1. Personal Connection
Springfield is blessed with a rich mix of arts and cultural organizations. Please name two places where you have had personally significant arts and/or cultural experiences. How have these organizations positively affected your life?
The Springfield Armory is an earlier example of a significant cultural experience that I was blessed to have growing up. I can recall visiting the museum as a middle school student and learning about how the Armory was at the center of gun manufacturing during the Revolutionary War. It was during the tour that I learned of Springfield’s geographical advantages during a time of war and how our City played a major role in the spawning of the Industrial Revolution. The Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History is also rich is cultural artifacts. As a more recent site I have visited, having the opportunity to learn about the creation of the first motorcycle or the first Friendly’s restaurant, should make us all proud to be from where we are.
2. Addressing Citywide Issues
Can you provide examples on how you would integrate the arts, culture, and creative community in solving social problems such as safety in the downtown district?
As a City, I do believe we are making strides in transforming the downtown district to be a place where people can frequent for a number of cultural attractions. In realizing that increased foot traffic means more people, the City has begun to implement initiatives such as Complete Streets which aim to enhance pedestrian safety measures. Private and municipal organizations, in complementing plans to revitalize the downtown corridor, have also begun making efforts to beautify the area by hanging flower beds or picking up litter. In championing the Mobile Food Truck Ordinance that allows for two congregations of food trucks in the downtown district, the Young Professional subcommittee worked closely with city departments, including the SPD, to ensure late night crowding was minimized. As a Councilor in my second term, I will continue to support programs and organizations that advocate for bike lanes, public art showcases, mobile food truck festivals, and City tours that show off Springfield’s rich cultural assets.
3. An Arts Destination
While Springfield is growing as a community, the city has yet to fully leverage the strength of our arts, culture, and creative community as a means for branding and attracting residents, employees, and visitors. How would you utilize our community to make Springfield a place where people want to live, work, play, and visit?
As a City, I do believe we are making strides in transforming the downtown district to be a place where people can frequent for a number of cultural attractions. In realizing that increased foot traffic means more people, the City has begun to implement initiatives such as Complete Streets which aim to enhance pedestrian safety measures. Private and municipal organizations, in complementing plans to revitalize the downtown corridor, have also begun making efforts to beautify the area by hanging flower beds or picking up litter. In championing the Mobile Food Truck Ordinance that allows for two congregations of food trucks in the downtown district, the Young Professional subcommittee worked closely with city departments, including the SPD, to ensure late night crowding was minimized. As a Councilor in my second term, I will continue to support programs and organizations that advocate for bike lanes, public art showcases, mobile food truck festivals, and City tours that show off Springfield’s rich cultural assets.
4. Your Priorities
When elected, what actions will you take to provide support and resources to the creative community?
When I am elected, I will certainly be willing to offer my grants lens to the creative community as I’ve done in years prior. Individuals know that resources exist to support their work but sometimes have difficulty framing their argument to secure funding. As a grants writer in my professional career, I am poised to be of help to those needing advice. On the City Council, I will continue to vote to accept grants secured by the City that improve our cultural and innovative appeal. I am also prepared to more actively support our havens in the downtown district that sometimes get a bad rap because of isolated crime incidences, such as nightclubs. With more visitors bound to the City, we must make a better effort to be culturally sensitive in describing such businesses that patrons of all races frequent to unwind. Nightclubs are not breeding grounds for criminals no more than your local pizza shop or barbershop is and revitalizing any downtown district requires positive promotion to retain the businesses we do have while also attracting newer businesses. The creative community in Springfield is expansive and includes anyone who plays a role in attracting individuals here to experience what the City has to offer. As a member of this community, I will make it a point to first frame Springfield as the culturally-rich destination it should be framed as while standing up to generalizations and stereotypes that only impede people from wanting to participate in the City’s offerings.
