Ward 6 and Community Priorities

We need well maintained streets with sidewalks and bike lanes that allow for safe access, particularly on our busiest roads. We should prioritize meaningful connections between West End neighborhoods, our community parks and resources, and the downtown area. This includes infrastructure like connections to our public sewer system for all Ward 6 residents. We need stronger traffic and speed enforcement, and improvements to challenging intersections like the infamous three roads area which must be addressed as part of any large planned developments in the West End. 

Ward 6 has a significant inventory of starter homes that can offer affordable options for folks looking to move here or age in place. Over the past several years, many starter homes have been torn down and replaced with homes that are not compatible with the character of our neighborhood. There are tools and resources we can use to help owners and developers get the returns they seek while preserving the character of our neighborhoods and increasing our inventory of affordable homes. These include creating affordable housing overlay districts, enhanced code enforcement, and zoning code reform.

Our city is rich in river and coastal resources. Those same assets make us uniquely susceptible to climate change. Enhancing community resilience is critical. This includes protecting our water supply and our water treatment facility and updating our stormwater infrastructure to better manage heavy rainfall. We must continue to work with our state and regional partners to address combined sewer overflows contaminating the Merrimack. And we must prepare residents for climate-related events through critical incident planning, preparedness, and enhanced communication.

Our city has made strides toward providing more affordable housing options. In addition to high density development near our public transit system, there are additional low density options that could provide affordable home ownership opportunities in our Ward. We need to find ways to encourage homeowners and developers to explore these innovative alternatives like duplex housing and accessory dwelling units. The West End offers (and can benefit from) some of these low density opportunities for innovative housing that prioritizes affordable full-time occupancy.

Many of us are concerned about inflation, taxes, and our economy.  To address these challenges, we'll need to have the difficult conversations about how we spend our dollars, prioritizing needs over wants. As we explore additional ways of raising revenue and advocate for more funding from state and federal agencies, we'll need sustainable financial policies that allocate taxes equitably and spend those dollars most effectively. We must be transparent about our spending decisions and we must prioritize solutions that allow residents to continue to live, work, and do business in our City.

I am so impressed with our city's commitment to community service. We take care of our most vulnerable citizens - from our youngest to our eldest. We also have many non-profit partners who work hard to address challenges like food, housing, and economic insecurity. With the financial and social challenges we face, families are becoming increasingly reliant on city-funded supports - from after school and summer youth programs to elder services. We must ensure these programs continue to be available and accessible particularly as public dollars become constrained. 

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I am proud to live in a City that prioritizes the protection of human rights and the dignity of marginalized communities. From peace vigils, to pride parades, and community iftars, Newburyport values its diversity. With recent attacks on some of our more vulnerable communities, it's more important than ever to ensure that Newburyport continues to be a safe, inclusive, and welcoming place for all, including immigrants and refugees who seek to settle here in our City.

More than half of any municipal budget goes to educating our youngest citizens. In Newburyport, public education is the reason we exist. Newburyport petitioned the Great and General Court to separate from Newbury so that it could tax itself to provide public schooling for its children - something that generations of Newburyport families truly value. Educating children today is a more resource-intensive endeavor as we prioritize differentiation and inclusion. We must find a way to provide the resources necessary to support our educators while ensuring that are schools operate efficiently, effectively, and transparently.

Newburyport has made significant progress toward complying with the state's "MBTA Communities" law through its Smart Growth initiatives. By siting high density housing adjacent to our MBTA station, we are providing sensible housing options for our commuting residents.  The proposed development at the former K-Mart site supports these initiatives and is consistent with our master plan. As we continue to add more high density properties, we must ensure that the impacts on public services, roads, and traffic are properly and comprehensively addressed.