Safeguarding Democracy: We must do everything we can at every level of government to safeguard democracy. It is incredibly important that on the local level we uphold our principals of democratic government and abide by all laws. As an example, Elected representatives must do town business in public. All meetings are public, all decisions and deliberations are in public, and all email correspondence is available to all members of the public. State open meetings laws are regulations and laws that require government agencies, boards, commissions, etc. to conduct their meetings and decision-making processes transparently and openly.  Similarly, open access laws give the public the right to access information or records from the government.  These laws are  the heart of a democratic government and must be followed by everyone at every level of government. Nowhere is this more important than at the local level, where we are governing for and with our neighbors. Anything that is done to limit public access, whether it is circumventing process or allowing certain members of the public to have heightened access/influence above others, is antithetical to our system of governance. If elected I will work to re-norm the Town Council to, first of all, follow the law. I will also work to update the code of ethics to give clear guidance and boundaries to help councilors uphold their charge. Democracy demands open access, transparency, and public process.

Advancing Women’s Reproductive Rights: I will always vehemently oppose any local, state, and national laws/ordinances that restrict reproductive rights. I will look at intended as well as unintended consequences of any policy we enact or decision we make through the lens of someone who is squarely on the side of women’s reproductive rights. In fact, a personal project of mine is investigating how we can locally improve conditions that drive reproductive decisions: access to affordable, quality healthcare, to affordable, quality childcare, to education and job training leading to employment with good compensation, to affordable housing, etc.

Protecting Civil Liberties and Social Justice: Nowhere are our civil liberties and social justice more important than right where we live. Civil liberties operate as restraints on how the government can treat its citizens, and in Cape Elizabeth we must protect our freedom of thought, expression, and action. Social justice is supported in official acts, such as hiring, policy, and goal setting, and is also reinforced with attitudes, behavior, and relationships. As elected leaders, town councilors can have great impact on setting a tone through what they prioritize, how they interact with each other and their fellow community members.

Ensuring Safe and Affordable Housing as a Human Right: If we believe that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are our inalienable rights, it’s hard to miss that “life” is first. Ensuring access to the elements that sustain life, including shelter, are priority. On the local level, we must examine if we have ordinances that allow for diversity in housing, if we are enacting policies to allow for a variety of housing. What structures can we put in place to allow people to rent or buy a safe home, stay in their homes, share their homes, change their properties, live multi-generationally? The town must see itself as a place that wants a variety of housing and then act accordingly.

Supporting High Quality, Accessible Public Education: As the current School Board Chair, I have a deep commitment to high quality public education for all. I believe it is a key responsibility of a civil society. An educated populace is the cornerstone of democracy. It is incredibly important that we protect and enhance public education in order to give all people access to a factual knowledge set and, more importantly, critical thinking, decision-making, and communication skills. I will fight all efforts to dilute, erode, or degrade high quality public education. I will champion and support our excellent education system.

Preserving Maine’s Natural Resources while planning for the challenges of climate change: I believe it is critically important to protect and preserve our beautiful natural resources and make thoughtful decisions in the face of climate change. A recent example of such action, which I support, is the joint Cape Elizabeth/Scarborough Sawyer Road removal project. Not only is it an appropriate response to frequent wash-out incidents driven by climate change, it restores the Spurwink Marsh, eliminates tide restrictions, and reinvigorates the emergent salt marsh upstream. I sympathize with those who are sad to lose the ability to drive that road through the marsh, but I am more excited to see the marsh, an incredibly important ecosystem and carbon sink, thrive again. We will certainly need to consider and plan for more solutions to climate change – driven problems, and at the same time we must also take action to reverse the damaging impact we are having on our climate.