A Special Election will be held on Saturday, Nov. 15, to fill a vacancy on the Select Board.
Each week until the election, Abington News is asking the two residents running a question to help voters better understand them as candidates.
This week’s question was:
Please introduce yourself to the voters of Abington. What are the top reasons you want to be a member of the Abington Select Board?
(Please note next week’s question will focus on the town budget and anticipated override. Feel free to address it this week but know it will come up again next week.)
Responses are unedited and provided in the order they were received.
MICHAEL LAVERY
Hi Abington! I’m Michael Lavery. First time homeowner, small business owner, election worker, Affordable Housing Trust member, and expecting father. I got my BFA in Communications at Franklin Pierce University and studied Political Science through Harvard’s online program. I taught aspiring journalists Broadcast Journalism at Franklin Pierce during the 08 Primaries. I’ve also worked a wide array of jobs, from the service industry, to managing large staffs, to running a tv station.
Out of all the places my wife Shannon and I have lived, I’ve never met a community as welcoming as Abington. Every community project completed, the volunteers from the community have taken me in and directed me to the next volunteer who has a passion we can work on together. And that path led me to where I am today. Through being an election worker, I was introduced to openings on committees like the Affordable Housing Trust, volunteering for community groups like ASPIRE, and calling AHS Soccer games on AbingtonCAM.
As we’re seeing the cost of living rise and rise, I’m going to fight to keep our community affordable. We can’t let corporations pick and choose who should live in our community by determining an extreme cost of living. Speaking to departments across town, they’re already seeing a lack of funding and less grants coming in. Together we can take care of those essential departments.
Just this week, I was in a Town Hall speaking with Liz Shea, Town Planner, discussing programs I’ve found that we as a community are under-utilizing. Things that will save the town thousands of dollars. I also proposed other housing options for our seniors and first-time home buyers, and ways to combat the skyrocketing price of groceries.
While the town has been great in the past, we can’t keep doing things the same way and ignoring the changing world around us. Abington is currently trying to find one-time swings to balance the budget for this year. I’m proposing long-term, sustainable options that will keep money moving in.
It’s easy for candidates to say buzzwords and phrases like “make smart decisions” & “be fiscally responsible”. Those are things we should be doing, but we also need to propose concrete ways in which we can implement positive change. And that change is something we can accomplish together.
We now qualify for more grants and new zoning opportunities since I’ve joined the Affordable Housing Trust, we’ve taken the affordable housing from 7.1% to over the 10% threshold. These are budget specific resolutions I will get into during next week’s question. But I’ve also spent weeks picking apart the budget. It’s not one big swing that’s going to solve our budget issues, it’s going to take picking at the seams. It’s going to take long-term thinking. Long-term solutions that we as a community can find the right balance to.
We’re all aware of the glaring budget issues, but the reason I’d love to represent you on the Select Board is the people. With my journalism background, I’ve spoken and worked with people on every side of the aisle. What I perceive as my strength is listening and interpreting what people are saying and accurately presenting that back into the world. I look forward to using that skillset to take our solutions and put them into action.
So as I talk to all the departments around town and as many citizens as possible, I’m absorbing people’s concerns, ideas, passions, and histories and working with them to turn those thoughts into success, progress, and accomplishments. I want people to succeed, I want Abington to succeed, much like the people I’ve experienced in Abington want me to succeed and support me.
It starts with our youth, but it doesn’t end there. When I was working elections, Town Clerk, Leanne Adams assigned some teens to shadow and work in my precinct. I was told to keep an eye on them and make sure they’re safe. Now as I call the soccer games, I see those same teens on the soccer field. When I see them around town I see citizens that know them by name and know their family. I want that community for my daughter. I want to know when she’s out in town people will know her and look out for her. That as she succeeds, we as a community succeed. I’ve talked to seniors of multi-generation families, some are third generation, some are first with their children staying in town. The housing crisis is forcing those seniors to make decisions about the affordability of staying in Abington. Those waiting lists for housing are over 10-years long, people cannot wait that long. We are going to explore every avenue possible to keep our housing affordable and our cost of living manageable.
The commitment and dedication I have towards Abington is only a seed in the garden that so many people before me have planted, harvested and nurtured for the town. I look up to those I see at countless committee and board meetings, those I see all over town volunteering, and helping. There is a Mister Rogers quote that gets circulated after tragedies. “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people that are helping”. And while that’s a nice reassurance that there are people helping in time of need, I see the ones that are helping at all times. People who often go unnoticed, but without them, things would fall through the cracks and cause a greater issue down the line. People who plant a tree now even though they won’t be able to enjoy the shade it provides. Much like those who have come before me in Abington, I want to leave a forest that generations to come can enjoy. This generation coming to middle-age is the first generation that wasn’t afforded more opportunity than the generation before them. That trend is unsustainable and one we need to reverse. And if provided the honor of serving Abington, together we will be striving to put every Abington resident of all generations in a better place than they were previously.
Thank you and I hope to see you at the polls.
NICOLE EMERY
Originally from Rockland, my husband Manny and I made Abington our home eleven years ago. Since then, we have been fortunate to raise our four children here, deepening my commitment to the well-being and future of this town. As a registered nurse, I have spent my career caring for individuals and families which has strengthened my dedication to service and reinforced my responsibility to advocate for others.
Living and raising a family in Abington has given me firsthand insight into the challenges and opportunities our town faces. I am passionate about ensuring that our local government remains accountable and transparent, responsibly manages taxpayer dollars, and prioritizes the safety and support of our first responders. Above all, I believe in fostering a community where every resident’s voice is heard and valued.
Running for the Select Board comes from a genuine desire to be more involved in the town in a bigger and more impactful way. I believe that active participation is essential to shaping the future of our community, and I want to contribute my skills, experience, and passion to making Abington a better place for all residents.
It is with this commitment that I seek a position on the Select Board. I am ready to work collaboratively to build a stronger, safer, and more prosperous Abington for all. I hope to earn your support and vote on November 15th.
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