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Dear Fellow Residents:
I am the man behind the curtain, however, what I write here is not smoke and mirrors. As you may have heard by now, my wife, Vanessa Alvarado, is running for the Board of Selectmen. What has been, until now, simply assumed is my support. I write to boldly and unequivocally state my support and endorsement of Vanessa for the Board of Selectmen.
My support has mostly consisted of doing what I can to allow her the time to pursue this goal, however, I feel that many are missing an essential part Vanessa’s candidacy. You may have heard her stance on issues, there has been talk of experience, gender, and even the fact that we have young children. What you should know is her reasoning and her character.
I will admit that I have only a surface level understanding of our town government and, to be honest, I don’t really want to take the time and effort to dig out all the nuances and machinations involved. Vanessa does. She enjoys the inner workings of the town and being a part of helping Reading thrive. She genuinely wants to listen to her fellow residents’ problems and work to find solutions. That is what elected officials are for.
She joined the Finance Committee because she wanted to give back what she could. As time went by she wanted to get more involved in order to help the town grow and continue to be a welcoming place to live, so she joined Town Meeting. The more she learned, the more she wanted to help. She became frustrated when committees’ advice went unheeded and decisions were made that were short term or shortsighted. She wanted to help Reading continue to be a thriving community, not just today or tomorrow, but 10 and 20 years from now. So she decided to run for the Board of Selectmen.
I support Vanessa in her bid for Board of Selectmen because I believe it is right and fair to support someone you care for in their pursuit of things that interest them and make them happy. More than that, however, I endorse Vanessa as the best candidate for the position. I believe that Vanessa is dedicated and passionate about helping our community. She is motivated by the belief that a community is made up of its residents and that one must listen and understand the concerns of those residents in order to help the community as a whole, to help our town to evolve, and to help our town be a home for everyone who lives here.
Reading is a great place, but that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t evolve. In fact, it must evolve in order to stay a great place. I endorse Vanessa as Selectman so that Reading continues to be a town we have pride in, not only as a place to live, but as a home, as a place to raise a family, and as a place to grow old.
Sincerely,
