Last week, voters gave Woonsocket native Melissa Murray the opportunity to apply her small business experience to the City Council and work to turn the municipality into a "destination City" for tourism.
Murray won her seat with 2,712 votes, just ahead of the lowest winning vote tally, which went to current Council Vice President Dan Gendron, with 2,650 votes, according to unofficial figures.
"I'm just so humbled and honored that the voters of Woonsocket chose me," Murray said a few days after the election. "I was pleasantly shocked and really surprised," Murray said, as she watched her vote tally rise to number six on the list of seven winning Council candidates at Stadium Theater, Lisa Baldelli-Hunt's campaign headquarters for the Nov. 5 election.
"I really want to work to make Woonsocket an easier place to do business," said the Councilor-elect, consistent with her campaign platform. The City's current business atmosphere is something Murray, who owns The Opulent Squid jewelry store at the Le Moulin mall, 68 S. Main St., has some direct experience with.
Murray said she's going start by working to organize individual city cleanup efforts, "...and really make it a community effort," she said. Keeping the city clean is an important first step to improving the Woonsocket's economic outlook, Murray said.
Murray said she is also looking forward to her first City Council meeting as a City Councilor, and the swearing-in ceremony during the City's inauguration of the Council and Mayor Dec. 3.
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