Letter: Owen Smith deserves your Ward 5 vote

Excerpted from Daily News of Newburyport (link)

“To the editor: 

We recently became acquainted with Owen Smith, candidate for Ward 5 city councilor. Owen has been a breath of fresh air, and has quickly earned our vote for Ward 5.

With a background in public safety and infrastructure, Owen is the right person to move our city forward in a thoughtful way when it comes to paving streets and sidewalks, fixing difficult intersections and overcoming traffic problems. In terms of infrastructure, he knows from experience the value of addressing underlying issues rather than applying a quick fix that will ultimately result in a costly rework in the near future. He sees weaknesses and hopes to address them holistically so that they don’t require more attention and funding down the road.

Owen sees the value in moving our city projects forward now, before they become more expensive in the future, and acting now before some of our hard-earned government grants expire without being used. He is fully behind building a new home for Newburyport Youth Services at 59 Low St., and will vote to get this project underway as soon as possible.

We had the opportunity to meet Ward 5 residents with Owen. With each neighbor he chatted with, we were thoroughly impressed with his knowledge base about city issues, and his proactive approach to fixing the issues. On several occasions he referenced that he had already initiated contact with the Department of Public Services, or had written a letter to a government agency to help move an issue forward, or to gain more insight into the history of an issue. He is well researched and has a broad knowledge base of how things work within local and state government.

We encourage you to give Owen Smith your vote on Nov. 7, and bring new energy to Ward 5 to get things moving in Newburyport.” 

ERIN AND PAUL LAROSA

Newburyport