We hope Middlebury voters will elect Heather Seeley and Dick Terk to two of the three open seats on the selectboard. Both Seeley and Terk would bring valuable experience and expertise to town government, along with a much-needed fresh perspective. We would like to add some of the reasons we support Heather.
Heather has said that she hopes to be part of a more socially and economically diverse selectboard and to give women business owners, mothers and the working class a larger voice in town affairs. This seems an important objective which she is highly qualified to fulfill.
She has lived in Middlebury and Cornwall since she was 10, graduating from Middlebury Union High School in 1991 and returning after completing her degree from Colby Sawyer College in 1995. Heather and her husband own and operate two local businesses, Seeley Earthmoving and Seeley Sugarworks, which connect them closely to the community in many ways. They are the parents of a kindergartner and a fourth-grader at Mary Hogan School.
In addition to her work (which includes operating the earthmoving equipment as well as the companies’ financial and business management) and volunteering in her children’s classes, Heather serves on the town Public Works Committee and is an alternate on the development review board, two positions which make her extremely knowledgeable about the town’s immediate and longer term needs and problems. She understands these issues with their complex priorities and interconnections, and she discusses them clearly and thoughtfully.
Heather is very concerned with the details of the major changes and challenges facing the town: minimizing the length and disruption of the railroad project, proceeding cautiously regarding the so-called EDI property behind the Ilsley Library, and making sure the school district changes will benefit all the area children. Officer Chris Mason’s Middlebury Five-0 interview with Heather, http://pre2016.middleburycommunitytv.org/Midd50020116HeatherSeeleyfw, provides an accurate impression of her: a citizen with valuable insights into many aspects of Middlebury life; an articulate, unpretentious, open-minded person; a responsive listener and a very hard worker.
We believe that Middlebury will benefit greatly from Heather’s presence on the selectboard. Please join us in voting for her on March 1.
Michael and Judy Olinick
Middlebury