Caroline Bays announced her candidacy for Watertown Town Councilor At-Large.
A trained family mediator and community organizer, Caroline Bays announced her candidacy for Watertown Councilor-at-Large today. A Watertown resident for 19 years, Caroline and her husband Bill chose Watertown as an affordable, diverse community in which to raise their two children Austin and Susannah.
She has organized volunteers and talked with Watertown voters about the issues in local campaigns to elect Watertown Councilors Susan Falkoff and Tony Palomba, State Representative Jon Hecht, State Senator Will Brownsberger, as well as U.S. Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren.
“I’ve spoken to people all over Watertown as I have campaigned for other candidates. I’ve talked to people about issues that upset them as well as the many strengths of our community,” says Bays. “I have heard their concerns about new development, worsening traffic, the cost of buying a home, and the quality of our public schools. I share their love for our vibrant community, our open spaces, and our small-town feel combined with large city amenities.
“Watertown is growing and changing so quickly. To preserve what’s great about this community, we need to involve residents in making important decisions about major priorities like transportation, education, safety, and sustainability. Citizens want to play a role in building on our history and shaping our future. I want to find ways to get them involved.”
As a long time participant and leader in several Watertown community groups, Caroline knows that citizen participation is critical for effective government and is uniquely positioned to enhance citizen involvement. She is the co-chair and founding member of Progressive Watertown, a Steering Committee Member of Sustainable Watertown, Vice President of the Watertown Democratic Town Committee, and has been an active member of Watertown Citizens for more than ten years.
“Caroline knows Watertown and does her homework. She is active and informed on the issues. I am impressed with how well she understands the Town budget. This takes time, attention and persistence. She is one of my most engaged constituents who identifies both problems and paths to resolution,” commented Councilor Susan Falkoff.
An experienced family mediator, trained and certified at the University of Massachusetts, Caroline is comfortable working together with people from different beliefs and backgrounds. Raised in a family with Quaker values on one side and a strong military tradition on the other, she knows creative solutions are built on common ground.
“We need to make important decisions about how to balance needs, resources, and opportunities around traffic, school, the cost of housing, and living sustainably,” says Bays. “Let’s figure out where we do agree and where we don’t. When we bring different viewpoints together and listen to each other, this can push us towards finding creative solutions and opening pathways to find the best way forward.”
Caroline is a professional artist and earned her BA in International Studies from the University of South Carolina. To get involved, email Caroline Bays at CarolineforWatertown@gmail.com. Help Elect Caroline for Councilor and join her on Facebook at: Caroline Bays for Watertown
Is it true that this candidate wants to make Watertown a sanctuary city? Is it true that she wants to rename Main Street to MLK blvd? Is this true?
So what if she does?
“Let’s figure out where we do agree and where we don’t. When we bring different viewpoints together and listen to each other, this can push us towards finding creative solutions.” Sounds to me like someone worth considering.
We have plenty of anonymous commentary in town. Now we also have anonymous guest writers? Is this a new journalistic standard?
Elodia, the announcement was sent in by Caroline Bays. I tag it guest writer because I did not write it.
Charlie,
I’ve been reading you publication for a long time and I think your standards are top notch! If I were you, I wouldn’t have even dignified Elodia’s negative and insulting comment with a response. Almost all recent “Letters to the Editor” are republished with ‘Guest Writer’ as the author. Keep up the good work. You are a true asset to this community and don’t deserve the snarky question from Ms Thomas.
I’m impressed!
Waertown First!
I agree that it was a mistake to run this “story” without a disclaimer that it was submitted by the candidate
Well this is a shock. I’ve met Caroline several times over the years and while shes friendly and seems to like politics and talking about who she knows and has met in state and national politics she has never shown any depth of knowledge about Watertown’s government or real challenges that we have to overcome to make our town better. I will be very interested to hear her positions and plans for the wide range of problems Watertown is dealing with.
The first thing that stands out to me is her involvement with Progressive Watertown. Isn’t this the same organization that pushed for and promoted the new CPA tax which all residents will be paying soon?
Personally, I won’t support any candidate that pushed for this new tax. It was done in a very underhanded fashion without giving the voters any information or knowledge about what exactly the CPA tax is and how it works.