Emily Mitchell Seeks Caucus Nomination for Selectman

Submitted by Emily Mitchell

I am excited to announce I will be seeking a caucus nomination for Bedford Selectman at Town Caucus on January 8. I ask for your support at Caucus, and in the 2019 Town Election.

It takes a lot of people to make a community work, and I believe I have the ideas, skills, energy, and temperament to serve Bedford well as a Selectman. Before deciding to run, I spent a lot of time thinking about the opportunities and challenges facing Bedford in the next three years. My interests center around three key ideas:

ACCESSIBILITY: As citizens of Bedford, we ARE the government. How can we ensure more people participate in our democracy, and have the tools and information they need to do so?
LIVABILITY: As residents of Bedford, we have a stake in where we make our homes, where we shop and eat, and how we get around town. How do we ensure our town is a place that meets all our needs?
INCLUSIVITY: As neighbors in Bedford, we show hospitality to each other every day. How do we welcome and include one another, recognizing and accommodating the different needs of different people?

I have lived in Bedford for nearly 20 years, and have seen our town grow in large and small ways. My husband, John, and I chose Bedford because of its small-town feel and excellent schools. Having no family in the area, we wanted a place where we could feel at home, with neighbors and friends to support us as we grew from a young couple to a family of four. Bedford has been that place for us.

Professionally, I am a literary agent specializing in children’s books. My work involves negotiation, contract review, and juggling lots of different clients and tasks—all experience that would serve a Selectman well. I hold a bachelor’s degree in English from Harvard, a master’s in secondary English education from Syracuse, and an MBA from Babson.

Giving back to the community is important to me, so I have found ways to serve Bedford in a variety of roles. Since 2016 I have been a Trustee of the Bedford Free Public Library, and have served this past year as that board’s chair. I worked locally on the Yes on 3 ballot question campaign this past fall, organizing a forum in collaboration with Bedford Embraces Diversity and the Violence Prevention Coalition. I am the current president of Bedford Patrons of Music Students (POMS), an all-volunteer booster organization supporting music students and faculty within the public schools, and am in my fourth year as a parent co-coordinator of the JGMS musical. I’m a longtime high school youth leader at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, and also served as a vestry warden (lay leader) for seven years, which included a clergy transition. I was a founding board member of The Bedford Citizen and am also a former board member of the Bedford Center for the Arts.

I am excited by the possibility of putting my skills to work on behalf of the Town in a new way, and I look forward to many opportunities to share my ideas and learn more about the concerns of Bedford voters. In the weeks ahead, I welcome your questions, and I hope to earn your support and your vote on March 9.

Respectfully,

Emily Mitchell