Crafton Council Candidate | kirstencompitello

Meet me!

I am running for a 2-year seat on Crafton Council.

Who am I?

I'm a resident of a 100-year old house on Hawthorne. It's not the biggest or fanciest, but it is the first home I have owned and I'm very proud to live here. I am an urban planner who works in community development and public participatory processes. I am passionate about bringing communities together, creating programs and policies for thriving and resilient places with strong social networks and support for local businesses, and ensuring inclusivity for all residents.

I live with my husband and 2 kids, both students at Crafton Elementary. I adore gardening, though I have only moderate skill with plants, and I love to take walks. Actually, I prefer walking to any other form of transportation, so I'm a huge supporter of growing the local businesses we have in Crafton. The walkable character, big shade trees, and sense of small town connectivity were primary reasons that attracted me to Crafton.

Why am I running for Council?

I am passionate about being involved in my community and have a history of volunteering and joining committees wherever I live. I joined the Crafton Planning Commission in 2019. As a planner by trade, I have ample experience in many planning, budgeting, policies, and project implementation processes. Some things that are particularly important to me:

Accessibility and safety of our streets. Keep Crafton walkable, safe for kids biking to school, and find solutions to improve accessibility for the elderly and those with limited mobility on our aging sidewalks, streets, and hills.
Diversity and inclusion. It's my fundamental belief that every resident and every experience matters. Inclusive policies address the needs of all, and diverse communities value all residents.
Community engagement. Facilitated discussions and participatory decision making are a part of my job, and a primary skill of mine. I look forward to using these skills to serve my community and neighbors here in Crafton as a member of Council.
Positive environment for local businesses to grow and prosper. Economic policies that support small businesses and support cohesive "downtown" or adjacent retail districts will help our business owners and grow our tax base.
Partnerships with neighboring municipalities for mutual benefits and shared resources. Strong partnerships help our investments go further and raise our regional profile.
Park and trail expansion. Chartiers Creek and the Trolley Trail are both possible areas to connect to neighboring trails and improve our park system.
An Ecodistrict? There is much to say about how a Crafton Ecodistrict could help us grow and become more resilient. Resilience is the ability of a community to thrive over time and be able to overcome shocks (be they economic, environmental, social...health, landslides, flooding, closed schools, I could go on!) See below to learn more about the upcoming Crafton Planning Commission webinar that will share more information about this topic.

How am I involved in Crafton?

I currently serve as Crafton Planning Commission Chairperson for 2021. I proposed in 2020 that the Planning Commission begin a series of public workshops to keep regular communication with the community on planning and visioning issues, build trust, and provide clear ways for residents to learn about and participate in changes that impact our community. COVID arrived while we were still setting up the series, so our planning workshops have all been hosted on Zoom, some more interactive and some more informational as suited the topic. Hopefully some of you participated in the Planning Commission workshops and webinars on Visioning, future of the Linden site, Crafton Boulevard sewer and streetscape reconstruction, and others.

The next webinar will be April 28 at 6:30 and will discuss Ecodistricts.

Want to know more?

I'll add more as I get questions. I can be reached at kirstencompitello@gmail.com, or on twitter and other social media outlets linked below.

FYI... My Instagram is 99% artwork and gardening, so there is not much of greater substance to see there, but lots of lovely pictures to enjoy!