ATHOL – State Rep. Susannah Whipps is seeking another term representing the 2nd Franklin District and will appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot as an unenrolled candidate.
Whipps, a seventh-generation Athol resident, has served in the Massachusetts House since 2015. Before joining the Legislature, she served nine years on the Athol Selectboard. She is also co-owner of the family business Whipps Inc.
Whipps said she is seeking another term because she loves the work and feels she has been successful representing the area.
“I look at my constituents as if they’re my neighbors,” she said. “It’s really important that local people have a local voice in Boston and kind of a conduit between themselves and state agencies.”
Whipps said remaining unenrolled is important to how she approaches her work as a state representative.
“It puts me in a unique position that I don’t have to toe any party line, that I can just put people above politics,” she said.
Whipps said some of the work she is most proud of includes her involvement with the statewide task force for the prevention of child sexual abuse and efforts to address food insecurity through the Healthy Incentives Program. She has worked on HIP since 2015, with a focus on helping residents access fresh, local food while supporting local farmers.
She also highlighted housing projects she has worked on over multiple legislative sessions that are now moving forward. Those include the redevelopment of the former Riverbend and Ellen Bigelow schools in Athol into housing for seniors and families, as well as a veterans housing project in Winchendon.
Whipps said housing affordability continues to be one of the biggest concerns she hears about from residents.
“A lot of seniors want to age in place,” she said. “They have their church friends, they have the relationships that they’ve built, but they’re in a home that they’ve raised their family in, and it might be too much home for an empty nester.”
Whipps said she wants to continue increasing opportunities for safe, affordable, and accessible senior housing, which could open up existing homes for younger residents. She said more workforce-level housing is needed to help younger people remain in the region.
Whipps also pointed to the need for more primary care doctors in the region. She said there have been discussions about how to attract medical professionals to establish practices and make the area their home.
Rising costs were another issue Whipps raised, particularly health insurance expenses straining municipal and school budgets and affecting business owners.
Whipps said one of her priorities in the next term would be advocating for the needs of the 2nd Franklin District at the state level.
“The Commonwealth sometimes, I think, fails to recognize the contribution that this part of the state makes to the entire state,” she said.
Whipps pointed to the Quabbin Reservoir, local farms and land stewardship as examples. She said she and other western Massachusetts lawmakers have a responsibility to make sure those contributions are understood in Boston.
Whipps said she is grateful for the support she has received from voters.
“I’m just honored every time somebody checks my name on a ballot,” she said. “It’s the greatest honor that people trust me with that. It’s the honor of my lifetime.”