Clean Beach Advocate Liz Smith To Run For Swampscott Select Board

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Liz Smith, a vocal advocate for monitoring and cleaning the water at King's Beach, Fisherman's Beach, and fixing the aging sewer infrastructure in Swampscott as the chair of the Water Sewer Advisory Board, announced on Tuesday that she will run for a seat on the Select Board at this spring's annual town election.

"Swampscott needs collaborative leaders who listen and work together to solve the challenges facing the town we love," Smith said in her announcement to Patch. "I am talking to residents throughout Swampscott to understand how to preserve the wonderful aspects of this town by the sea."

The annual town election is on April 29.

Smith was in leadership with Save King's Beach and has worked collaboratively with Swampscott and Lynn residents to stop the pollution and to notify residents and visitors of potentially dangerous water conditions. She said her goal has been to refocus "an often emotional discussion on the facts and the date that matter."

She said her efforts led to the Select Board committing $1.7 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to Fisherman's Beach and the town meeting approval of a $3.5 million Sewer Revolving Fund to help sleeve and fix the pipes that lead to the shoreline.

She said she would bring "integrity, critical thinking, determination, and passion to town leadership and bridge the divide on the Select Board to advance strategic initiatives in line with resident wishes and needs."

"We have beautiful beaches that should be swimmable, a wonderful new elementary school that must be fully staffed and equipped, and housing that is priced out of reach for many folks who want to live here," Smith said. "We have acquired open space and need a plan for it that residents support.

"We must have a middle school facility on par with our other schools. I'm excited to work with my fellow Select Board members to advance these projects and keep Swampscott beautiful and affordable."

Smith and her family moved to Swampscott in 2015 so she could return to her roots on the North Shore and the "ocean she loves." Her husband, Evan Katz, joined the Swampscott School District as School Business Administrator and her parents moved to Swampscott as well. Their daughter attended the Swampscott Middle School for four years.

She said she has an understanding of people that comes from years of managing global teams.

She speaks Mandarin and has lived in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Smith earned a Bachelor’s degree in sociology, magna cum laude, from UMass-Amherst, and a Master's in Management from MIT's Sloan School, is active in the Unitarian-Universalist Church, served on the Board of Trustees of River Valley Charter School in Newburyport, and directs the Handbell Choir at Old North Church in Marblehead.

"I want to put a stop to the discord that's torn the Select Board apart," Smith said. "Swampscott needs Select Board members who will hold public hearings, listen to residents, discuss issues openly, and make decisions in public view for the benefit of all.

"I will be that kind of Select Board member — and I'm excited to get started."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)