MY PLATFORM
On DOWNTOWN and FLORENCE CENTER
Work with existing businesses to get them what they need
Protect and preserve endangered cultural institutions
Celebrate the city and its history
Work to bring back recent business losses
Abandon high disruption, high cost construction projects
Incentivize repurposing existing architecture
Minimize impact of infrastructural repairs on visitors and businesses
Facilitate entry-level entrepreneurship
Lift the food truck ban
Facilitate downtown pop-up shops and short-term galleries
Focus on shuttered spaces as public dangers
Focus on city venues as public assets
Unlock potential of empty churches and other unused infrastructure
Encourage resources for residents, e.g., grocery stores
Celebrate and utilize the libraries
On HOUSING
Understand housing stock versus affordable housing crisis
Aid in home ownership
Enforce and strengthen tenants’ rights
Create a resource to navigate the city’s rental market
Create a resource to ensure mortgage-dependent repairs
Create a resource for old house and building preservation
Abandon trickle-down housing strategy
Reassert residential zoning requirements mandating affordability and access
End developer-friendly deregulation
Disincentivize corporate land ownership
On SCHOOLS
Give the public schools what they say they need
Move the conversation from school cuts to school improvements
Re-emphasis on public schools as community centers
Better facilitate fundraising
Interrogate out-of-state educational investments
Pursue strategies to shrink class size
Promote from within
School consolidation is a non-starter
Student segregation is a non-starter
On FINANCES
End costly consultant culture
Keep money in the community
Cancel unrealistic and financially burdensome planning projects
Avoid infrastructure expenses by rolling back irresponsible rezoning
Focus on reopening downtown venues and nightlife
Grow local economy through tourism
End and remove deteriorating tech boondoggles
Seek savings through DIY solutions and community involvement
Fully fund our public services and institutions as our first priority
Reassess the city’s relationship with corporate taxpayers
Transparency on expenses
Audit the books
On SOCIAL SERVICES
Reempower and fully staff the Department of Public Works
Fully fund and support the Fire Department
Ensure real-time response to resident requests
Encourage resident reporting
Repair and reconceive sidewalks, ensuring safety and accessibility
Repair the roads as soon as possible
Remove ice and snow whenever necessary
Enforce pedestrian right of way in downtown crosswalks
Plan and post roadway detours if construction is scheduled
Minimize impact of infrastructural repairs on residents and communities
Develop Buy Nothing curb pickup and City Hall Reuse Shop
On THE ENVIRONMENT
Re-empower the Tree Warden
Expand the Conservation Commission’s purview and power
Protect and preserve our natural assets above all else
Reassert residential zoning requirements protecting green space
Improve and amplify our existing foot and bike paths
Understand that cars are a necessity, not the enemy
Understand that commercial-scale construction is a climate killer
Plant and nurture more flowers and foliage.
Make our public outdoor spaces accessible, safe, and enjoyable
Encourage, support, and amplify local farms
Incentivize locavore food sourcing
Consider the environmental implications of corporate partners
On THE GOVERNMENT
Accessible first floor entrance to City Hall
Accessible city government and services
Accessible city website and rights
Reassert separation of powers
Rebuild feedback loop with the public
Executive branch focus on enforcement
Make our oversight boards independent, empowered, informed, and accountable
Re-empower the City Council
Support bottom-up legislation
Encourage oversight and audit