Economic Opportunity

We must generate economic opportunities for both residents and local businesses in the 1st Berkshire District. It’s time to identify ways to bring real resources that will strengthen, diversify and return a vibrancy to communities and downtowns that will enrich our daily lives.

    • Community Development

Community Development is my personal and professional passion. Bringing more resources to activate our communities will be central to the work I do as your State Representative. We must strengthen partnerships with state agencies and institutions, while finding ways to align district priorities with investments being made by the Healey-Driscoll Administration. Our communities are ripe with opportunity for thoughtful development and key investments that can stimulate more mixed-income housing while bolstering the ecosystem for local businesses to achieve success. 

    • Transportation

How we move people into and around our region will be central to my work on Beacon Hill. I will advocate for increased funding and support for the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority and champion efforts to improve microtransit to give more residents affordable transportation access. At the same time, we must think bigger and continue the work of connecting the Berkshires to Boston through West-East Rail and the restoration of Northern Tier Passenger Rail.

Finalization of the Ashuwilticook Rail Trail is also critical to provide recreational, health and wellness opportunities for our residents. As your State Representative, I will see through the completion of this key asset connecting it from Pittsfield to Williamstown and beyond.

    • Education

Our education funding structure is broken, and it rewards communities with larger populations while forcing rural communities to compete with one another for both students and the funding that follows them. Central to my advocacy efforts will be to bolster regional equity with additional funding for rural school districts through full reimbursement for regional transportation costs, long needed adjustments to the educational inflation rate and the support our teachers need to prepare students for success.

I will also work hard to provide stronger support for MCLA and Berkshire Community College, while ensuring that free community college continues while expanding that resource to our technical school students. Our public colleges are central economic drivers for the region and provide the resources to build a workforce that meets the needs of our employers while expanding our collective economic growth potential. I will also push to create better opportunities for all of our college graduates - from MCLA, Berkshire Community College and Williams College - to remain local where they can live, work and help grow our business community.

 

AFFORDABILITY

We need to make life more affordable in the 1st Berkshire District now, and for the long-run. Quality-of-life starts with access to quality, desirable housing for people of all income brackets and requires that the needs of each generation are being met. We must focus on meeting the housing needs of our residents, and also ensuring that families can access affordable childcare and our seniors can trust that the medical care they need is available locally.

    • Housing

The region needs thousands of additional housing units in order to support demand while finding affordability for our residents. I will prioritize workforce and student-adjacent housing so that our educators, healthcare workers, service workers, artists, and recent graduates can afford to live in the communities they serve. I will fight to support our municipalities in establishing affordable housing trusts and programs that can provide financial assistance to first time home buyers, assist current homeowners in maintaining their homes, and provide attractive incentives to encourage both new construction and improvements to the rental market.

I will also advocate for resources to support residents seeking to build Accessory Dwelling Units on their properties. ADU’s allow us to make efficient use of existing properties while adding new housing units and providing owners with expanded income opportunities. I will also push for further expansion of Mass Save incentives to help more property owners transition to cleaner, more sustainable energy.

    • Senior Support

Many of our residents are living on fixed incomes and require fixed costs. The 1st Berkshire District population is aging and needs the commitment of our elected leaders to fight for them on key issues like food security, utility costs, medical care and programs that assist with home accessibility and affordability. As State Representative, I will pledge my support for our seniors and help find innovative ways to meet their needs. We must ensure that whether seniors choose to age-in-place or relocate into smaller or more supportive housing, that those options are available for all.

    • Universal Childcare

As both an Uncle and a friend to many parents of young children, I know how prohibitive the cost and availability of child care can be for our families. I envision a Massachusetts with universal childcare for all pre-Kindergarten aged children, starting with pilot programs right within our district. 

Affordable childcare is not just a family issue, it is a workforce and small business issue. Universal childcare allows parents to return to work, local employers to recruit and retain more staff and local businesses to keep faith in their ability to grow.

 

Regional Collaboration

In a region with unlimited potential but limited resources, we are stronger together. Regional collaboration is one of the most effective tools we have to reduce costs, avoid duplication and stretch our valuable taxpayer dollars further. With better communication and a shared set of regional priorities, we have the ability to better advocate for the resources needed to support those priorities and build a stronger 1st Berkshire District. I have spent much of my career building relationships and helping people find common ground, as your State Representative I will put those skills to the test and ensure that we’re moving forward together as an inclusive, equitable and vibrant place to live.

    • Facilitate Regional Connections

I will be a strong advocate and proactive convenor for collaboration and resource sharing between our municipalities and school districts. I want to get to know all of our leaders and elected officials in the district and convene roundtable discussions, regional conversations and consistent dialogue that will help us collectively identify our shared values and goals so we can better advocate for needs and deliver services more efficiently.

    • Joint Advocacy for Regional Projects

Strength lies in numbers and our municipalities have smaller populations than much of the state. Our best opportunity for success is through aligning our goals and advocating collectively. A victory for the 1st Berkshire District is a win for all of our communities, and we must begin to think that way more proactively and understand that we’re all in this together.

 

Looking Ahead

Economic opportunity, affordability and collaboration will be the pillars of my approach as your State Representative, but there is so much more to do. 

In the coming months I’m eager to explore each community within the 1st Berkshire District and get to know you all better. While we have so much in common as residents of this corner of the Commonwealth, there are also unique challenges and opportunities within each individual city and town. I hope to talk to as many constituents as possible, become more informed, and be able to effectively represent each community of the district, both individually and in the collective.

This policy platform page will continue to grow and evolve with each week of our campaign. As new issues arise, and common themes emerge, I will always keep an open mind and be inclusive of new ideas and priorities that benefit this district. 

Together, we can realize our potential in the First Berkshire District. We can create more economic opportunity, we can make life more affordable and we can get these things done through working collaboratively.