A chance encounter in the halls of Trent University was the start of a friendship that made Dmitry Mishchenko an early member of the I Like Mike team — the volunteers backing Michael Eamon in his bid to be the next mayor of Peterborough.

Dmitry Mischenko on a video call while volunteering with the Mike for Mayor campaign
Dmitry Mishchenko, who helps the Mike for Mayor campaign with IT and database management, poses in his natural environment: a Zoom call, where he spends a lot of time working with other campaign volunteers.

Five years ago, Dmitry was new to an information technology position at Trent. Michael, then the principal of Traill College, must have recognized that and struck up a casual conversation.

“We met randomly, walking in the hall. He said he recognized I was a new person on Trent’s staff. And he just said, hi, he just started asking questions. And that's how we met,” Dmitry says.

“Michael, he’s genuinely curious about people and just helpful and outgoing.”

Over the years, Michael called up Dmitry when he needed IT advice.

“Mike, being involved with everything, he needed all kinds of help, including IT. And so he's a pretty frequent caller or emailer.”

Back in May, when Dmitry, who’s on an education leave from his Trent job, heard Michael had entered the mayor’s race, he called and offered his IT services.

Dmitry calls being behind his computer screen, often chatting with team members by Google Meet, his “native environment.”

He wants to convey that not every job in an election campaign involves knocking on doors. There’s work to do behind the scenes.

He loves managing the campaign’s database because it helps the team co-ordinate volunteers, identify supporters, track canvassing results and keep track of responses in a way the information can be retrieved easily.

“My role is to design processes that enable input, tracking, and use of various information in the campaign.”

As a business analyst, Dmitry says he likes Michael’s plan to break down the silos at city hall that prevent departments from working effectively with each other for the benefit of Peterborough residents.

“As a business analyst, it's actually what I do full-time, professionally.” Dmitry says. “I use technology to do it. He uses relationship skills to do it, which is much more complicated.”

Using interpersonal skills to solve problems is one of Michael’s strengths, Dmitry says. It’s one he could use as mayor to foster co-operation, co-ordination and communication — to improve the service the public gets from the city.