Select King For Wayland Board Of Selectmen: Letter

The following letter to the editor does not reflect the views of Wayland Patch

I’m writing to express support for Dovie King for Wayland’s Select Board. I came to know Dovie through her passion for equity and inclusion when she first moved to Wayland a few years ago. Her journey to Wayland is not the typical one. She and her son, Noah, moved to Massachusetts from California to start a new life after fleeing an abusive situation. She is a working parent, award-winning attorney and educator with a long history of public service. Of all the places Dovie could have settled, she picked Wayland and bought her first home as a single mother on Bow Road. Dovie accomplished this all on her own, overcoming difficult personal challenges to provide the stability and safety her family needed.

Dovie was introduced to me as a former member of the Belmont Human Rights Commission while I was working to create a similar committee in Wayland. When formed, Dovie became a member of the Human Rights, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee (HRDEIC), stepping up as a leader and becoming its chair. Unlike other town committees, the HRDEIC is unique in that it’s a new creation and members frequently engage in difficult conversations about racism in the schools, racial profiling in policing, indigenous genocide, domestic violence, etc. It takes special skill and experience to navigate this territory, and Dovie has it. Her background advising nonprofits, boards of directors and labor union clients representing thousands of employees shows in her finesse as a leader.

Watching HRDEIC meetings, I’ve been impressed with Dovie’s facilitation of them as she’s unflappable in the face of challenges and tension. While the select board took a positive step in forming the committee, it’s clear that Dovie’s leadership has been critical in shaping the direction and strength of the committee from the get-go. She sees clearly where problems exist and pursues avenues for creative problem-solving. For example, she is diligently pushing for a town-sponsored phone line where residents can report incidents of hate, bias and discrimination, and get assistance. She also organized an implicit bias training for all town staff and residents in order to build capacity in equity and inclusion. Because she is a public interest attorney with 20 years of experience, Dovie is very experienced in assessing legal problems and addressing them head-on. Additionally, she ensures that all members of the committee and public are heard and respected.

As the chair of Wayland’s Cultural Council, long-time resident and former Wayland town employee, I know very well what it takes to provide good leadership in town government. Dovie has managed to do amazing work in a short amount of time. But she is only getting started! There is much more that Dovie will contribute to town government if elected to the select board, such as being a good steward of our tax dollars and bringing outdated and inefficient town policies into the 21st century. Her expertise in personnel and employment law will be an asset that the select board currently lacks.

Dovie’s professional work as a lawyer and daughter of immigrants gives her valuable legal background for serving as a select board member. It is her lived experience that has me excited. She speaks candidly as a woman of color in public service and she’ll bring a much-needed perspective that our select board has never had. She is committed to diversifying all areas of town government as a matter of equity and good governance, which is something I’m excited for and believe starts with diversifying our leadership. Please vote for Dovie! To learn more and donate to her campaign, visit her website, https://electdovie.com/.

—Rachel Sideman-Kurtz, Wayland