To the Editor,
Please join me on May 16 in voting for Chris Olney and Susan Hanson-Philbrick for Planning Board. They have the professional skills we need to protect our Town so hard-working families for whom a $1,000,000 ++ home purchase is out of the question can live here. That means young families, seniors, our teachers, police, firefighters, Town staff – all have a chance to live here, to be part of the Town they grew up in, have lived in all their lives or that they work for.
Change is bearing down hard on our Town today. Both Chris and Sue have the cool heads and steady hands needed to manage these forces and turn them to the Town’s benefit. Both offer common sense and much more. Chris brings years as a professional planner, developing many land use solutions including helping to preserve large areas of historic Salem’s downtown. Sue brings her knowledge of the law and the courts – useful in creating clear language for zoning regulations and in deciding when and how to push back on aggressive developers.
We need their skills to manage and shape effectively the outside forces pushing on the Town. That way the goal we all agree on – preserving the Village’s precious character, its variety of housing, landscapes, and people – will happen.
After all, if I have a serious electrical problem in my home, I want a person who has both common sense and is a highly skilled electrician. Otherwise, I risk burning my house down.
Sue and Chris also have an essential quality for anyone seeking any Town Office — a strong commitment to open and civil debate. This is fundamental to our form of governance. It is a quality that Alan Wilson, our excellent, long-time Town Moderator has worked long and hard to preserve despite the bitter winds sweeping politics today. Sue and Chris both demonstrate this commitment, looking to find common ground and a basis for agreement and a way forward, even when Planning Board discussions turn sour.
Please join me in voting for these two superb candidates on Tuesday, May 16. They are the right candidates for these challenging times.
Sandy Bodmer-Turner
Manchester
