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Greater Civic Engagement

I support Owen Charles to serve on the Board of Finance. Owen helped form the Shoreline Green Party to provide a counter to entrenched ways of thinking. Voting for Owen will help ensure balance and increase public input. After speaking with Owen about his vision, it is clear that he wants to foster a greater civic engagement and take back the sense of a shared democracy run by the people. He believes thinking globally and acting locally works, and it starts neighbor to neighbor at the local level. For him, that means running for office and ensuring that the people’s interests are brought back into good government.

Not only will Owen bring a fresh point of view to the Board of Finance, he also brings experience. Owen previously served on the board from 2007 to 2009. Owen supports strengthening the conflict of interest policy and creating an ethics board. An ethics board is essential to ensure that decision-making by publicly elected or appointed boards and commissions occurs without personal or professional conflicts of interest. This is a common process used by many other towns, and a gold standard for ensuring ethical and responsive government. With huge decisions about what will happen with the Academy Street property and the refurbishing/rebuilding of town schools, this is incredibly important.

There are three Board of Finance member positions open. Whether your readers are registered unaffiliated, Republican, or Democrat, it is a smart decision to make the Board of Finance a well-balanced entity to ensure the town makes fiscally responsible decisions that represents the will of the citizenry. A vote for Owen Charles accomplishes that.

Jennifer Rodriguez

Madison