As a former Planning Board Chair, and member of many Lexington Committees and several regional planning efforts, I, Richard Canale, am pleased to highly
recommend Tina McBride for the one open Planning Board seat.

I am familiar with both candidates and believe they are both good, but Tina possesses more and higher qualities for the seat. Tina’s credentials are more applicable to the multi-faceted Planning Board roles. One important quality is understanding what we want Lexington’s future to be. That is, what do we expect Lexington’s population to be in one, five, or ten years, and how do we wish to balance commercial development with the needed population increase?

In 2020, Town Meeting approved Article 8—Lexington’s Systemic Racism Resolution—that prioritized ending systemic racism and white privilege. This means that Lexington needs to encourage housing that addresses more affordable options. Tina is the only candidate who prioritizes this. The other candidate places commercial development above certain types of housing, and believes that housing should be prohibited in high-value commercial spaces.

Tina understands that Planning needs to create a more welcoming environment for all of its residents. Lexington needs to address housing for town employees and others who cannot afford the high costs of living. Our town cannot artificially exclude housing where it may be needed most.

To be a good Planning Board member, one must be able to cut through the analytical aspects while also having a solid understanding of the human implications of planning; Tina is the only candidate who can balance those two aspects fairly and equitably. Tina, who grew up in Lexington, has a solid understanding of what makes our town special.

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