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Dear Editor:
I appreciate the opportunity to respond to a letter written by Ms. Monica Cannaley regarding the fact that I did not fill out the Green Voters Guide survey.
I chose not to respond to this survey because I’m a data and fact driven candidate. In order to properly answer the survey, it required reading hundreds of pages of reports that were connected to the survey and agreeing to everything written in these reports. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to dedicate to reading these reports during this campaign season.
However, I did submit a statement to the Green Voters Guide which I’m sharing here:
I’m very in favor of greenspace preservation in our community. We currently have a shortage of parks in Westfield and we need to work on this. I’m also very concerned about the preservation of the trees next to our trails. We need ordinances to protect these areas. I want us to have a healthy community with lots of trees so I worked very hard as the Downtown Westfield Streetscape Leader to make sure we are planting trees in our downtown to combat the emissions from vehicles. These are all areas that I can impact as Westfield Mayor and they will all get a top priority of my attention.
Additionally, I donated over 300 hours over five years of my personal time to save Wood Wind Golf Course from being demolished and gone forever from our community. This is over 150 acres of greenspace and the only public golf course in Westfield that was preserved due to this unwavering commitment.
No other candidate has invested this type of time and effort into greenspace preservation in this community.
If Westfield wants a mayor who will make greenspace preservation a priority, vote for Kristen Burkman.
Kristen Burkman
Westfield Mayoral Candidate