest councillor at the table, being slightly beat out by Athol councillor, Sam Branderhorst.
“I think it’s important to have younger people around the table because ultimately, we’re the ones that are going to have to live with a lot of the decisions that are being made now,” Engelsdorfer said.
“It’s intimidating at the start, especially when a lot of your colleagues have been around the table longer, but, it’s very important to have younger voices around the table.”
One colleague of Engelsdorfer’s, Councillor of Hillier, Chris Braney, who has over 30 years in municipal government, agrees that having younger voices around the horseshoe is critical.
“I think it’s imperative,” Braney began.
“When I was first elected, I was 22-years-old and I don’t think I would be what I am and where I am without really good mentors around me,”
“I was actually getting worried at one point that we weren’t seeing enough youth, diversity and equity running on council. I hope we see even more of that in the next election.”
Councillor Braney is encouraged by Councillor Engelsdorfer’s term thus far, saying ‘he’s very empathetic and he’s an exceptional listener.”
“I think you really have to listen to do the things that you need to do and get consensus from your community, having those skills is essential,”
“He’s very responsive, it’s great to run things by him and he does the same with me, it’s a really nice collaborative partnership as far as trying to strive forward and push that needle forward for County residents,”
“He’s been a real joy to work with.”
Engelsdorfer says he’s surprised that what he expected to be his least favourite part of the job ended up taking the prize.
“I thought the resident to councillor interaction was going to be somewhat tiring, but I love being out on the street and people coming up to me, it just shows me that they’re engaged, so I love having those chats with people,” he said.
“I know a lot of the time they may be complaining about a certain issue, but I think that they just want to be heard. I give them the time to vent to me and I think that we both leave the conversation feeling fine about it.”
While Engelsdorfer has many fond memories of his time on council so far, his favourite moment was when ‘half of Wellington’ (500 people) came out to support him at a meeting regarding the water infrastructure project in Wellington.
When asked if he will run again in the 2026 election, Engelsdorfer said “I think the answer now is yes. Now two years in, I’m just now getting comfortable in the chair,”
“I think I will run again. There are things that have started this term that I would like to see through because I know they’re going to take another four years at least, so I would say probably, yes.”
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