H-W News
BY TIM VANDE BRAKE | STAFF REPORTER
TIM@H-W-NEWS.COM
Hamilton resident and state Rep. Kristin Kassner has been named “Legislator of the Year” by the Massachusetts Municipal Lawyers Association (MMLA).
The group serves as the state’s municipal law bar association and presented the award at its Annual Conference in New Bedford on Oct. 1.
In a news release, attorney and MMLA President Christopher Brown said the association wanted to acknowledge Kassner’s “dedication and advocacy on issues impacting municipalities and all residents of the Commonwealth.”
“Representative Kassner has worked tirelessly and collaboratively with local government to improve communication among all stakeholders and to help make municipal voices, including the MMLA’s position and commentary on a variety of pending legislation, especially land use, heard on Beacon Hill,” Brown said.
It was the first time in seven years that the association presented the award. In a news release, Kassner said she has been fortunate to partner with the MMLA “to ensure that the laws we craft are not only visionary but workable for our cities and towns.”
“I am deeply grateful for their collaboration, and profoundly humbled by this recognition as Legislator of the Year,” she said.
As the representative for the 2nd Essex District, Kassner serves Ipswich, Hamilton, Rowley, Georgetown, Newbury and Topsfield’s Precinct 1. Her recent work includes a set of measures to require training for members of municipal land use boards and standardize the site-plan-review process, which municipalities use to gauge the impacts of proposed developments. Both are included in the state’s pending, wide-ranging Economic Development Bill.
Kassner is up for reelection Nov. 3 against Republican challenger Dan Kelly of Ipswich.
