Good evening and thank you for having me here.

My name is Connie Wessner, and I am currently serving a second term on the Town Board. Tonight I want to share with you my reasons for asking for your vote and seeking a third term on November 5. When I rst decided to run four years ago, I didn't come with an agenda to pursue or a position to be staked out and defended. I was called to this service by 10 years of increasing involvement in the civic life of this town. I'd served on a number of nonprot boards including the Davidson Housing Coalition board, which I am still on, and on the founding board for the Davidson Lands Conservancy. I'd been a member of the Planning Board and played a leadership role on the visioning committee for the Comprehensive Plan. Taking that next step to join the leadership of the Town was a natural evolution for me and one that I sought because I deeply respected the intellectual rigor, the depth of commitment, and the model of civil dialogue that are the hallmark of the Board. I have learned a lot about the demands and obligations of leadership and about myself these last four years. I am keenly aware of the responsibility that goes with each and every "yes" or "no" vote at the table.

I understand my role in bringing a variety of voices to bear on each issue we address. And I have developed a very clear vision for the potential this Town has yet to explore.
Working with my colleagues, we have embarked in this term on an effort to launch an economic development strategy that is worthy of our citizens and the community we have created. We have had some early successes, including MSC's move to exit 30 and CHC's new behavioral health center, but we have much more work to do.

There are several efforts in particular that I am eager to see through in a third term:

--sharpening our current planning ordinance to reect the lessons we've learned and the successes we've had in managing our built environment. --Continuing the very rst steps toward funding an endowment to protect open spaces and to put our money where our mouths are. --exploring ways to strengthen our affordable housing program, one of only two efforts of its type in this state.

--pursuing a coordinated strategy for attracting commercial investment to Davidson that leverages this Town's strengths, honors our community values, improves the quality of life for all of our citizens, and like the planning ordinance and the affordable housing program, positions this Town as a model regionally and nationally. I am extremely grateful for all that this Town has given me, my husband, and my son over the past 15 years. We are excited that my parents will be joining us here next month. I can't think of a better place to put down roots, raise a family, and enjoy retirement. Board service speaks not just to my sense of civic obligation. It speaks not just to my love of process and intellectual engagement. Board service speaks to my very heart for the growth it has sparked in me, for the model it offers my son, and for the opportunity it presents to serve this community as it has served me. I hope you'll re-elect me on November 5. I look forward to your questions tonight.