Op-Ed: Jarred Rose On Why He's Running For Stoughton Select Board

STOUGHTON, MA — The following letter to the editor comes from Jarred Rose, a candidate for the Stoughton Select Board. All views expressed are the author's own.

Friends, neighbors, and fellow Black Knights, I’m Jarred Rose and I’m running to be your next Select Board member.

Since my state senate campaign ended in September, I’ve been blessed to spend a lot of time with my family. Becoming a father has made me more acutely aware of the issues facing our community - issues that must be addressed if we truly intend to leave our town better off for the next generation of residents. I’m running for Stoughton Select Board to bring us together as a community and achieve our shared goals for a prosperous and vibrant town. In short, I’m running, so we can build a better Stoughton together.

My parents, some of the hardest working people I’ve ever known, taught me early on the importance of giving back to the community. That’s why I went to Beacon Hill as a State Senate aide, where I formed coalitions to raise the minimum wage, fought to protect our environment, and tended to constituent needs. I became a Green-certified realtor to help families find their homes and combat climate change at the same time. I was elected to the Stoughton Town Meeting to speak out for my neighborhood in Town Hall. I’ve spent my whole life advocating for working families like mine, and now I want to bring that record of success and experience to the Stoughton Select Board.

Over the last several years, under the leadership of our current & former Select Board chairs Christine Howe and Bob O’Regan, Stoughton has experienced a real turn for the better. With the building of our new high school and library, we realized that we are a town with big plans for our future growth. We have real opportunities here to protect our environment, make housing more affordable, rebuild our downtown, expand our sewer system, and grow our business tax base. I call this Stoughton Smart Growth - where we respect the needs of our long time residents while making the changes necessary to welcome newcomers. I’m ready to get to work on day one to make this a reality.

Our Nation is nearly a year into a nightmare scenario that has spared nobody. While the hope of the vaccine is finally around the corner, the pain of 2020 will live with us for many years to come: in the empty chairs around us and in the gaps in our society that have been exposed for all to see. Despite these challenges, here in Stoughton we have a great and growing potential to build a community that is economically prosperous and leaves nobody behind.

I’m running to bring us together as a community and make Stoughton more affordable, more green, and more responsive. Let’s get to work.

Please vote Jarred Rose for Select Board April 6th and join me in this movement.