To the editor:
If you try not to pay attention to local politics and find most of the discourse about local politics on Facebook to be abhorrent, then this letter is probably for you.
There is a local election coming up, and Swampscott usually only has under 15% of the population participate in a decision as to who will be elected into positions that can affect your day-to-day life. Unfortunately, people generally don’t vote on “The Issues;” they usually just vote for people they know, regardless of what’s important to them. I want to encourage you to vote for the issues that are important to you, and I think Liz Smith should be one of the votes you cast for the Select Board based on that.
Liz Smith was advocating for cleaning up our beaches before the Select Board even understood it was a problem. Liz is the most knowledgeable candidate on our beach issues and is leading the committee that the town now relies on for steps forward.
Katie Phalen is the only incumbent candidate who voted this past week to fully fund our school budget. Liz is on the record for supporting that too.
After a Select Board term that has held the most closed-door sessions, Liz Smith wants to hold more public hearings and increase access to board minutes and documents so the public has better access to know what’s going on.
Above all else, Liz Smith comes prepared to accomplish things, and I want to elect someone who will work towards Swampscott’s future and not restore some unattainable nostalgia of the past.
Don’t vote based on yard signs, don’t vote based on loud voices. Vote on the things that will affect your day-to-day life. Liz Smith is currently out trying to knock on as many doors as she can to come to you and hear your priorities, and I think that’s the kind of person we should vote for to be on the Select Board.
Aaron Berdofe
Swampscott
