Editor’s note: The following story is part of a series profiling those running for Newburyport City Council this fall.
NEWBURYPORT — At-large City Councilor Afroz Khan is looking to make city government more accessible and understandable, seeking to secure a fifth term as one of seven residents vying for five at-large seats in the upcoming election.
“I always feel like local government especially should be accessible to everybody, and it’s really about being able to understand the process and having the time to navigate it,” Khan said.
Joining her in the race are fellow incumbents Ed Cameron, Mark Wright and Heather Shand, as well as current Ward 4 City Councilor Ben Harman, School Committee member Sarah Hall and Prospect Street resident Rani Eng. The general election is Nov. 4.
The 56-year-old has lived in the city for 20 years. She and her husband, Ahmer Ibrahim, have two daughters.
“I am really happy with how the city’s evolved, seeing more different people from all walks of life coming to the city,” Khan said.
Working as an electrical engineer, Khan said she has learned through projects facilitating stakeholders just how valuable unique perspectives can be.
“Everyone has a perspective worth hearing, especially those contrary to your own. That allows us to better understand the pitfalls or obstacles to progress. I bring that critical thinking, listening to both sides, and I love doing research,” Khan said.
Discussing why she wants to continue serving, having been elected in 2017, Kahn said every resident and neighborhood has their issues, and she wants to make the city government more transparent and approachable for them.
“I have got to tell you, we are not great at making it easy to understand what we’re doing and that’s one of the reasons I want to continue. I feel like we still have a lot of work ahead to make sure we’re including everyone along this journey as we legislate and make important decisions for every resident,” Khan said.
She said that now with almost a decade of experience under her belt, she wants to keep building her knowledge and use it to make the city government easier to understand.
“A lot of us assume everyone must be following along. They really are not, and many don’t know what’s happening. I think we can make it easier simply by improving communication,” Khan said.
A couple methods she suggested were methods of tracking legislation or city council newsletters, ideas Kahn got while on the Massachusetts Municipal Association board’s councilors association, a board she still is on.
“If you’ve ever tried tracking something in the State House, you know it’s difficult. Eventually, I learned to navigate that system. I think City Council could have something similar, an easy way to know what’s still in committee, what’s been voted out, what the final vote was,” she said.
Kahn said the community would find a lot of value in such a tool.
“A lot of people want to know how things passed or failed. A tracking tool would also help us measure how we’re doing, moving legislation along, updating zoning, licensing and ordinances,” she said.
Asked what she is proud of in her eight years on the City Council, Kahn said one example is pushing for the creation of the general council email address, citycouncil@newburyportma.gov, after getting the idea from the MMA.
“We previously never had one City Council email to reach all of us. People had to look up each of our emails and cut and paste them, sometimes missing a councilor,” Khan said.
Matt Petry covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: mpetry@northofboston.com.