Preserving Our Working Landscapes, Protecting Local Control
Our community—stretching across Ipswich, Rowley, Hamilton, Newbury, Georgetown, and Topsfield—is defined by its historic beauty and working landscapes. The Second Essex District sits in Essex County, one of the primary agricultural powerhouses in Massachusetts, and our towns are home to a quarter of all farms in the county.
Many of these operations are family-owned. Together, our local growers manage a massive share of the region's open spaces, cultivating everything from multi-generational vegetable and hay operations to beloved sweet corn and heritage crop shares. Yet, on Beacon Hill, our family farms are too often treated as relics of the past rather than vital economic engines.
As your candidate for State Representative, my goal as a legislator is to launch a unified, community-driven agricultural program that solves four critical regional needs:
Securing affordable housing patterns
Bolstering our farming industry
Delivering direct help to people in need
Making our families healthier by putting fresh, local produce on every table
Protecting Local Control and Creating Farmer Housing
We can absolutely tackle our housing crisis, but we must protect local control. I am fundamentally opposed to state-mandated "by-right" zoning initiatives that bypass local town boards.
Instead, I will champion an alliance between local planners, open-space conservation, and land access. By blending state Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) tools with local Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds, we can empower local planning boards to carve out and construct modest, affordable housing directly on preservation land. This will provide low-cost housing specifically for the farmers and farmworkers who manage those fields.
Cultivating a Youth Workforce Pipeline
To keep our fields productive, we must build a strong youth workforce pipeline. I will advocate for expanded funding and admissions capacity for agricultural mechanics and sustainable horticulture at the Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical School in Danvers. Furthermore, I will work to connect young growers directly into hands-on apprenticeship programs, like the cultivation and farm-to-pantry pathways at Appleton Farms in Ipswich.
Fighting Hunger with Fresh, Local Food
I will fight to feed our hungry neighbors by permanently codifying the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) into state law (S. 104 / H. 222). This critical step will:
Strip HIP away from unpredictable annual budget cycles
Clear the farmer registration waitlist
Back vital local non-profits like Nourishing the North Shore, The Open Door, and Acord Food Pantry