October 2019

I was invited to return to my alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania City and Regional Planning Department, for a panel discussion with fellow Master of City Planning alums Samantha Whitfield and Jamie Gauthier, and panel moderator Helen Horstmann-Allen, Emerge Pennsylvania board member, to share our experiences about running for office and bringing a planning perspective to politics and policymaking. Samantha Whitfield is now a Councilwoman in the Township of Willingboro, New Jersey, and Jamie Gauthier is now a Philadelphia City Councilmember. I was able to offer my perspective from my 2017 campaign and from serving as a Councilor from 2018-2019, as well as share some of the experiences and lessons of my run for Mayor in Melrose, MA in 2019. It was wonderful to return to Philadelphia, albeit for only 24 hours!

Christine Madore, AICP, Salem, MA City Councilor, Jennifer Berardi-Constable, Hull Select Board Chair, and I discussed our experiences of serving in elected office, using our lens as planning and community development professionals. The session was moderated by Kathleen Onufer, AICP, LEED AP ND, Goody Clancy. Session description: “Planners and community development professionals quickly become experts at policy, local government, and regulation in the communities they work in, but decision-making ultimately falls to elected officials. Through an actively-facilitated panel discussion and audience question and answer, this session will explore what happens when planners become the decision-makers by running for elected office in their home communities and in many cases, winning. CM: 1.25”