Dear WIDE and the residents of Lincoln,
First, I want to publicly state that I fully support WIDE Lincoln [Welcome, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity] and its current work. Whether I win this election or not, I look forward to this group’s reports and recommendations to help make Lincoln a more welcoming town. I believe that it is important to have groups and commissions with different stakeholders in town to advise and make recommendations to the Board of Selects to update the policies and rules that need to be updated.
By now, I think everyone knows my stance on housing: we need more and diverse housing so people can afford to live in our great town. In addition, I agree with WIDE that building more housing isn’t the only solution and that more work needs to be done.
If I am elected as the next member of the Board of Selects, one of my proposals is to advocate for more community events in town and to make these events free so that they are accessible to all. I believe building community through a wide variety of events would be beneficial for the town. I would also advocate to work with community partners like LincFam, the schools, churches, Lincoln Veterans Association, Council on Aging, and other organizations to help reach out to the various communities in our town. When planning these events, it is important to welcome people onto the planning committees so that we can have new and diverse ideas for these events. Growing up in Lowell, the wide variety of community events helped bring various community stakeholders together and I think increasing these types of events in Lincoln would be beneficial.
Also, I would look to invest in our town website and allow our town organizations to be on the website so people can seek out organizations they might be interested in so they can get involved. For new members of our community, I would support a welcome packet to new residents to showcase our town organizations and events, so newcomers feel welcomed to the community.
Lastly, we must have great schools that serve all families. As a member of the School Committee, I have advocated for language in the school’s AIDE [Antiracism, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity) policy to address the huge achievement gap between various subgroups in our district, as well as the hiring of an [AIDE] HR director to recruit and retain diverse staff. I have also advocated for expanded preschool so every child has access to a quality education from the start.
While housing, in my opinion, is the number one issue facing us currently, the work doesn’t stop there, and we must continuously work to make everyone feel connected in Lincoln. While these conversations may be difficult at times, we can’t shy away from them. Anyone that knows me knows that I will not shy away from having these difficult conversations.
Please reach out to me if anyone would like further details.
Sincerely,
Adam M. Hogue, candidate for Select Board
50 Lincoln Rd.
978-828-6184
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