The Warren Select Board will decide next week which of two residents will fill a vacant seat, following interviews with Matt Sargent in August and Amber Weston on Sept. 8.
Sargent and Weston bring different backgrounds and perspectives to the position. Weston, who grew up in Warren and returned to town in 2024 after nearly 15 years in Utah, highlighted schools, families, younger residents and the importance of building a multigenerational community.
Sargent has experience on the town's planning commission and conservation commissions as well as in construction and project management. He emphasized infrastructure, housing, taxes and community connections.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Both candidates said they would approach the position by listening to residents and putting the community's interests ahead of personal agendas.
Weston said her own interest in serving is rooted in growing up in Warren and now raising a family there. She and her husband, Lucas, have a 7-year-old son, Will, and are also caring for their 13½-year-old niece, Olivia.
“I think it's very important to be involved in local government, especially since we have two children who are now growing up in Warren,” Weston said.
Sargent, who has lived in Warren since 1991 except for a period away during the COVID-19 pandemic, raised two daughters in town and operated a design-build company in the Mad River Valley.
“I'd like to give back to the community,” Sargent said. “I'd like to offer my help where I can.”
Weston serves as secretary of the Warren School PTO and works at the Sugarbush Day School. She previously served on a school board while living in Utah.
COMMUNITY SPACE
A major issue for Weston is the future of Warren Elementary School if plans for a broader Mad River Valley school progress. She told the board that the existing school could become an important community facility, providing space for a gym, library, music lessons, children's activities and family gatherings.
“What we need in this town is to have a municipal space where our kids can go to the gym or the library or go have a piano lesson or whatever,” Weston said.
She also emphasized maintaining Warren's recreational facilities, including its tennis courts and fields, so local children can participate in activities without having to travel to neighboring towns.
BECOME INVOLVED
Weston said she would like to see more people from her generation become involved in town government.
“I think creating a space where, especially people in my generation, could feel like they could be involved in local government is really important because we are the next ones who are coming up,” she said.
Sargent also identified younger residents and housing as important issues facing Warren. He said Warren's population has aged considerably during his time in town and noted that his daughters, now in their early 30s, did not remain in the Mad River Valley, in part because of the difficulty of making a living locally.
Affordable housing, he said, could help people who grew up in Warren stay in the community.
EXPERIENCE, APPROACH
Sargent said his professional experience includes infrastructure, budgeting larger projects and managing groups working on those projects. He mentioned the town's plans for affordable housing at the former town garage site as an area where his project-management experience could be useful.
He said he would come to the board without a political or personal agenda.
“I think the most important thing is representing the community as a whole, not as a slice,” Sargent said. “I think I come to the table with a lot of neutrality and a lot of ability to absorb and help act on what I see as some of the community's desires.”
Weston said an effective select board should include people with different backgrounds and generations.
“I think you need the older generation who has been doing it for a while,” she said. “But I think it needs to be a mixture of people.”
She said she would rely on the experience of existing board members while bringing her own experiences from living in another state and serving on boards there.
Weston also told the board she is accustomed to receiving criticism through her work with children and parents and believes disagreements can be handled by listening and reflecting.
“Everybody's going to have a disagreement, so you just have to make sure that you come as your best self and don't bring any of the outside world into a disagreement or a criticism,” she said.
COMMUNICATION
Both candidates identified communication as an important part of the board's work.
Weston said the town should use a variety of methods to reach residents. She has experience managing social media for the Warren School PTO and said she would be willing to help the town with that work.
Sargent said Warren has historically benefited from residents knowing board members personally. He said rebuilding those relationships could give residents a clearer way to raise questions and concerns with town government.
Both candidates said they would seek input from residents when making decisions about town spending and projects. Weston said she would consider her own perspective as a taxpayer while also consulting other board members and community members.
“Really that's what we're here for is to be a voice for them,” she said.
LACK OF AGENDA
Sargent described a similar approach as listening to residents without arriving with a predetermined agenda.
“I think the most effective thing is what I spoke about before — is the lack of agenda,” he said. “Being a sponge to the community in these meetings and in Town Meeting, and then try as best as possible to represent what you see as the town's wishes.”
Weston said she is excited to participate in the process regardless of the outcome.
“This would be my first time in local government,” she said. “I just think that you guys do a lot of things for people in this town, and there's a lot of different opinions that you have to deal with, and so I hopefully I could just be a support.”
