Tell us a little about yourself. You can include your personal background, family, outside interests that are important to who you are as a person and a candidate.
• Lexington resident since 1977
• Over 30 years’ teaching & coaching experience to students of all ages
• Volunteer swim coach for children of military families at Hanscom Air Force Base
• Organizer of and performer in fundraising concerts
Education
• B.A. in economics, with honors
• M.M. in string performance, with honors
• Attended Lexington Public Schools from elementary through high school
Why are you running for Town Meeting?
I want living in Lexington to be affordable. Longtime residents should be able to continue living in Lexington, while new families should be able to put down roots and be part of the Lexington community for the long term.
This year we are celebrating Lex250 and revolutionary Lexington. But amidst the celebrations, there will be multitudes of “for sale” signs going up all over town. These are popping up already.
We have become “Revolving Door Lexington.”
Families who want to stay in Lexington are getting pushed out by high and increasing taxes. New families, lured by the promise of Lexington’s “excellent educational reputation” move in, perpetuating the constant draw of funds for educational support. It takes about two households with no children in the school system to help cover the cost of a family with two school children.
When a family of seniors is “replaced” by a family with children, the cost of the school system increases, while the tax base of households without children in the school system decreases. This is a “Doom Loop.” Drastically adding to our Town’s financial stress is 2023 Article 34 (MBTA zoning for 13,000+ units and 253 acres).
Our family was one of the first, in early 2023, to “sound the alarm” and warn of Article 34’s perils. Many residents brought up issues concerning the concept, scale, increased town support services, environmental costs, tax burden, and more. We submitted letters, studies, wrote emails and spoke at meetings. We asked to slow down the process so that long-term impacts could be determined. We reached out to the Planning Board, Town Meeting (all precincts and members-at-large), and Select Board to no avail. We were ignored and our concerns were dismissed, which is why I decided to throw my hat in the ring and run for Town Meeting this year.
I am a “Yes” for 2025 STM Article 2! I support a rollback to the original state numbers of 1,231 units and 50 acres. This should have been Lexington’s maximum. This has been my family’s position from the beginning.
Lexington is not a major MBTA corridor. We are “MBTA-adjacent” and get very limited service. We cannot rely on the sparse bus service to get us to basic destinations (health care, groceries, work, etc.). On nights, weekends, and holidays there is no service. The perverse irony is that many more cars will be necessary. Development proposals include building garages for 500 cars each, which totally conflicts with the MBTA concept.
I am concerned about the direction in which Lexington is heading. We need to bring back common sense to save Lexington from financial and environmental disaster. I am for a fiscally responsible, affordable Lexington and a diverse community of all ages, NOT a “revolving door” transient Lexington. Lexington needs realistic and coherent planning that takes into account our whole community.
Precinct 7 voters: Please vote for me and for Vida Baterina Hom on March 3. We want to represent you!