Get to Know Martin Richards
Shortly after moving to Berea, a neighbor asked me to fill her spot on the Board of Adjustment. After several BOA terms I was asked to serve on the Planning and Zoning Commission, and in 2022 I was Berea’s representative on the Bluegrass Regional Planning Council.
These years on BOA and P&Z have given me insight into what Bereans want for themselves and their families, what the big picture of Berea is, and a vision of what it could be.
This experience has well-prepared me to serve you on Berea’s City Council.
Since stepping down as Executive Director of Community Farm Alliance I have been diving deeper into the issues facing Berea, especially affordable housing and homelessness.
These last eight months have taught me that compared to other communities, Berea is doing well, and I want to thank the current Council and Mayor Fraley for their thoughtful stewardship. But these times and issues compel us to think more out of the box.
Like so many other communities, Berea faces issues that will define our future. For all the good that we have done, we still have Bereans who are food and housing insecure, and too many folks living in preventable poverty.
I believe that these challenges are also our opportunities.
It all comes down to three words: Quality of Life.
It all comes down to Quality of Life
Every decision, dollar spent, dollar saved, and every policy must aim to improve our quality of life and build a better Berea.
My Experience
In 2006 I took a job that allowed me to move to about anywhere in Kentucky. My wife Cait, our toddler Jessie, and I chose to move from the farm to Berea. I don’t think that there has been a moment in those 18 years that we doubted our decision, Berea is our home!
For the past thirty years, I have been exploring, learning, and working on how humankind can create a sustainable existence. Much of this has been focused on the relationship between community and place, and the linking of environment, economy, and culture. Only recently I have looked back at my history to see that I have lived and worked at the critical moments where communities have undergone a major transformation of their economies and the consequential environmental and cultural impacts.
Living and working in steel towns, tobacco fields, and coal towns, I have a long history of working with communities addressing economic revitalization, sustainability, and resiliency. With an educational background in architecture, I have extensive experience in agriculture, economic development, and land use. This includes over 20 years of policy development experience working with the Kentucky Legislature.
I have been an active member of the Community Farm Alliance for over 29 years, serving on the Board, as Board Chair, and as Executive Director from 2010-2023. I was the first CFA Fellow during the passage of HB 611in 2000 which utilized Master Tobacco Settlement funds to create the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund. I also served on the Kentucky Hunger Task Force under Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles.
Besides having served on numerous boards and councils, I have served on the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Board of Adjustments in Berea, KY, the Bluegrass Regional Planning Council, and the Kentucky Green Building Council.
Most recently, I participated on the Task Force to inform the White House’s National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, testifying in 2022 before the US Senate Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition about Food is Medicine, presented at the Tufts University Food is Medicine National Summit, and represented CFA on the National Produce Prescription Collaborative.
For more, please visit my LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-richards-00a80142/