CAPE COD TIMES ARTICLE

Supermajority of women a first for Truro Select Board

Saturday, May 27th, 2018 - Quotes written and Submitted By: Kristen M Reed to CCT Mary Ann Bragg

TRURO — With the election of Susan Areson to the Select Board, there are now four female members out of the five elected seats on the board, marking what the sole man remaining called a “historic moment in this town’s history.”

“This is progress in an admirable direction,” said Select Board member Robert Weinstein, who noted at the May 15 meeting that his wife, Monica Kraft, current town moderator, was the first woman elected to what was then a three-person board in 1984.

At the May 14 election, when Areson became the newest member, voters also approved a charter amendment to rename the Board of Selectmen the Select Board. The name change was meant to be more inclusive of all genders serving on the board, according to the 2018 annual town meeting warrant where the charter amendment was introduced.

The presiding officers on the Select Board have been realigned as well. Weinstein declined any nominations for chairman, vice chairman or clerk. Instead, Select Board member Janet Worthington is now in the top position, Maureen Burgess is vice chairwoman and Kristen Reed is the board’s clerk.

The ratification in 1920 of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution was an important moment in history, and women are continuing to make history, Reed said at the meeting.

“We’re the first board to have four women on a five-member board,” she said. At the same time, the country is seeing six women running for the highest political office in the nation, Reed said. “The future is female.”

When asked what she believes will change on the board, Reed said former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is known for saying, “If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman” — and that rings true to her.

“The truth is women get things done,” Reed said. “Research shows that female legislators sponsor more bills, pass more laws and send more money back to their districts.” She said women generally have a more democratic leadership style, are more collaborative and reach consensus more quickly.

“I am hoping that with the four-women supermajority on the Truro Select Board, we continue to do the work we have always done, but that the work is more visible and powerful to move us towards our vision to protect and stabilize our year-round community,” Reed said.

In neighboring Provincetown, a supermajority of women on the five-member Select Board occurred at least once, in 2003, according to town reports. At that time, the members were current Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, current Select Board Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews, current Town Moderator Mary-Jo Avellar and former board member Michele Couture, along with former board member Richard Olson.

In a smattering of other towns on the Cape, including Falmouth, Sandwich and Orleans, town clerks could not recall a time in their tenures when there was a similar supermajority of women serving on boards of selectmen at one time.

CAPE COD TIMES ARTICLE

4 vie for two seats on Truro Select Board

Saturday, May 5th, 2018 - Written and Submitted By: Kristen M Reed to CCT Mary Ann Bragg

Name: Kristen M. Reed    

 Age: 34     

Address: Truro

Education: I hold a Bachelor of Science degree from Clark University in Cultural Studies and Communication, focusing on communication dynamics of people with diverse identities, experiences and histories.

Employment: Co-Founder and COO of Chequessett Chocolate and bartender at Blackfish Restaurant. As a Certified Nurse Assistant on Cape Cod for several years, I have prioritized the care and wellbeing of others, especially older people in our community.

Political Experience: In terms of running for office I’m a newcomer, but I’ve been politically active since I started voting at 18 and have attended Presidential Inaugurations in D.C. I’ve volunteered for several local and State political campaigns, and now that I’m running for office myself I’m applying some of that experience to my own campaign, knocking on hundreds of doors canvassing and getting to know my neighbors and the issues they care about.

Other Community Service: I regularly volunteer to help local senior citizens with appointments, errands, transportation, and companionship. I’ve been active in the recent effort to help improve housing affordability in Truro. I’m also engaged in environmental conservation efforts, participating in annual beach clean-ups and educating citizens about plastic pollution.

WHY ARE YOU RUNNING? WHAT MOST MOTIVATES YOU?

I’m motivated to run because I love my town and I want to give back. We are facing some big challenges here. Our beaches aren't the only things that are eroding; we’re losing industry and population too. Nobody who calls Truro home should ever feel they have to leave because there aren't any jobs, affordable places to live, or elder care resources. If Truro is going to stay the small, charming town that we all love, then we need to come together with energy and ideas—not to transform Truro into something different, but to shore up our home against the rising tide.

HOW DO YOU DIFFER FROM THE OTHER CANDIDATES?

I differ from other candidates because I have experience with several of Truro’s distinct ways of life. As both a homeowner and as the co-founder of Chequessett Chocolate, I know what it feels like to put down permanent roots here and to be responsible for the 22 people we employ. But I've also been both a renter and a service industry worker, so I know the struggle of finding housing and employment once all the tourists have gone home. And though I'm a young person myself, my work with the elderly has given me an insight into the challenges facing our seniors. Galvanizing our coastal community will require ingenuity and leadership from different ages, experiences and backgrounds, and I believe I will bring a fresh outlook and new ideas to the Truro Select Board.  

