Key Priorities

I am dedicated to serving the Acton community and ensuring that Acton is a safe, welcoming, and equitable space for all its residents.  I would like to continue the things that are working well while also looking at fresh and innovative ideas to the Select Board.  

I wholeheartedly support the 10-year Climate Action Plan and am dedicated to preserving our Acton environment by conserving natural land and critical environmental areas, in addition to creating sustainable green spaces and improving community garden efforts. 

To support Seniors and people with disabilities, I believe we should sustainably increase affordable and mixed-use housing, increase transportation access, and access to mental health and well-being services. To protect public health and well-being, Acton should explore allocating resources to increase the number of mental health counselors and social workers with diverse backgrounds. In recognition that affordability is a social justice, I believe that people should not pay more tax than they can afford to. Acton has to be an environment that our residents can see themselves staying in, and thriving in, for the long-term. 

Here are some other new initiatives I hope to pursue as a Select Board member:

Representation in a diverse town like Acton is key to improving inclusion and belonging in this town for all. We need to actively protect our residents by strengthening reporting systems for acts of hate towards racial, religious, gender and other minorities. There are other steps we should take to make Acton more equitable.

Racial Inclusivity: 

We need to conduct a needs assessment through amplifying existing surveys, hosting focus groups, and meeting with different cultural and community organizations in Acton to understand the most significant racial injustice issues in our town and where we need to invest time, resources, and funding.

Seniors:

I care about serving our senior residents and improving the quality of life for  our seniors. This is why I advocate for COVID-19 safety, increasing accessibility to participate in town government (e.g. improving transportation to and from town hall).

I wholeheartedly support the development of mixed-use housing and repurposing existing buildings to create more 1 -2 bedrooms units with handicapped accessibility.  We also need to consider equity in terms of tax affordability, and I am dedicated to keeping this as a priority informing my decisions. Acton is fortunate to have excellent nursing services, and I would like to ensure that mental health and well-being services are also made a priority and are available to our seniors as well.

Youth: 

To improve youth engagement in municipal government, we can develop programs to let our youth know about how local government affects their lives and the lives of people in their community. This could take many forms, including improving outreach in schools and ongoing meet and greets. We can provide meaningful opportunities for youth civic engagement, including establishing a youth council or advisory board to the Select Board.   

Gender equity: 

Gender equity is a fundamental human right and should be recognized at all levels in our town government and services.  I believe we need to actively increase our outreach to members of the LGBTQ+ community to work together on actions items that support them and help create a welcoming environment in Acton.

For improving equity for women and girls, a great model to ensure the protection of gender equity in Acton would be Cities for the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). By referring to and passing “Cities for CEDAW,” we will be able to monitor gender discrimination in our town government and propose funding to support the rights of women and girls.  

Indigenous Representation: 

Our indigenous history is valuable, and we need to actively work to protect it and ensure that it is accurate and properly recognized on town resources. Right now, we have conflicting town documents that state different indigenous tribes as being the original inhabitants of our land. I have started the process of reaching out to the Tribal Government and Citizens of Nipmuc Nation to get a more accurate historical context. Partnering with the Acton Historical Society, the Acton Memorial Library, Friends of Pine Hawk, and students at ABRHS is an incredible opportunity to continue our work around preserving our rich history.

Equity, in all forms, should be recognized and championed by the Select Board.  This starts with ensuring that all our policies are written in a gender-sensitive, non-ableist, racially inclusive way.

I would like to make town meetings and policy notices more accessible and non-discriminatory, which is fundamental to a healthy democratic process.

• We should find out what is most challenging for people in town as they try to participate in town governance. This involves actively reaching out to the community to understand what the barriers are to participation. As always, we must proactively seek out the voices of our underrepresented and underserved communities. 
• We need to affirm our commitment to ensuring adequate translations are provided, including language translations for all documents, sign language translations during our town meetings, and accurate closed captions for all online meetings published to the town website. We need to do more outreach and education to increase community engagement in political processes.

Environmental justice is the right of all people and communities to equal environmental protection and involvement in environmental decision-making processes. It is about ensuring that we use environmental resources wisely and justly in terms of permitting land use, fair use of water, and ensuring equitable access to safe and healthy environments for all, regardless of socioeconomic background. 

• As a member of the Select Board, I would like to help support ongoing efforts to identify areas where we can strengthen groundwater protection zones, with the recognition that planning and zoning are strong tools for protecting groundwater and other natural resources in town.
•  Improve outreach and support efforts, especially to multifamily rental housing units, for improving water conservation and weatherization efforts as a way of reducing residential energy and water bill burdens. For example, we can do more to improve public knowledge of existing state programs and subsidies for energy efficient appliances and fixtures.
• Start efforts to improve monitoring and research on potential large point sources of PFAS that may be contaminating our drinking water sources
• In order to move Acton towards adopting a green model for sustainable and holistic land management, we need to 
  • Seek partnerships with Acton Sunrise, Green Acton, the Acton Water District, and the Sustainability Director as well as other experts 
  • Examine policies and best practices of other nearby towns 

Under the guidance of the Health Department, we can propose the development of a “Reopening Taskforce” that will monitor the town’s reopening process of its public buildings.

It is important that this process incorporates feedback, suggestions and concerns from all town employees as we work together to have a safe and successful COVID-19 recovery, and I am dedicated to finding ways to do so.

This task force would also gather feedback from small businesses in the town and present a report advising the Select Board on how we could better support small businesses, especially businesses owned by people of color.  

 Small business growth, such as the new Asian market on 2A where Willow Books used to be, are real assets to our town. We can look at ways to make our town more welcome to small businesses by listing vacant commercial space on the town’s website, developing friendlier zoning, and improving outreach to diverse business-owners - all of which is important to improving our town experience. We should also focus on renting out existing office spaces to service providers such as mental health professionals.