I am writing to enthusiastically endorse Greg Christiana for moderator.
I’ve had the privilege of working with Greg in several different capacities over the years. We both served on the Steering Committee of the Arlington School Enrollment Parent Group and as leaders of the 2016 and 2019 Build Arlington’s Future campaigns to secure school funding. Today, we serve together on Town Meeting, and we have worked for the same company, both as software engineers, for more than a decade.
I know from these experiences that Greg possesses a temperament perfectly suited to make Town Meeting a welcoming and inclusive body. When controversial issues arise, Greg’s first priority is to make sure all sides are heard and all sides feel respected. When an argument gets heated, his first impulse is to deescalate. He doesn’t prejudge anyone nor hold grudges. He has his own strong convictions, to be sure, but when facilitating any discussion, above all else he is impartial. This is the foremost quality we should be looking for in a moderator.
As a veteran engineer, Greg will also bring an important set of professional skills to the moderator position. Town Meeting is an old institution, and while traditions are important, Greg understands that long-standing practices must be subject to continuous reexamination and occasional reform. At the same time, he knows that we should not innovate for innovation’s sake. To engineer a better Town Meeting, changes must have a clear rationale, preferably backed by data, and reached by way of a collaborative and transparent process.
For a welcoming, innovative, and transparent Town Meeting, please join me in voting for Greg Christiana for moderator on Saturday, April 2.