I was encouraged to run for Town Meeting (TM) by Betty Bullock, a friend, neighbor and fellow small business owner. After my election in 1998, I was assigned to the Capital Budget Committee where I served five years, three years as the Chair. That was the beginning of my active participation.

While on the Capital Budget Committee, Harold DuLong, a Burlington native, encouraged me to consider the Land Use Committee. I was appointed to the Land Use Committee (LUC) in 2003 and served as Chair from September 2007 through September 2013. As committee Chair, I was responsible for setting the agenda, organizing and conducting meetings. I was responsible for the committee’s reports and presentations to Town Meeting.

During my tenure as LUC chair, the committee evolved. Historically the committee would simply respond to requests to approve zoning articles. During my tenure we morphed from reactive to proactively anticipating the future needs of the community. We saw that a majority of Town Meeting Members (TMMs) had begun to view the Planned Development District (PDD) as a menace to Burlington’s non-commercial residents. In 2011, with encouragement and assistance from the Planning Board and Planning department staff, the LUC re-wrote Article 12 of the Zoning Bylaw. We believed the PDD is a good zoning vehicle for multi-use commercial sites and that the bylaw only needed better definition. The re-written bylaw was on the January 2012 Warrant. It was passed with a vote of 67 in favor and 2 opposed.

In addition to Article 12 of the ZBL, the Committee proposed and Town Meeting passed a General Bylaw article concerning Outdoor Lighting (Article XIII Section 6.0) in September 2013.

As Chair of the LUC, I moderated the discussion and interviewed proponents and opponents of many projects.

After a break of 3 years, 2 of which were as Town Moderator (chiefly moderating Town Meeting), I rejoined TM in 2018 to fill an empty seat for 1 year. In 2019, I chose not to run because there was a potential new (and younger) member who was running against 6 incumbents for 6 seats. I was elected in 2022.

Although I am a TMM, I have not been appointed to a TM committee as a TMM. I am a member of the Zoning Bylaw Review Committee, appointed by the Select Board to represent the business community. My goal in requesting the appointment was to address shortcomings in the town's sign bylaws. If you're interested in learning more about the topic, please visit our committee meetings. They are posted at https://burlington.org