Patrick White for 3rd Berkshire

Platform: overview

For the Berkshire 3rd District, I will:

• Propose a suite of initiatives to lower the burden of property taxes on homeowners.
• Continue my focus on environmental stewardship, specifically focusing on forestry initiatives and green energy infrastructure.
• Embrace specific proposals that revolutionize small towns' ability to invest in infrastructure and schools.
• Advocate for housing initiatives, specifically small home rental production for young adults and seniors, and homeownership solutions for working families.
• Work with colleagues in the delegation to craft a bold economic plan for the Housatonic River Valley, modeled after the "Massachusetts Miracle" that reimagined the economy of the Merrimack River.
• We never should have ended up with a PCB dump in Lee. What we do need is a state-sponsored study of health outcomes for folks who live (or died) along the river.
• Continue my work on efforts of reconciliation with the Mohican nation.

On each of these topics, I will publish policy positions in the coming weeks to address how we turn aspiration into action.

Why I am asking for your vote.

From Dalton to Sheffield, I know you. I'm one of you. I grew up here. I know the region and the issues and the people. I do the work. I get things done. I have your back.

Boston seems so far away. It's not. Our job is to bring the county's needs inside the State House.

I bring experience with executive leadership. I started a graphic design studio at 21 and by 25 had the BSO, Boston Ballet and the JFK Library as my biggest clients.

Whether it's housing, economic development, climate, or reconciliation, everyone knows what the first sentence is with any of the issues we have. The challenge is what is the next paragraph, and the next, and the one after that? How do we move beyond talk to action?

I get up every morning focused on getting things done.

Let me share a few examples of what I accomplished.

Taxes and Budget

• Successfully focused on initiatives to shift the tax burden from property taxes to visitors, saving residents approximately 4% each year on their taxes.
• Kept this year's budget to an increase of just 1%, even with a multi-million investment in our fleet and in our roads and bridges.
• Promised voters at Town Meeting we would focus on a sidewalk at Pine Woods. We've received the go-ahead, and funding, from MassDOT.
• Personally reviewed 20 years of CPC grants, and found over $1.25 million in unused funds that we can now redeploy to our community.

Housing

• Championed our short term rental bylaw.
• Wrote the proposal to create our housing trust and got it passed and funded at Town Meeting.
• Crafted a housing funding bylaw ("Residential Inclusionary Bylaw") that requires luxury developers to also fund worker housing.
• Worked closely with a donor who has given the town a $1 million parcel of land to build workforce housing.

Environment

• Worked closely with experts to save Ice Glen
• Successfully resurrected two town committees: Kampoosa Bog and Agriculture & Forestry
• Worked closely with the Tribe to secure a $2.4 million state grant to conserve 351 acres of land at the base of Monument Mountain, and I personally wrote the grant's climate section.
• I am just one of three Berkshire County individuals named to the state's climate advisory board

I didn't do it alone. I forged alliances with the good people of Stockbridge and surrounding towns. I built consensus to effect change.

My governing philosophy

I believe leaders should work to help people understand each other and get along with each other and that if you get to know each other, you will like each other. That's why I worked so hard with our Stockbridge Munsee Mohican friends on issues like documents and burial grounds and advocating for their purchase of the part of Monument Mountain that is in Stockbridge.

I believe that you have the right to know what your leaders are doing. That's why I championed Zoom options for every town board meeting and not only produce a newsletter of information from my perspective, but have volunteered to do the production on every issue of Stockbridge Updates, nearly 100 of them. If you elect me, you will receive a monthly newsletter that details the issues before the State House, asks for your input, and documents my actual voting record on the bills that come before us.

I believe the towns of the district got a raw deal from General Electric. They squeezed every dollar of profit out of the Berkshires First they illegally fouled the river and then they sued to save some money and cut corners on carting out the poison they deposited in our towns, in our river, and on its banks. I am running to keep GE accountable for the good of the environment and to acknowledge the terrible human and environmental cost of their actions. My best friend growing up in Stockbridge died of a rare cancer. He grew up on that river. We used to shag golf balls from its banks and wash the PCB silt off them. His story is the same as countless others. For me, the story of GE's crimes is incredibly personal.

I've worked tirelessly on environment issues and have been recognized for these efforts. I've been named to the state's new Climate Advisory Board, one of just a few dozen leaders from Cape Cod to the Berkshires who are advising the Healey Administration and taking their message to our local regions. I worked to save our Old Growth forest, Ice Glen, and championed funding from both the town and the USDA to do so.

One's initial term as a state rep is a hard slog. I would start off in a bullpen with other newly elected representatives. I'd get exactly one staffer, whose primary job will be to answer the phone and track down solutions to constituent problems. My point is the next rep is largely on their own in the State House. The person you elect had better have a command of the issues, a strong set of financial skills, and the ability to draft legislation to advance the County's interests. Your next representative must be familiar with Boston, how it works, how to build consensus, how to get things done. This person must be the hardest working person you know, must be smart, motivated, and passionate about our beautiful little corner of the world.

I'll have your back.

During my tenure as a Selectman, I have approached every decision through a single lens: what's best, on balance, for the people of Stockbridge. I'm widening my lens with a sharp focus on what's good for Berkshire County. Which brings me to the theme of my campaign: I'll have your back.

Warmly,

Patrick White

PS: Running costs money. I need your help. If you believe, like I do, that we have hope, that we can control our own destiny, that we can move the needle on the seemingly intractable issues we face, please consider donating to my campaign.