Planning Board candidate profile: Jane (Kirby) Pansire

Former town employee Jane (Kirby) Pansire has a passion for planning.

The 25-year Dartmouth resident worked for the town’s zoning and planning departments for more than a decade, and is now hoping to secure longtime Planning Board chair Lorri-Ann Miller’s soon-to-be vacant seat in the upcoming town election.

She will be running against resident and longtime Town Meeting member Kevin Estes on April 6.

Pansire (recently married, and known to most in town as Jane Kirby) worked six years in zoning and six in planning before going into the private sector last year.

“I want to give back,” she said, adding that she’s running “to serve the town I love.”

Pansire has deep roots in the town, with three children that went to (or are currently in) the Dartmouth school system.

She noted that with her children mostly grown up, she now has the time to dedicate to her interest for planning.

If elected, Pansire said she hopes to balance preservation and development, saving natural landscapes in favor of redeveloping previously built but underutilized — or polluted — spaces.

And she already knows how to read plans. 

With all the relevant certifications and experience in computer-aided drafting — the programs engineers and architects use to draw up site plans — Pansire said she would be an asset to the town.

“I’m very knowledgeable in national law and planning and zoning practices with the town’s bylaws,” she noted. “It’s a very easy transition for me. There’s no learning curve, I just slide right in!”