BRATTLEBORO-My name is Gemma Seymour, and I am running for a three-year seat as Representative Town Meeting Member for Brattleboro District 8.
I have been a resident of District 8 for over nine years, and a resident of Vermont for over 10 years. I am a mixed-race Asian American woman of color with a modest income who is partially disabled and a member of our local LGBT community. I am a renter, and I live in the downtown area, where quality-of-life issues impact me every single day.
I am a parent with a daughter at university and the daughter of a disabled mother. My family has been in public service for generations, and I wish to continue that tradition.
We face a number of challenges in the current socioeconomic environment, while our cost of living climbs ever higher, putting more and more of us at risk. In the face of the compounding effects of climate change, we are running out of time to build a sustainable, equitable future not only for the Vermonters who are already here, but for the Vermonters we know are coming here to seek refuge.
We need to make our town even better than it already is, and we have the ability to do it, if we can be brave enough to dare greatly, together.
We need forward-thinking leadership, and I mean to provide it.
I have served on community advisory boards for the Brattleboro Department of Planning Services and Vermont Public broadcasting. I have also served on the organizing committees for the BrattRock youth music festival and the Vermont Tiny House Festival.
I have spent the past 10 years working in the nonprofit sector in Vermont, with the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, the Vermont Vision for a Multicultural Future initiative, the Vermont African American Heritage Trail, and the I Am a Vermonter website.
I want to see Brattleboro grow its population, grow its economy, and perhaps most importantly, grow its heart three sizes. That's why my campaign's motto is "Let's Grow Brattleboro," and my values are "Equality, Liberty, and Justice for All."
I mean to pursue equity and growth for all the people of our district as a Representative Town Meeting member, and to seek to put into place policies that give all the current and future residents of our town hope for a better future where they can freely pursue their happiness.
I hope that I can count on your support.
My official public social communications channel, where you can learn more about me, is at vermont.masto.host/@gcvrsa.
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