Table of Contents
Preferred contact method:
gregory.bilton@gmail.com
What experiences and perspectives would you contribute to Town Meeting?
I currently serve as the Vinson-Owen Parent Association President (VOPA), Winchester Swim and Tennis Club Board Member, co-Chair of the Winchester Parent Inter-School Council (PISC), previously served as Cub-Scout den leader and as a parent of three young kids, can be found coaching at just about any sports venue in town. Through all of these activities, I have seen the diversity of opinions, challenges and needs of our community, but also the tremendous efforts of our town employees, volunteers and citizens to try and create a safe and supportive community so that each of our citizens can thrive. To ensure that decisions provide the greatest benefit to our community as a whole takes (i) thoughtful communication, (ii) an intense desire to understand every detail of an issue and (iii) honestly considering trade-offs and potential consequences. I have adapted to this realization and consider myself a great candidate to meet these needs for our precinct.
What are two or three issues facing Winchester that you think are most important and what are your positions on them?
Communication and Transparency: Up until about 3 years ago I had limited engagement with our local community decision-making. I voted and educated myself as much as I thought necessary when impactful decisions came up. I relied upon friends and trusted community leaders to inform myself and I hope that many of our citizens do the same. I want to be the trusted community leader that can inform our citizens and if elected intend to start a newsletter for interested precinct members to refer to on what is happening with our local government and to provide a voice for their opinions. Some precincts do this already and I think having a resource available for our precinct members that summarizes local governance issues would be incredibly valuable.
What is a special challenge in your precinct that might not be faced in other precincts?
Precinct 5 geographically is very spread out and envelopes many different neighborhoods which I think results in a relatively diverse demographic. I think it is very important for efforts to be made to increase communication and dialogue between many of the different households within this precinct.
Why should voters elect you to represent them?
I have learned so much through my increased civic engagement over the last 3 years and sincerely believe that the relationships I've developed, the lessons learned on listening and communicating and thoughtfully understanding issues to balance trade-offs would be valuable to the Precinct 5 and Winchester community as a whole.
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