My favorite part of campaigning for Selectman so far has been having the opportunity to meet and talk with and, most importantly, listen to so many folks around Adams.
When people share with me their hopes or frustrations or wants for our town, they want to know what I am going to do as Selectman to address these issues. Because the same few things kept popping up, I am sharing some of our shared priorities here:
I will work to ensure that the often complex, and sometimes confusing, work of running a town is communicated in a clear, concise way that is easily available. As a teacher, I explain things for a living, and I understand the importance of putting things in terms that anyone can understand. Some of my ideas about how we can improve this are working with the community groups and our local schools on the creation of short “frequently asked question” videos to address common questions and concerns in town, holding "Ask A Selectman" events where residents can learn more about what is going on in the town and its operations, and having regular availability to meet with constituents and discuss their concerns.
I will work tirelessly with Rep. Barrett, Sen. Paul, the entire Berkshire legislative delegation, and whomever I need to be in front of in Boston to get the allocations and shape the legislation that allows Adams to be flexible and competitive. Whether it’s fighting for state funds to make Adams more attractive to people who want to build and invest here or pushing to change laws that make it easier to add housing, I will do whatever it takes to get Adams what we need.
Adams needs more housing, full stop. Not only do we need more quality housing stock, but we need diverse types and sizes of housing: single-family homes and multi-unit, workforce and market rate. People want to move to Adams and the folks who are here want to stay, but the housing shortage causes problems. When people come to the Berkshires to work at General Dynamics or MCLA or Berkshire Health, or looking to start the small businesses that will reinvigorate Park St. and Summer St., they should be putting down roots in Adams. When people who have lived here their whole lives now have an empty nest, they should be able to downsize if they want without needing to leave town and lose their social network. Through state-level advocacy work to make Adams more friendly to people who want to build housing here and making sure that our zoning laws and permitting processes are builder-friendly, I will work to make sure that people who want to come to Adams and people who want to stay in Adams have somewhere to call home.
There are a lot of spaces in Adams that are ripe for investment and development. As Selectman, I will do everything I can to encourage and incentivize the development of these spaces, or the sale of the spaces if current owners plan to let the space sit empty, so that we can bring more housing, retail, restaurant, and commercial options to town. In doing so, we expand the town’s tax base and lower the tax levy on individual homeowners, creating a win-win.
As Selectman, I promise that I will make certain that any tax dollar collected is collected because it is needed to provide the level of service and standard of living that the people of Adams deserve. Similarly, I will scrutinize every proposed expense to make sure that, before we spend tax dollars, we know that we’ve chosen the best option for Adams and have explored every avenue for keeping costs down while meeting the town’s needs. I am committed to lowering Adams' property tax rate and championing smart growth to ease the tax burden on residents.