I am incredibly honored to be endorsed by Run For Something, an organization that supports candidates running for political office with progressive values and policies. RFS prides themselves on selecting candidates who represent diversity, inclusivity, and who create a representative democracy. Present and future leaders willing to work hard to protect the tenets of democracy and its institutions. 

PROVINCETOWN BANNER ENDORSEMENT

Thursday, April 26, 2018

Kristen Reed has new ideas for Truro

Thursday, APRIL 19, 2018 - The Provincetown Banner By: KATY WARD

If elected selectman, Kristen Reed would put her scientific mind to work to come up with solutions for a more robust year-round economy.

“I want to give back to the community that’s given me so much,” says Reed who is running for one of two open seats on the Truro board. “I’m eager for participation in local government. There’s more women running for office right now than ever before and I want to be a part of that.”

Reed, 34, moved to the Outer Cape in 2005. In addition to being the chief operating officer and co-founder, with her sister Katie and brother-in-law Josiah Mayo, of Chequessett Chocolate, she is a certified nursing assistant working primarily with seniors diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease and cancer. And she tends bar at Blackfish.

“It wasn’t until, as a family, we created Chequessett Chocolate that I had a viable opportunity to live here,” she says. “I’ve been both a renter and a homeowner, and I know the trials of each. I know how hard it can be for locals to find a place to live. Housing for us is as tight in the high season as it is in the long and empty winter and I know the anxiety and stress we feel when the nor’easters make our roofs creak with snow and the sea rise is ever closer to our front doors.”

Which is why, if elected, Reed says housing will be one of her top priorities.

“Working in the homes of senior citizens in Truro who are on fixed incomes, not in ideal health and living in large homes, I realized they could benefit from an affordable option for downsizing,” Reed says. “The need for affordable housing isn’t just for young people and families. It’s working-class people and seniors. It impacts everybody.”

One of her ideas is to make use of about 60 neglected acres at the former North Truro Air Force Station, now part of the Cape Cod National Seashore. Reed hopes to work with the Seashore’s new superintendent, Brian Carlstrom, to make things happen.

“When you have that much space you can use it for so many things,” she says. “You could do affordable housing, municipal housing, some recreational stuff, and I would love an MIT satellite campus. Where there’s a will there’s a way, and if Truro uses that space to create affordable housing and all the things I just mentioned, it could benefit the surrounding towns, too. I want to create relationships with all of the towns on the Outer and Lower Cape.”

Reed has a bachelor’s degree in science from Clark University in Worcester. She thinks a satellite campus could bring scientists and other innovative thinkers to Truro. Not only could this help address some of the environmental issues that the town is facing, but it could also encourage economic development, she says.

“When you have science involved then you can have smart, sustainable innovation,” she says, adding that she thinks the town should look into growing seaweed like macroalgae, dulse, Irish moss and kelp to build up the aquaculture industry.

“It’s sustainable year-round aquaculture that can bring jobs and help our economy here,” she says. “We have our beautiful beaches and our fruitful sea, and we have a responsibility to preserve and protect them. Not only for the sake of our children and grandchildren, but for our continued economic development.”

Reed says she would also like to work with the Center for Coastal Studies to see if the town could get involved with tidewater energy — a concept in which a machine captures the energy of a moving fluid, such as air or water, and the kinetic energy produced is converted into mechanical power.

“Obviously there are concerns about this affecting marine life and if we can cohabitate the water with our fishermen, but the science is there and it’s good for fish life,” she says. “The ocean has been an economic engine since geologic times. Whaling, Portuguese fishing and now our beaches — what’s the next phase? What is the next way to support our people and our community? I think we need to reinvigorate our ocean in a sustainable way.”

Though Reed has never served on a town board she doesn’t think her lack of experience will hinder her ability to serve.

“I think there’s two sides of the coin,” she says. “There’s a steep learning curve for someone who has never been on a board before, but new people, young people, bring fresh ideas and innovation to the board. By not having that time under your belt you have the ability to be open-minded.” —Katy Ward

A Wave of Young Women Running Campaigns (and Changing Politics)

APRIL 3, 2018 - By: MICHAEL TACKETT

McLEAN, Va. — The campaign manager spoke about her candidate’s race with a veteran’s prepossessing self-assurance. Emma Brown is hiring staff, managing a budget, building out a schedule and studying voter data, block by block, in a Northern Virginia congressional district that will be one of the country’s hardest-contested in November.

Her caffeine-fueled days are long — 16 hours is the norm — and so are the odds for her candidate, Lindsey Davis Stover, running in her first race.

But Ms. Brown is undeterred. She has a strategy for her candidate to prevail in a “deeply tactical primary” through “hypercoordination” among events, digital strategy, mail, television and radio.

Ms. Brown is only 24.

For the rest of the article please refer to link below:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/03/us/politics/women-campaign-managers-midterms.html