Joining Council with a Collaborative Spirit

Dear Neighbors,

I am pleased to introduce myself as your new Councilperson-At-Large. As I quickly dive into this role, I want to ensure that you, my neighbors, know who I am and what inspires me to serve.

My husband, two daughters and I have lived in Summit for 8 years and not a day goes by when I don’t look around our downtown or a busy field and think how lucky we are to live here. However, as my level of involvement in the City deepens, I see that it actually involves almost no luck at all; our amazing City is the result of tremendous amounts of hard work. I am pleased and honored to join that workforce of volunteers in this meaningful way.

As a physician, I spent almost 15 years caring for patients with disabilities due to brain injury in highly specialized rehabilitation settings. I led an interdisciplinary team of exceptionally thoughtful professionals aimed at improving the function, health and quality-of-life of our patients. Each team member had different training and expertise, and when we combined our talents, insights and out-of-the-box ideas, the results were life-changing, literally. These principles of drawing out talent from team members of different backgrounds, and combining our best solutions and best intentions for the good of the patients is precisely the approach I hope to bring to my role on Council. Some of our ideas were not successful. Many, actually. But we kept innovating and trying and eventually we found the right combination of medical interventions, assistive devices, and behavioral strategies to help our patients rise and take that first step.

Caring for this vulnerable population also involved much time spent in patient advocacy. I fought hard for my patients to ensure they received what they needed to navigate our society despite their differences.

I led this team through the most severe phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. We made do with limited resources while a legitimate fear of the unknown lurked. Between caring for severely brain-injured patients, some of whom had contracted the severe early form of COVID-19, and advocating to administration for resources, I lifted team members’ spirits and comforted patients’ family members over the phone who hadn’t seen their loved ones in many weeks.

Aside from my medical work, I have been involved in the Zoning Board and the Executive Committee of the Board at the Reeves Reed Arboretum. In both places I’ve worked closely with colleagues of varying viewpoints as we came together for a common good. I consider myself to be an analytical thinker. I look at the facts, study the situation and draw my conclusions as fairly as possible. My work on the Zoning Board illustrates my analytical style and I’m proud of my service there. I am currently leading a large project at the Arboretum aimed at making more of its grounds accessible to those with mobility differences. This project nicely combines my professional expertise, history of advocacy and love for our community.

I’ve watched our Council members lead with grace through challenging times. I look forward to bringing a fresh perspective to critical issues and to help unite Summit. I am inspired and energized by the current level of community engagement. I think we will find that we agree far more than we disagree, and I am excited to see what is possible when we work together. Thank you, Summit, for welcoming me into this role with a collaborative spirit.

Sincerely,

Councilwoman Jaime Levine