Question 1: Why are you running for Councilor and what particular skills can you bring to the position?
In my fourteen years on the Council, I have been a consistent strong voice that has worked tirelessly on behalf of all of my constituents. I am committed to keep Salem moving forward in a positive direction. Salem has been my home for over twenty-five years. My wife and I bought a home here and raised a family here, I want to continue to make Salem a place where my children and everyone’s children will want to raise a family of their own.
I am running for another term as Councillor of Ward One because I want to continue to give back to a City that I love. I want to continue to move the City forward in a positive direction. I am a commonsense problem solver and a consensus builder, who can use my experience to fix problems and solve issues.
Question 2: What are some of your proposed solutions towards resolving the housing crisis in Salem?
There is no one solution that will solve all of our housing issues. There are many tools we can use and I have worked to put a few of them in place. The revised ADU ordinance and the Municipal and Religious reuse ordinance are two we passed in the last couple of years. We need more. Among them is that we need to get the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance passed to get to the heart of affordability in the near future.
Question 3: How do you see Salem impacted by the climate crisis and what new initiatives would you take to lead Salem's resiliency efforts?
Salem is a coastal community and is directly affected by climate change. We have joined forces with Beverly to come up with regional solutions. Locally I have supported municipal green building initiatives to lessen our carbon footprint. Additionally, I have supported initiatives like the Bluebikes bike share and Salem Skipper to give residents transportation options that further lessen our carbon footprint. Lastly, we need to educate our residents on climate change and get them to understand how they can help themselves.
Question 4: Please outline some ideas you have that can enhance civic engagement at the city level.
Having served on the council these last fourteen years, I have attended and participated in countless meetings both at city hall and in the neighborhoods. I have always made myself accessible and try to keep everyone informed. I will continue to promote the City’s website and encourage people to sign up for the announcements. I will also try to utilize more forms of social media as a tool to get information out to the public.
Question 5: How do you think Salem should continue working on issues of race equity, now that the City’s first Race Equity Task Force has submitted its report?
We need to take the report and make use of it. I was happy to support and fund the position of a new Diversity and Equity Inclusion Director position in the City. Also was glad that we were able to reach an agreement with the Salem PD for the use of body cameras. In 2017 I supported the Sanctuary for Peace ordinance which was designed to make people feel safer in the place they live no matter their country of origin or their immigration status, by making it clear that immigration status was not a consideration in using city services or working with public safety.