Submitted by Susan Schwartz
I am Susan Schwartz and I am excited to run for re-election to the Bedford Board of Health.
It has been my honor and privilege to serve our community as the current Chair of the Board and liaison to both the Council on Aging (COA) Board and the Youth & Family Services Committee.
I was first elected to the Board in 2020 just before the Governor’s stay-at-home order.
Throughout the pandemic, we worked to inform and protect our community, and address the pandemic’s impact on Bedford while also moving forward on other health priorities. I am proud to have leveraged my skills, interests and passions for the betterment of our community.
By way of background, I spent 22 years at Oracle as a coach, mentor, strategist and leader, where I honed my teamwork and communication skills. I am a critical thinker, driven by evidence-based inputs and context, committed to the Board’s mission and passionate about ensuring people have the needed information to make informed decisions, so they can be healthy, prepared, safe, and prevent and mitigate emergencies.
A few of the Board’s accomplishments in support of the health and wellness of our community include:
- Reducing opportunities for tick and mosquito encounters;
- Ensuring access to reproductive Health Services information;
- Supporting access to healthy nutrient dense food to fight food insecurity;
- Advocating for sleep friendly school start times for the High and Middle Schools.
In the realm of COVID-19, the Board’s response and its collaboration with the Select Board, School Committee, Town staff and partners enabled businesses to remain open, children to return to school buildings, and community events to resume. I am pleased to have supported the Town’s decisions to provide vaccination and test clinics, and to have advocated for ventilation improvements, masking, and social distancing protocols.
I also helped create the plan for the Town to purchase test kits for residents and recommended the mask mandate end date align with DESE’s school mask mandate termination date.
With all that said, there is still much to do. Charged with protecting public and environmental health, the Board will continue to address community health needs including those I mentioned as well as those relative to respiratory viruses, tobacco, the opioid epidemic, vaping, heart disease, gun violence, the climate, and more.
If given the opportunity to continue on the Board, I will once again leverage my skills, passions and interests on your behalf. I would love to serve again, and I respectfully ask for your vote at the Town Caucus on Tuesday, Jan 10 and again at the Town Election on Saturday, March 11.
Please visit my website at susan4bedford.com to learn more about me and the areas of impact for the Board of Health going forward. Please email me at [email protected] if you have a question, concern or are interested in getting involved in my reelection campaign.
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