Tewksbury Candidate Profile: Katlynn Bugda Gwilt For Board Of Health

TEWKSBURY, MA — The Town of Tewksbury's Annual Town Election is on April 1.

The offices on the ballot for this election are: Select Board, School Committee, Planning Board, Board of Health, Board of Library Trustees, Housing Authority and Moderator. A sample ballot is available online.

Here is more information about the upcoming election.

Patch is profiling some of the candidates. Here, we learn more about Katlynn Bugda Gwilt, who is running against George Ferdinand for one open seat on the Board of Health. Incumbent Charles Roux is not seeking re-election.

Bugda Gwilt would be a first-time member of the board, while Ferdinand served on the board from 2016 to 2019. Each term on the Board of Health is three years.

Candidates were sent questionnaires and filled out the answers.

Katlynn Bugda Gwilt

Campaign website

katefortewksbury.org

Office sought

Board of Health

Education

PhD Pharmacology and BS in Cellular and Molecular Biology

Occupation

Research Fellow at Boston Children's Hospital

Describe the issues that define your campaign platform

I am running for the Board of Health because I believe that my scientific background and passion to get involved would be valuable to the community.

I went into the race with the intention of focusing on mental health in our community, and that's the most important thing I would like to begin addressing if elected. Almost everyone I have spoken with is worried about a family member's mental health. I've met parents and grandparents worried about their children and grandchildren's wellbeing, and children worried about their parents. Friends and loved ones worried about a new mom suffering with postpartum depression. And several challenges facing our police, fire, EMT, and veterans in the community.

Given upcoming changes to the Front Line Initiative, I would like to partner with the Department of Health and Town Nurse to bring innovative solutions to the community at large. If elected, this will be my biggest priority

Secondarily to mental health and tangentially related, I would like to help get residents information in a way that's easy to access. There are many community resources available, and I would like to help communicate them to the public. My Facebook page for the upcoming election is a prime example of how I would disperse information to the community (https://www.facebook.com/groups/katefortewksbury) and my website also has community resources compiled that are currently available addressing animal welfare, family health, and mental health (https://katefortewksbury.org/helpful-information).

Finally, my interests in animal welfare and preserving our town's open space cannot be forgotton. While only animal welfare falls under the purview of the Board of Health, as an elected official, I will dedicate time to help represent our community's desires for the preservation of our green spaces.

Why are you seeking elective office? What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I've been looking for ways to get involved in the community, and have served briefly on the Postdoctoral Research Fellow's Advocacy Committee at Children's Hospital. I realized some of the issues the advocacy committee were trying to address are more broadly applicable to the community that I live in, and that is why I decided to run for office.

Further, as part of my training as a student and a fellow, I have been trained to understand and analyze new information to make informed decisions in my job. I believe that this training is most useful to serving on the Board of Health and helping our community address the concerns of all residents.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Outside of the issues that I plan to address in the community, I would like to help unite our community and move forward from the hecticness of the past three years. One way we can all come together is a wellness fair, bringing in small-business owners and health-related groups to provide family fun for the entire community. We all want the same thing: the health of ourselves and our loved ones, and a thriving community. As a new mom, I realize that all parents want the same thing — for their children to thrive and be happy. While we may not always agree on specifics, I promise to always listen and help in the best way I know how.