Workers and the Functioning of Our Towns

I’m hearing the same concerns across Brewster, Dennis, and Yarmouth. It is ridiculously hard for towns to attract, hire, and retain the people we rely on every day.

Teachers. Police officers. Firefighters. Public works employees. Nurses and medical support professionals. These are not abstract roles. These are the people who make our towns work. And right now, too many of them are being pushed too far from the places they serve.

This is not a single issue. It shows up in many related ways.

Departments are struggling to hire. Schools are working harder to hold the teachers they have. Public safety teams are covering more ground with less. Families are waiting longer for care and dealing with how hard it has become to see a primary care physician. Younger employees who would otherwise stay and build a life here are finding no hope of that.

At the same time, young families are facing the same reality. The kinds of homes that once provided a beginning are harder to find and harder to afford. That limits who can stay, and it changes the long-term outlook of our towns.

This trend is not sustainable.

A strong community depends on a stable, year-round workforce. It depends on people being able to live where they work, raise families, send kids to good schools, and truly invest in this place. When that connection weakens, the impact is felt everywhere.

Places to live for all our workers must be part of a Cape Cod solution once again.

That means creating more housing that is attainable for workers. It means supporting housing that is used as a primary residence, not a second or third home. It means making sure there are paths for young families to enter our communities and put down roots.

There are practical ways to move in that direction, and we must.

Towns can take a much more active role in shaping housing that supports year-round residents. We can allow smaller, more moderate homes where it fits. We can align our resources to support housing that serves our workers. We can make thoughtful and hard decisions about long-term community stability.

Not radical changes, measured steps that reflect the reality we are dealing with, while maintaining the character that people value in our towns, and by respecting Cape Cod’s sensitive environmental balance.

This is also an area where the state needs to better understand the conditions we are operating under. The housing pressures on Cape Cod are different. The seasonal economy creates a different set of challenges for the workforce and for year-round residents.

That needs to be recognized, and it needs to be carried forward in how resources and policy are aligned on Beacon Hill. Because Brewster, Dennis, and Yarmouth can continue to be the viable communities we all recognize.

Maintaining that balance is not automatic. It requires attention, practical decision-making, and a willingness to use all the tools available to support the people who make our towns work.

That is the direction we should be focused on, and those are the resources and realizations I will fight for as your Representative.