BY ADAM ATKINSON

North Country This Week

POTSDAM — Lynn Hall, one of two candidates running on the Sensible People’s Party for two town council seats, has lived in Potsdam for the past 21 years and says she decided to run because she wanted to get more involved in the community at a grassroots level.

“For me personally, education is important. People need to know more about what is going on in their communities,” she said.

Hall will join Allyssa Theobald Hardiman on the Sensible People’s Party line. Other candidates running are Republican and Conservative candidates Renee Azzopardi and John Meyers.

Hall currently is a college professor at SUNY-Potsdam in the School of Education and Professional Studies. She teaches first year writing and prepares future classroom teachers and literacy specialists to support literacy for diverse populations in schools and communities.

She and her husband have raised their daughter here in the community.

Both Hall and her running partner Allyssa Hardiman have been staging local park and roadside cleanup events during the campaign.

“We care about the community and we learn a lot,” Hall said of the events.

She said the cleanups have given the SSP candidates a chance to talk to local people about the grassroots issues that concern them, from outdated playgrounds to traffic concerns and water quality issues.

The pair have focused on getting the message out in other ways as well, with six slogans they are distributing as buttons for their campaigns: Eat Local, Play Local, Shop Local, Vote Local; Mindful Development, Climate Resilient; All Roads Lead to Potsdam; Stop, Collaborate, Listen; Care for Life, Care for the Caregivers; and Farm-Fed Potsdam.

The slogans are main areas of focus and form their platform, with an emphasis on more than just lowering taxes.

“My concern is that people say ‘taxes are too high.’ We need to get beyond that.”

"What does that mean? Do you not develop your community?"Hall said. She said that less taxes often means less resources for residences.

Hall said, as a member of the Potsdam Complete Streets group, she has been working on sidewalk and road issues and its still a concern for her.

Other areas Hall would like to focus on is local investment. “You need investment in your towns,” she said. “And we need more support for families.

“We have a childcare crisis in our county but also for the town.”

She said the investment ultimately means a health thriving town, which provides more jobs for residents in the long run.

Early voting starts Oct. 23 at 9 a.m. at 42 Maple St., Potsdam.