Letter: Support Sarah Gardner for Williamstown Planning Board
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To the Editor:
Last fall, the select board and the Planning Board jointly appointed Sarah Gardner to the vacant seat on the Planning Board, electing her from among a slate of strong candidates. I voted for Gardner then without hesitation, and I will do so again on Tuesday, when she goes up against another accomplished candidate for a five-year seat on the board.
Sarah Gardner stands out due to her in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience with planning, making her an invaluable asset to the board as it works toward ensuring our town’s vitality now and into the future. Her vision combines a desire for economic growth with a sensitivity to the distinctive, rural quality of our community. Gardner has demonstrated her willingness to balance a diversity of perspectives, most recently in her role as latecomer to the Waubeeka issue, which has been before the board since September.
Contrary to the accusations of some, she has worked to find compromise, believing that a well-planned development at Waubeeka golf course would be in the best interests of the town. She has striven to delineate a zoning change that would hew to the town’s goals under our Master Plan and recent EDC report, while also enabling a careful development to move forward at the site.
We rely on the Planning Board to judiciously serve the interests of the town in the near and distant future, through reasoned planning that supports smart growth. It is a balancing act where no single cause or player can call all the shots. As an example of the insight Sarah brings to the board is her recent suggestion that the town form an Economic Development Board whose role would be to actively recruit businesses that fit our existing human resources and building stock.
Sarah Gardner is ideally qualified to carry forward in her work on the board, and she deserves our vote.
Anne O'Connor
O'Connor is a member of the Williamstown Board of Selectmen.
Tags: election 2016, endorsement, town elections,
