Kellen Appleton

At-Large

1. Why are you running for City Council?
I’m running for City Council because I want to help enact policy that will make Lebanon livable in the long term — Lebanon is facing an affordability crisis and a housing crisis. With thoughtful, far-sighted policy on housing, growth, and city services, we can navigate through those crises and ensure Lebanon is affordable and livable for all its residents.

2. What skills and experiences would you bring to the position?
I have spent two years on Lebanon’s Planning Board working with residents, developers, and city staff, primarily on housing. Professionally, I work as a regional planner, helping towns in Vermont manage their zoning, development, and land use. I’ve also worked as an group facilitator and an event coordinator, where I’ve gotten much practice navigating disagreement and building consensus among groups in conflict. With my experience, I can help Lebanon find (and hopefully agree!) on local approaches to local problems, while bringing in best practices and good ideas from elsewhere.

3. What’s one thing you want other people to know about you?
I started my career as an outdoor educator — I love going outside and helping other people get outside, too. Lebanon has such a wealth of conservation and recreation land — it’s rare to leave your front door and be able to walk or bike to incredible trails, lakes and forests. Natural areas are a vital to our community — it is important to me that Lebanon’s conservation lands (and access to them) remain protected and undisturbed.

4. What are your top 2 priorities that you want to address if you win?
Lebanon’s affordability crisis and housing crisis — and these issues go hand in hand. I believe the best solution to our affordability and housing problems is growing our tax base through smart development and zoning reforms. Zoning that encourages construction of dense, owner-occupied forms of housing like townhouses, cottage courts, and condominiums will reduce the individual tax burden in Lebanon while providing much-needed housing supply. This will lower costs to residents, make out communities more interconnected, and make it easier for people to buy and own their own homes.

5. Lebanon, like many other cities, is facing challenges with rising property taxes. If the city were required to reduce spending, which service or program would you consider for reduction first? Which should be protected most strongly from cuts?
Austerity hurts everyone — while budget cuts might bring short-term relief, they also undercut our city’s vital functions and cost more in down-stream effects than they save in taxes. Service spending, like library and bus funding, makes huge contributions to our city’s well being for a relatively low price. Cutting those services doesn’t change the tax bill much — but it dramatically affects the livability of Lebanon.

If facing certain cuts, I would advocate to protect Lebanon’s transportation and library funding most strongly. If required to reduce spending, I would protect core functions and prioritize smaller marginal cuts to larger budget items.

6. Lebanon is home to residents from widely varying economic, generational, and cultural backgrounds. Please share a few ideas for how to make Lebanon a place where these residents can thrive.
I’ve lived in Lebanon my entire adult life — and I live here on purpose. It’s an excellent city to call home. But I’ve seen too many of my friends and colleagues move away specifically because they weren’t able to find an affordable place to live — or they never thought they’d be able to buy a house here. A Lebanon where people thrive is one they can afford to live in. Building community begins with a feeling of safety and trust — and safety and trust begins by knowing that you have housing, resources, and structures to rely on.

7. What’s the best way for voters to reach you?
You can email me at kellen@kellenappleton.com! Or, flag me down on the bus or at the library — I’m always delighted to say hi.