Patch Candidate Profile: Katie Kenney, Canton Board of Finance

CANTON, CT — Canton Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as Election Day draws near.

Canton resident Katie Kenney is running for Canton Board of Finance for a two-year term as a Democrat.

The following is Kenney's questionnaire sent to Patch:

Name

Katie Kenney

How old will you be as of Election Day?

56

Does your campaign have a website? If so, include the URL here.

What city or town do you live in?

Canton, CT

What office are you seeking?

Canton Board of Finance, 2-year term

Please give us your party affiliation.

Democrat

Education

B.A. English, Yale College; Masters in Public Administration (M.P.A.), Columbia University; Ph.D. in Public Affairs with a Concentration in Demography, Princeton University.

What is your occupation?

Farmer (12 years), currently raising sheep and growing apple trees on my family farm in North Canton. Previously, assistant professor of sociology (8 years) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Bowling Green State University.

Do you have a family? If so, please tell us about them.

My husband Michael and I live in North Canton with our three youngest children, ages 16, 13, and 8. We also have two adult children who have “flown the coop.” I am the youngest of the five Kenney sisters who all grew up here in Canton and went through the Canton schools with many long-time town residents. My late mother was Joan Kenney, who worked as a reporter covering Canton and Avon for first the Hartford Courant and then the Farmington Valley Herald during my childhood and later served on the Canton Water Pollution Control Authority, among many volunteer positions.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

My husband serves in a voluntary capacity on an appointed commission in town.

Have you ever held a public office, whether appointive or elective?

I was elected to the Canton Board of Finance in 2019. Before that, I served on the Canton Conservation Commission (an appointed position). When I was a senior in college, I was elected to the New Haven Board of Aldermen (now the Board of Alders) and served a two-year term.

Now we'd like to ask a few questions about your reasons for running and your general views on politics and government. First, why are you seeking this office?

I am running for re-election to the Canton Board of Finance because I believe in responsible stewardship of Canton’s finances, which means asking tough and fair questions of all departments in town, making budget decisions based on evidence, communicating effectively with town residents, and involving residents in the budget process.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is ___, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Canton residents vary considerably in their interests and concerns, which may depend on which part of town they live in, their age and family status and their values and needs. The interest they all share is that the town government operates both effectively and efficiently, and it is the duty of the board of finance to ensure that it does. As a member of the board of finance, I will continue to insist that all departments be required to back up their requests for new funding with concrete and verifiable evidence and that even after funding decisions are made we continue to evaluate the effectiveness of spending programs before renewing them.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I bring both formal training and practical experience to the board of finance. I have a Master’s in Public Administration from Columbia and a Ph.D. in Public and International Affairs and Demography from Princeton. In addition to the term I am now serving on the board of finance, I have served on numerous public and non-profit boards, including the Canton Conservation Commission. As a board member, I always do my homework and come prepared, and I have always served the full term for which I was elected.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

Canton’s government needs to find new and better ways to engage with all its citizens. Canton’s town boards and commissions are not communicating effectively with town residents and, in many cases, are not doing enough to listen respectfully to — and act upon—residents’ views. As elected officials, we need to research what tools other jurisdictions have used to share information and receive citizen input and we need to implement those that have proven to work.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

While I am proud of my experiences as a university professor, running a family farm, and in many volunteer positions, my most relevant accomplishment is my performance as a member of the Canton Board of Finance since I was elected by Canton residents in 2019. I am committed to attending every meeting and to preparing thoroughly, which means closely reading detailed financial spreadsheets and memoranda so I can understand how the town is spending its money and so that I can ask the questions taxpayers would want asked. I am confident in my work on behalf of Canton’s residents, and I would encourage anyone who is interested to attend our next meeting – or to listen to our recent ones (recordings are available at https://www.townofcantonct.org/audio-finance).