Hi everyone. My name is Kelly Moss and I am excited to announce my candidacy for the 1 year position on Salem’s new Town Council. Having served on the charter commission that wrote our new town charter, I believe this next year is an important transition period and I would like to be a part of that transition.

When I ran for the charter commission, one of my goals was to implement campaign finance reporting rules for town elections. Having run in both a town and state election, I was surprised to find that the rules for financial reporting that exist at the state level do not exist at the town level. When running for state office, every dollar must be accounted for in terms of who is funding a campaign, how much money is being raised and spent and what it is spent on. At the town level, you can raise and spend any amount of money from any source and have no requirement to disclose any of it. I believe in transparency and I believe that transparency breeds trust. If we want to trust that our local elected officials are going to work for Salem and free from outside or undue influence, campaign finance transparency is a must.

I am pleased to report that the charter commission made an important step towards this transparency by enshrining campaign finance requirements in our newly adopted charter but there is still more work to be done. The detailed reporting requirements were left to the town council to define. Per the charter, the new town council has until March 2024 to write the rules for campaign finance reporting in town elections.

I would like a position on the town council so that I can finish the job I started. Having participated in both town and state elections, I am in a good position to help write these new rules. I know that town elections usually involve much less money than a state election and I do not want reporting requirements that are so onerous that they deter candidates from running, but I also want to ensure that if someone’s campaign is being funded by outside groups and special interests that the voters are made aware so that they can make an informed decision at the polls.

As demonstrated through my work on the charter, as well as my work on the Recreation Advisory Committee and a number of other community organizations, I am an analytical person who enjoys digging into the details of issues, asking important questions and finding solutions that balance the needs of all involved. Our new town council will benefit greatly from this approach.

In addition to managing the transition to our new form of government, Salem is facing a number of issues at the moment that call for creative and cooperative solutions. Many of our town buildings are in need of significant repair and upgrades, including both police and fire facilities. We need to establish a west side fire station to improve response times to our west side residents before a disaster occurs. Our recreation facilities are not meeting the needs of our residents resulting in overuse of the facilities we do have and a strain on our school facilities. Even more concerning is that when you talk to most people in town, they aren’t even aware of these issues because our communications efforts are not keeping the community informed and involved.

I chose the Salem community to raise my family and I believe in community involvement. I have worked hard to do my part to become involved. I am a member of the Recreation Advisory Committee, the committee chair for Salem’s Cub Scout Pack 160, a volunteer on the Fisk and Woodbury PTAs, and a member of the Salem Area Women’s Club. By serving on the town council, I hope to further expand my service to the community and improve communication to the rest of our community in order to encourage more participation and involvement. By all of us working together, I believe we can solve any problem our community may face.

Please vote for me, Kelly Moss for Salem’s Town Council and together we can move Salem forward.