Meet Susan
I have spent my life building things-businesses, plans, organizations, products and communities.
Sometimes that has meant sitting at a municipal planning table. Sometimes it has meant running a 175 acre farm, managing employees in a manufacturing business, writing a grant, developing an ordinance, designing a knitting pattern, or standing in front of a room teaching others.
The settings have changed. The work has always required many of the same things: listen, understand the problem, bring the pieces together, develop a plan, and then do the work necessary to make it happen.
A Lifetime of Planning
My involvement in local government began early. At 18, I became involved in a major land use and zoning case in Atkinson, and at 19 I testified in Superior Court. That experience shaped what became 25 years of work with planning and zoning in New Hampshire communities including Atkinson, Newton, Sandown and East Kingston.
In Sandown, I worked in an administrative role with the Planning Board and was involved with Master Plan and Capital Improvement Program work, community planning and charrettes, as well as building permit and impact fee ordinances. I also worked on the implementation and reporting that came afterword.
I learned early that producing a plan isn’t the accomplishment, making it work was.
Public Service in My Hometown
My public service has included serving as a Town Auditor, Library Trustee, Supervisor of the Checklist, Cemetery Trustee and member of the Conservation Commission. Each gave me a different view of local government…from financial accountability and elections to conservation and stewardship of community resources.
Agriculture, Community and County Experience
For years, my family owned and operated a 175 acre farm in Barrington, where we built our second farmstead. I served for many years as president of the Seacoast Growers Association, which operated six farmers markets each week. I personally attending three of those markets each week.
Agriculture also introduced me to county government from a. very practical perspective. Our farm participated in the county’s work release program when it was available, giving me experience with a county program from the employer and community side.
4-H and my Rockingham County Experience
4-H was also an important part of my life. I was a 4-H member for 11 years, participated in two national trips and later spent many years as a 4-H leader.
I also served six years on the Rockingham County Advisory Committee, including as Treasurer and as the committee’s 4-H liaison. That expereince gave me another perspective on county government..how county services, programs and finances connect the communities they serve.
NH Farm and Forest Exposition
For ten years, I also served as the coordinator of the New Hampshire Farm and Forest Exposition. That tole meant bringing together exhibitors, organizations, local, county and state officials and people from across agriculture and forestry, while managing the many working peices involved in a major statewide event.
Those years taught me something I still believe, good ideas are important, but organization, communication and follow through are what turn them into results.
From Customer to Manufacturer
I wasa Bartlettyarns customer for more than two decades before my family purchased the historic woolen mill in 2007. Running a manufacturing business taught me a very different side of planning, because when you run the business, the plan eventually has to meet reality.
Over nearly two decades, I have managed employees, written personnel policies, worked with vendors and customers, handled purchasing and sourcing, developed business plans, managed budgets, and made decisions about equipment and capital investments.
Manufacturing has also required creativity and problem solving. Knitting design is part art and part engineering-working with measurements, mathematics, materials, testing and constant adjustments until something works the way it should.
I also spent years teaching and speaking to groups. That taught me another lesson I carry into public service: information isn’t particularly useful if people ccan’t understand it.
Understanding the Numbers
I earned an Associates Degree n Accounting from Northern Essex Community College. Over the years, I have also held a New Hampshire Real Estate License, a Justice of the Peace and Notary designation and continued my education through courses in areas including law and municipal issues.
The accounting background has stayed with me throughout my working life. Whether I’m looking at a business budget, a capital purchase, a municipal expenditure or a county financial report, I want to understand not only what the number is, but what is behind it.
Showing Up
Today, I serve as Ward 5 City Councilor in Rochester, NH, wth assignments to Codes and Ordinances Committee and Appointments Review. But I don’t believe understanding government should stop at the committees to which your assigned.
I regularly attend other committee meetings to understand the working happening across city government. I have also spent years attending Strafford County Commissioner, Delegation and sub committee meetings because I wanted to understand how county government actually works before asking voters to entrust me with the job.
For me, showing up isn’t something you do only when there is a vote to cast. Showing up is part of the job. I bring a unique experience tot he table, for District 1, I have the experience of small municipalities along with serving in a city form of government
Why This Matters To Me
There is a common thread through all of these experiences. I have spent decades figuring out how things work and what happens when they don’t. I have been in the process, not just peering in. I know what happens when they don’t work, I have seen government, business, agriculture, manufacturing, budgets, regulations, employees and volunteers from different sides of the table. I have been the person helping to achieve the goals, work together, find. the common threads and working to make our community and lives better.
When I look at a problem, I tend to ask the same questions:
Where are we today?
Where do we need to be in the next 24 months?
Where should we be in five years?
And what should we be preparing for ten years from now?
The answer should not come only from elected officials. they should come the people providing the services, the people using them, our municipalities and the public. then we need to look at the financial realities, establish measurable goals and keep track of what is actually working.
I don’t want plans that become feel-good stacks of paper. I want plans with fingerprints on them.
