Foster's Candidate Profile Responses

Each year Foster’s Daily Democrat publishes responses to candidate questionnaires. I am sharing my responses here as well, but encourage folks to see all the profiles and election info in the Foster’s Voter Guide.

Name: Lindsey Williams

Age: 41

Address: Mast Road

Occupation: Senior Fellow / Lecturer

Education: I attended all but grades 3-6 in New Hampshire public schools, graduating in 1998 from Hanover High School in Hanover, N.H. I graduated from Colby College in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and a minor in Environmental Studies. I also earned my Master of Marine Policy from the University of Delaware in 2009 and a PhD in Natural Resources and Environmental Studies from the University of New Hampshire in 2019.

Civic experience: I am currently serving in my second term as an At Large member of City Council, first elected in 2017. As part of my Council duties, I serve on the Appointments Committee, the Ordinance Committee, the Strafford Regional Planning Commission, and the Conservation Commission. During my first term, I also served on the Recreation Advisory Board and on the Tri-City Mayors Homelessness Task Force. Prior to serving on City Council, I was on the Dover Stewardship of Resources Committee in 2016 which was tasked with writing a new chapter for the Dover Master Plan.

Campaign website: lindseyfordover.com/election2021  or www.facebook.com/LindseyforDover

Favorite movie, book or television show: My favorite book is "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster.  I have vivid memories of my father reading this book to me as a child and now that my two children are in elementary school, I have carried the tradition forward. I uncover some new insight about people and his talents as a writer each time I read it.

What would be your top three priorities if you are elected?

There are many issues that are important to ensuring that Dover has a robust and thriving future ahead. Throughout my time on City Council, I have worked to listen to the needs of our residents. I pledge to continue to work to build a future for all in Dover by focusing on helping to build a robust local economy, a strong education system, equity in opportunity, and a healthy environment. More specifically within those overarching themes, I hope to 1) continue to improve transparency, accessibility, and accountability of local government through my service on the Appointments Committee, 2) continue to connect Dover and surrounding communities in efforts to bring together economic, environmental, and equity conversations through our participation in the Strafford Regional Planning Commission, and 3) invest strategically in efforts to address education, mental health, and housing affordability in our community. See lindseyfordover.com/issues or lindseyfordover.com/blog/2021/9/7/municipal-election-2021 for more elaboration.

What is the city doing well, and where is there room for improvement?

I am continually impressed by the dedication and commitment of all the people employed across the City and School Departments. Based on my experience the past four years on City Council, I think the City Manager should be commended for his efforts to build a talented and responsive workforce that serves our community well. I also think the fact that Dover has nearly no open seats on volunteer Boards and Commissions shows the dedication of community members in being willing to serve and help shape the future of our city. I think the city has made great strides recently in investing in infrastructure to catch up on past deferred maintenance and has built strong relationships with neighboring communities to work together on issues of regional significance like working to reduce homelessness and improving the resilience and quality of our drinking, wastewater, and stormwater systems. While progress has been made, I see continued opportunity to further build civic health and engagement at the center of city operations, I see opportunity to continue to build cross-departmental connections and strengthen ties with community organizations and service providers, and I see opportunities for the city to continue to build sustainability and resilience into our operations as we prepare for a future of more extreme weather and other hazards.

Can Dover find a way to avoid an annual battle over the school budget and the tax cap? What do you suggest? Please be specific.

As a homeowner and the mom of two small children, I recognize that school funding and taxpayer burden are both key issues we need to focus on. I think important steps taken over the past two years have laid the groundwork for continued improvements in the process by which we develop the budget each year. These include more regular discussions between the School Board and City Council, continued exploration of shared services where appropriate across the entire municipality, and continued outreach about what the tax cap is and is not. Building earlier broad budget priority setting discussions into the process more deliberately and creating more space for the whole community to be up to speed on both city and school resource needs is essential. I believe that the focus on the tax cap anchors the discussion around whether the proposed budget is above or below the cap, not the more important discussion around what the true needs are, what tax burden the community can afford, and where we need the state and federal government to contribute. At the end of the day, hard decisions will still need to be made that have implications for all our residents and the future of the community. To the extent that those decisions are built on mutual understanding of the needs of our whole community, I think we will all be better served.

Are you in support of the Dover waterfront development project with Cathartes?

Moving from the history of the site as a wastewater treatment plant to the current untapped potential to a future vibrant part of our downtown community is a positive step in my view. The volunteer members of our community who serve on the Cochecho Waterfront Development Advisory Committee have dedicated countless hours over the past several years to bring us to the current project status for the Waterfront. I appreciate all the efforts to thoughtfully consider what uses best fit the character of the space available and the needs of the community. I believe the efforts to build climate resilient green spaces and public access to the waterfront as part of redevelopment efforts are all worthy endeavors. 

Can Dover do more to increase affordable housing in the city?

I appreciate the efforts the Planning Board and City staff have made to continue to incentivize more affordable housing in our city. Using tools like the transfer of development rights, density bonuses, accessory dwelling units, and more, I believe in the next few years we will see more much needed progress in this area. We want to ensure that those who work as teachers or firefighters or servers in our community can also afford to live here, raise a family, and retire here as well.

How do you feel about Dover’s efforts in recent years around diversity, equity and inclusion? Please include your thoughts on the land acknowledgement statement.

All our residents must feel safe and welcomed in our community so that we can build strong bridges and connections across differences. I believe we do this the Dover way by acknowledging our past, building strong relationships in our present, and looking to the future together. Many members of our community have been working hard for years to build strong connections across all walks of life in Dover. One part of acknowledging our past and building a strong future is recognizing that there were people living in this area before it was called Dover. I believe that acknowledging that this place we call home is also home to the Abenaki, Pennacook and Wabanaki Peoples, past and present, is one small step we can take with the adoption of our land acknowledgement. Building a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion into our thinking is key to building a strong, resilient, and vibrant economy and community here in Dover into the future.