Shana Dixon and Jane Patton will vie for a spot on the Williamstown Select Board in the annual Town election on May 13. Either Dixon, who chairs the Town’s Diversity, Inclusion, and Racial Equity Committee (DIRE), or Patton, who has served on the Board for the last 12 years, will serve one year of a three-year term, filling the seat that was vacated by Andy Hogeland ’76 after his resignation last year. 

Planning Board Chair Peter Beck and Select Board member Matt Neely, who was initially appointed to fill Hogeland’s seat, are both running unopposed for three-year terms.

The Select Board, a group of five elected Town residents, manages the executive functions of the Town’s government. The newly-formed board will convene for the first time on June 9.

Shana Dixon

In an interview with the Record, Dixon said her campaign is driven by a commitment to strengthen community engagement and amplify underrepresented voices in Town leadership. “I want to make more of an impact,” she said. “We struggle in this town with community engagement, and I want to bring that aspect to the Select Board.”

Dixon said her goals for the Select Board are shaped by her commitment to creating a better life for her children. After her husband passed away of an overdose when her youngest child was two, she left Pittsfield for Adams and eventually moved to Williamstown. “Pittsfield was drug-ridden … Adams was racist, so then we moved to Williamstown,” she said. “You think that would be like the perfect place … but really, it needs just as much work as both of those places.” 

She explained that DIRE reviews petitions, resolutions, and community concerns, and regularly submits policy recommendations to the Select Board, though the board is not obligated to act on them. “It’s essentially like whispering in someone’s ear and hoping they heard you,” she said.

In addition to her role on DIRE, Dixon owns and operates several short-term rental properties in southern Vermont. However, she said she does not believe Williamstown is a place where such models are optimal for the residents of the town. “I am for affordable housing,” she said. “I would like to see the short-term rental business in Williamstown be regulated to allow people to have a residence to call home.”

Dixon also emphasized the importance of lived experience in governance. “Not only am I a Black woman,” she said, “but I’m a single mom, a full-time mom, and a business owner. I just think that the perspectives I bring to the table aren’t currently reflected on the board.”

Jane Patton

Patton is running for the one-year seat after completing multiple terms on the board. In an email to the Record, she emphasized the value of institutional knowledge and her commitment to supporting new board members following this year’s turnover.

“During my first couple of years on the Select Board, I was surprised at how steep the learning curve was,” she wrote. “Understanding the ins and outs of the policies and procedures took time, and a lot of help and mentoring from my seasoned colleagues.” 

“I believe having that level of experience on the Board is vital,” she wrote.

Similar to her opponent, Patton noted the need for new perspectives and ideas on the Board, but noted that if not elected, only one other member of the Board, Jeff Johnson would have served on the board for at least one full term. “I know there are those who believe we need new voices and perspectives on the Board, and I couldn’t agree more,” she wrote. “We will have at least two new members on the SB after the election next … that is 40 percent of the Board… My goal is to do everything I can to be of help to our newest members as well as my current colleagues.”

Patton spent much of her career in the retail industry, including leadership roles at J. Peterman, Bloomingdale’s, and Victoria’s Secret. She described retail as a fast-paced environment that taught her how to think both strategically and practically. “I learned how to negotiate, how to effectively manage and mentor people … and how to put issues into perspective,” she said. “All of these things, plus so much more, shape my thinking while doing my work on the [Select Board].”

Peter Beck

Beck, who is finishing a five-year term on the Planning Board, where he has served as chair for the past two years, also chaired the town’s most recent Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee.

“Those … roles are the ones closest to the work I’ll be doing on the Select Board,” he wrote in an email to the Record. “In fact, both of them have involved close collaboration with the Select Board, the Town Manager, and town staff. I’ve loved serving on these town boards and committees, and am looking forward to continuing that work on the Select Board.”

Beck said one of his top priorities is to help implement Envisioning Williamstown 2035, the Town’s first long-range Comprehensive Plan in decades. Developed under his leadership as Planning Board and Steering Committee chair, the plan outlines policy goals across a wide range of municipal issues. “There are so many projects and policies for us to consider from that plan,” he said, “from how we design and maintain our streets and sidewalks, to how we manage our parks and natural resources, to how we plan for construction and upkeep of our public buildings, to how and when we raise and pay off debt.”

He also noted the importance of understanding the limits of the Board’s authority. “The Select Board is an executive body in our system of local government — not a legislative one,” he wrote. “The role of a Select Board is to take care of the town in between Town Meetings, not to replace or supersede it. That’s a limited role, but an important one — it’s one I’m looking forward to.”

Working as a high school teacher for a decade before becoming a civil rights lawyer, Beck moved to Williamstown from New Haven in 2013. He said he has enjoyed serving on boards and committees and sees the Select Board as a continuation of that public service. “I’ve loved serving on these town boards and committees,” he said.  “[I] am looking forward to continuing that work on the Select Board.”

Matt Neely

Neely, who was appointed to the Select Board last fall to fill the seat vacated by Hogeland’s resignation, is running unopposed for a full three-year term. In an interview with the Record, Neely said that, as a Town native and financial advisor, he is focused on addressing rising housing costs and expanding economic development in Town.

“House prices have gone up and up and up, so it’s tough for the average middle-class family to afford a house these days, especially in a place like Williamstown,” he said. “I’m worried about people ultimately being priced out of town because they can’t afford the taxes, and also that goes hand in hand with there not being a lot of fresh housing stock.”

“That means less people move to town, less kids in the schools and the property taxes being borne by less people, potentially, or those people have to be more wealthy so it becomes a less diverse town and eventually could become a pretty wealthy enclave for people that can afford it,” he added.

Neely said he hopes the Town can find creative ways to support small business growth and expand housing options. While acknowledging that the Select Board has limited power over development, he said it could play a leading role by encouraging conversation around the issue. “We don’t have a lot of business in town, and Williams College, while wonderful, is largely tax-exempt,” he said. “We’re not going to bring some large manufacturing company or a pharmaceutical company to town, but potentially making it attractive for more small businesses to come here.”

 Neely said that his background [running a financial advising firm in Town] gives him insight into the financial pressures residents and small business owners face. “Being a small business owner in town … helps me understand what that’s like and why coming to Williamstown would be attractive for another small business,” he said.

Neely also noted his family’s long-standing commitment to civic service, pointing to his mother’s 42 years on the Town’s Finance Committee and his own prior work on the Fund for Williamstown board. “It seemed like a natural thing to want to do,” he said. “With the sale of my business, this just felt like the right time to get more involved.”