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You’ve read several letters in this space from Reading residents praising Karen Herrick and supporting her re-election to the Select Board. Others have praised Karen’s leadership on schools, energy and sustainability issues, growth that respects the environment, and hiring a terrific Town Manager and encouraging him to be proactive in obtaining state and local grant money for Reading. I agree wholeheartedly, but I’m writing to add another perspective on why I’m passionate in supporting Karen for re-election.
Karen helped this town through a pandemic. With grace, good humor, passion, and collaborative spirit she worked with her fellow Select Board members, Town and state officials, and the citizens and small business owners of Reading to get us through a challenge we never could have anticipated. She is battle tested by the worst of times—and gets an A-plus in my book. She’s one of the main reasons Reading is pointed to a future that is brighter than ever.
Like many others, my own job shifted to Zoom in March 2020. We all had to learn—how do we connect, communicate, and innovate on that small screen? Those were uncertain and unsettling times. I had never attended a Select Board meeting, but I began to watch them faithfully on television—comforted that every member of our Select Board was working with determination to get us through that toughest time and planning wisely for the better days ahead. Karen Herrick was a shining star of that effort. Always positive, creative, and looking for opportunities to find bi-partisan solutions to problems.
Thanks to Karen’s leadership, our town has come to the other side of covid with a very bright future ahead, and we need to re-elect Karen to help chart that course. If you agree, then please get out and vote for Karen Herrick on April 4.
David Monahan
Maple Ridge Road
