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Key Principles

You should know the key principles that guide the person who represents you. These are mine. 

I think the City Council should focus on issues that affect the quality of life for working families in Concord. Families are the foundation for Concord, and quality of life means thriving communities.

For example, development decisions can prioritize project viability for the developer, or it can prioritize improvements that have a positive impact on current residents. Sometimes these can be done at the same time, but that takes careful work. 

As the naval weapons station project proceeds, new housing will mean traffic impacts on existing roadways. Project decisions should therefore place a high priority on the needs of current working families. 

I believe good process makes for good policy which makes for good government - and all of that starts by having City Council members who listen to their constituents and incorporate their concerns into policy decisions. 

My commitment is to listen to you respectfully and completely, and without telling you what to think or say. I also commit to telling you what I am thinking even as I am working through where I stand on something. Transparency, honesty, respectful dialogue and active listening: these are the foundations to making city policy that works for you. 

I think it is time for residents and city government in Concord to deepen their relationship: this means an exchange of meaningful commitments to each other. Residents should work to be as engaged with city government as they can; the City Council should commit to appointing more resident oversight commissions. 

Residents can shape Concord by getting involved. And the needs and preferences of residents should be clearly reflected in City Council deliberations and decision making. 

In each City Council decision, two questions need to be asked: who will benefit, and who will be burdened? And based on honest answers to those questions, strategies should be included to mitigate unintended consequences for those who are already most heavily burdened. 

This in not just a good idea, it is actually established Concord policy, based on the adoption of the GARE framework by the Concord City Council in 2020. My commitment is to ensure that this framework will be applied explicitly and transparently in all City Council decisions.