Jen’s Summary from Glastonbury Life
It’s been an honor serving on Town Council since 2021. I live near Addison Park with my husband, daughter, and cat. I’ve worked for over 16 years in sustainability and public health; I have a master’s in Global Health and Environment from UC Berkeley and a bachelor’s in chemistry from Rice University.
I believe the biggest issues facing the Town Council are farm preservation, prudent budgeting, housing, environment, and sense of community. I’m running for a second term because I’m proud of what I’ve helped accomplish in these areas, and I have some ideas for what to do next.
We need to preserve our agricultural heritage and its economic, environmental, and social benefits – and we have, by buying land such as the former Rose’s Berry Farm to ensure it remains working farmland, increasing tax relief for farmers, offering small grants to disaster-affected farmers, and adopting a Right to Farm ordinance. Going forward, we can engage our Agricultural Advisory Committee to help identify and address issues proactively, pursue state grants and legislation, and promote our farming community and Right to Farm status.
We need to maintain a lean budget that prudently meets our community’s needs and we have, by delivering under Democratic leadership five of the lowest tax increases in recent history. This year was an anomaly; our recent property revaluation (required every 5 years) produced an average 28 percent increase in residential property values, compared with an average 8.6 percent increase in commercial property values. Given this shift in tax burden onto residential property owners, I voted for some tough cuts during this spring’s budget season while protecting the necessities that keep our town and schools running smoothly. I will continue to scrutinize our budget to maximize value for taxpayers.
We need to address our town and region’s dire lack of housing supply and affordability – and we have, by partnering with our Housing Authority to develop mixed-income homes on Nye Road, and by adopting an inclusionary zoning ordinance that requires developers to make 10 percent of multifamily rental units affordable to households earning up to 80 percent of area median income. Still, 22 percent of Glastonbury households are cost-burdened, meaning they spend at least 30 percent of their income on housing costs, so we have to do much more. Our affordable housing plan is a valuable roadmap. Given the frequency of new housing proposals, however, we urgently need to examine our zoning regulations and housing strategies to ensure we are guiding development in the right direction.
We need to do our part to protect the environment, tackle climate change, and prepare for climate impacts and we have, as evidenced by the Silver certification and Climate Leader Designation we earned from Sustainable CT. Awards aside, we must take bolder climate action by diverting more food waste, expanding renewable energy, and facilitating the reduction of car trips e.g. by increasing safe infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians. On adaptation and resilience, we need to shore up our infrastructure and spread awareness about risks to human health and property.
Finally, we need to continue building our sense of community by creating more opportunities for collective joy, shared wonder, and good old human connection – and we have, with the new pickleball courts and Poetry in the Parks series, a local civil rights history mural in the works, and wonderful events at the library, senior center, and parks. We could use a few more town-wide occasions or public art displays that can bring us all together as a community.
Those are my priorities for our beloved little-big town. Let’s work together to make it happen.
Voting History
Affordable Housing
- Voted YES to add a 10% inclusionary zoning policy on rental units
- Voted YES to purchase the Nye Road property to build affordable housing
- Voted YES to the renovation of a town owned affordable residence
Social Issues
Education
Business
- Voted YES to prohibit cannabis establishments
- Voted YES to the Right to Farm in Glastonbury
- Voted YES to allocate $150,000 of ARPA funds to the Small Business Program
- Voted YES to Grant $150,000 to the Farm Assistance Program
Town Management
Senior Citizens
Citizen Questions
The range of response: strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree
What are the three greatest challenges facing the community, and how will you address them?
BUDGET: We must maintain a lean budget that brings value to taxpayers, all while dealing with inflation and the recent revaluation. My priorities are to prudently fund our schools and services, find efficiencies and grants, and grow the grand list.
HOUSING: Our state’s housing shortage is stifling our economy; 22% of Glastonbury households spend >30% of income on hous- ing. We must continue implementing our Affordable Housing Plan and guide development with net environmental and economic benefits.
ENVIRONMENT: From flooded farms to smoky skies, from allergies to mosquitoes, climate change is affecting us here and now. We must ramp up our mitigation and adaptation efforts to ensure a safe, affordable and healthy future.
Zoning ordinances in town do not allow for adequate supply of housing across the income spectrum.
Agree. Like much of the U.S., Glastonbury mostly uses Euclidean zoning, which is intended to promote orderly development but has also been shown to enable socioeconomic and racial exclusion, limit housing supply, and encourage car-dependent sprawl. As detailed in our Affordable Housing Plan, local zoning reform (among other strategies) is essential to achieving our affordable housing goals, while empowering us to maintain our local control.
Towns should implement programs to remove food waste from the trash stream.
Strongly agree. With the incinerator closure in Hartford, our costs have gone up as our waste now gets hauled out of state. This is financially and environmentally unsustainable. Glastonbury has innovated by collecting residential food scraps to be converted into clean energy and soil at an anaerobic digester. We should expand this program and extend it to our schools to achieve economies of scale, save us all money, and reduce our environmental impact.
Letters to Editor
You can often learn a great deal about a candidate from their letters written to the Glastonbury Citizen. You can often learn a great deal about a candidate from their letters written to the Glastonbury Citizen. The link to to the letter text is found in the dates below.
The letter is from a Glastonbury Town Council member seeking re-election, highlighting their contributions to local governance, particularly in the area of affordable housing, and asking for voter support to continue their work.
October 2023
The letter discusses the budget process, praising its transparency and community engagement.
Spring 2022
Social Media
Jen has an very active facebook page. Jen gives regular updates on town activities and events, and following her page is a great way to keep aware of the happenings of our town.