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Politics & Government

Council Candidate Peoples Wants to Improve Sector Plan, Preserve Historic Community

Barry Peoples is the third council candidate in our series of election Q&A's for Kensington.

Council candidate Barry Peoples, 57, is a senior sales respresentative at CareFusion, a company that markets computerized medical diagnostic equipment. He's been active in the town on several committees, including the historical society, audit, traffic and revitalization committees and more.

Patch asked Peoples questions to learn more about his campaign and plans for Kensington if elected.

Kensington Patch: How long have you been a resident of Kensington?

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Barry Peoples: My wife and I moved just north of Kensington (on Nimitz Road) in 1985. We moved to our current home on Kensington Parkway in 1992, preceded by a year of working night and day on major renovations.

KP: What inspired you to run for town council?  

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BP: I have been very actively involved in so many town issues for the almost twenty years we have lived in town—serving on the Audit, Traffic and Revitalization Committees as well as serving as President of the Kensington Historical Society and now serving as a member of the Kensington Local Advisory Panel and Kensington Land Trust Board. 

KP: What goals would you like to achieve while on the council?

BP: I would like to continue to improve the Kensington Sector Plan (more on this later in these answers), strengthen ties between community groups, preserve the historic core of our community and maintain appropriate traffic speed and patterns through town.

KP: What issues concern you about Kensington? How will you address them?

BP:  I think what makes Kensington unique is the high level of service we have provided residents in the past—including trash and recycling collections and snow removal. While I think outsourcing is probably most cost efficient, we shouldn’t lose our small town commitment to service so should work very closely with the companies we use to outsource with to ensure the same level of service our residents have enjoyed. We need to refocus our efforts on snow removal—used to be our streets were plowed early and often—we need to make sure that continues to be the case. We also need to work together to continue to make improvements to the Kensington Sector Plan so that we have the best possible structure and guidance for development over the next twenty years.

KP: Why should a resident vote for you?

BP:  I have a strong business background and in-depth experience in town issues like revitalization, starting with renovation of my own home, to support of revitalization of historic homes in our historic district to the revitalization of Howard Avenue, as well as to being part of a team to change the Town Center focus in the Sector Plan from Connecticut Avenue to the train station/Mizell/post office/Johnson’s shopping area. Connecticut Avenue should be developed as a business district, not Town Center. I have also been advocating for more reasonable parking requirements in the Sector Plan—the reductions that have been considered would be really harmful to our residential areas. I believe I have the proven ability to work well with residents with divergent views and I understand the issues from multiple view points because of my many years of volunteering here in Kensington on so many of the town issues which I have fully enjoyed!

KP: What's your favorite part of being a Kensingtonian?

BP: The small town feel, our many great neighbors, our beautiful parks and having so much at our finger tips—from local businesses and services to all the fun Kensington events, like the , the , the , the , etc.

Read the Q&A's from other candidates by clicking on their name: Mackie Barch | Julie O'Malley | Barry Peoples | John Thompson | Stowe Teti

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