Over these four years, I have had the privilege of realizing the satisfaction that comes with serving my community. I am grateful for the opportunity to help transform our local government and contribute to the growth and improvement of our amazing town.

Personally, I have learned a tremendous amount about collaboration, innovation and how to actualize creative ideas into concrete change. I’ve been in a position to engage with various agencies and organizations to solve complex and consequential problems. I enjoy knowing that fixing one neighbor’s problem usually helps the entire community. Every small issue we resolve improves the town as a whole.

In spite of the sorrow and challenges we have endured during COVID 19, I am proud of how much we were still able to accomplish. I remain inspired by the resilience and spirit our community demonstrated as we managed through this unprecedented time.

I remain committed to building on our past achievements as we look to the next four years. With the public’s input, we have spent the last few years establishing a long term strategic plan for Westfield, focusing on the transformation of our downtown. It is now time to put those plans into action by realizing this vision that will enable and encourage more visitors to our downtown stores and restaurants. I see this as the inception of a robust, prosperous Westfield that will be a model for other towns rebuilding from this pandemic and I’m excited to offer my contribution to these efforts.

Personally, I am committed to continuing to ensure the safety of our residents. That includes my on-going work with our police department to support their community policing efforts, prioritizing enforcement of speeding policies and traffic violations, and advocating for adequate fire department resources, including the planning and funding for a much needed new firehouse that meets modern safety standards.

I also plan to move ahead with improvements in our town infrastructure, notably updating our street lights and lighting in public areas, and enhancing pedestrian safety with new traffic lights.

The pandemic has certainly challenged us in many ways, but many of our challenges can also be reframed as opportunities. The ingenuity of our leadership and Town staff has better positioned us for a comeback than many other towns, both fiscally and economically.

Creative initiatives like the We Love Local front porch concert raised money for our downtown businesses and boosted a sense of community during an extraordinarily anxious time. When I watched the coverage on various news channels I couldn’t help but think that Westfield would be the place where I would want to live if I was a young parent in the city considering a move.

While we have a lot of work ahead of us, we are well poised for a significant post-COVID economic recovery. I’m excited at the prospect of confronting these challenges; today’s challenges are tomorrow’s achievements.