Suzanne “Suzie” Barry, member of Lexington’s Select Board who has served on the board for about 10.5 years, will not run for re-election after her term expires in 2025.
Barry, who grew up in Lexington and graduated from Lexington High School in 1984, spent most of her adult life volunteering in town. She has served on the town’s Celebrations Committee for about 20 years. When her children were young, she was a crossing guard at Fiske Elementary School and volunteered when they were involved with the Scouts and town sports.
She has also worked for various local churches, including Sacred Heart and Saint Brigid parishes in Lexington and the First Church of Christ Congregational in Bedford. For the past six years, Barry has worked for Hancock United Church Of Christ in Lexington as its director of operations.
Barry said that serving on the Select Board isn’t something “that’s ever been on a bucket list,” but when former Select Board member, Deb Mauger, resigned in 2014 because she was moving out of town, a few residents convinced Barry to run for Mauger’s seat on the board.
“They saw something in me that I didn’t know was there and so I ran,” Barry said. “But it was probably the hardest things that I’ve ever done in my life.”
LexObserver spoke with Barry about her time on Lexington’s Select Board, what advice she can pass onto whoever takes her seat, and what she plans to do next. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
LexObserver: What are some of your proudest accomplishments during your time in Town Meeting?
Suzie Barry: I’m not about a check list of, ‘I built that building or I did this or that.’ I think it’s more that when sitting at the table, I have never tried to make it about me. I certainly have my beliefs and my interests and a few things that I’m passionate about, but I’ve always tried to remember all of the residents of the community. So I think the thing I’m proudest of is that I tried to bring balance and listening into every situation. It’s not always easy to balance everything out.
LO: What are your hopes for Lexington going forward?
SB: I hope we can continue to maintain the level of active volunteerism and citizen participation at a rate that is sustainable because at times, it’s overwhelming and it can burn people out. It really is a hallmark of the community. I think it’s important that people in the community always have the opportunity to be heard. One of the former Select Board members said to me, ‘if a resident is taking the time out of their day to come to a Select Board meeting and wants to speak to the board on any type of issue, they should be heard.’ They are a valued part of the community, you can’t just dismiss them. I think it’s a matter of keeping the civil discourse — we can respectfully disagree on things and still be friends and still move processes forward. Realizing that coming to consensus is not a bad thing, you don’t have to dig in. We are the town of Lexington with a municipal side and a school side and there should not be a division between the two with a great moat or a great wall or anything — it should be a pleasant little hedge with a gate in it. There are times when people dig in heavily on one side or the other and that does nothing to help the community, it creates more drama and I am not one to operate in the drama.
LO: What is special about Lexington’s form of participatory government?
SB: We have always said, and this goes back to former Town Manager Carl Valente, he would comment on the fact that one of the things that Lexington stands apart with is not just the participatory town government, but the level of citizens that step up and volunteer their time. People just volunteer their time for the good of the community and that is not something you see in all 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts, or across the country, and that is what makes Lexington unique and special. It truly is the volunteer spirit. There really is this feeling of people coming out and they come together to make the community a better place. People in this town are involved and they’re passionate. Sometimes their passion can take them in interesting directions, so you have to bear that in mind, but at the end of the day, we’re all trying to do what’s best for the community and I would say we’re all trying to go in the same direction with things.
LO: What are you planning to do with all of your free time?
SB: I have no plans. My husband retired in July; he worked nights, I worked days and then I would do this at night. We’ve been married 35 years and I honestly still like my husband so just hanging out and spending time with him would be great now that he’s more on my schedule. So I have nothing planned. I have no idea what’s next. We’ll see what comes.
LO: What advice do you have for the next member of Lexington’s select board?
SB: Whoever is successful and gets elected to take my seat, you really need to have the ability to listen. There is a quote out there, I’m not sure exactly who to attribute it to, but it goes along the lines of, ‘to listen is to lean in softly with the willingness to be changed by what we hear.’ And that was something that I felt I kind of did in my early years on the board and then when I found this quote I was like, ‘that’s it.” You need to not close yourself off to input because nobody has the best answer. iIf everyone was always the same, we would be robots, and I say that to my kids all the time. I’d ask them, ‘how fun would that be?’ “it wouldn’t,’ they’d say. We have to have the ability to adapt and change and overcome and see things from different perspectives. So I think the person really needs to have the ability to listen and engage with the community where they are. Don’t ever make assumptions about anything or anybody in this community.
Assuming the best of your neighbors is by seeing decent behavior by their “lead by example”. That actually applies to everyone, not just those who are elected to a political position. Suzie Barry has learned how to present herself publicly thru years of practice. She has become clever with her words but does NOT walk her talk demonstrated in the previous interview. Her behavior is far more self serving and directed to mainstream politics than of benefit to the overall community she serves. Especially her behavior towards those who are the most disadvantaged.