During the 2025 Annual Town Meeting, Lexington Town Meeting Members passed Article 12, granting the Recreation Department $375,000 for an engineering study of a new parking lot at Lincoln Park. This is not to install a new lot, but to design a new lot. Let me repeat that: We voted to spend $375,000 from the General Fund to produce a design — not for a new playing field, a new playground, and certainly not a new parking lot, but for an engineering study for a potential future new parking lot.
I appreciate that here in Lexington we take pride in many things. We have amazing fields at Lincoln Park. In fact, last year’s Town Meeting passed a little over $1M to renovate Lincoln Field 2, and this year we passed $1,950,000 to renovate Field 3. These are beautiful ball fields available to kids and families of all ages. The Recreation Department explained that parking for this recreation area is not perfect, has some slightly narrow spaces and could use several improvements. The estimated cost of a new parking lot would be roughly $2M. So in summary, a nice, redesigned parking lot would make Lincoln Park… a bit better.
At the very same Annual Town Meeting, we heard from Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent of Schools, that the Lexington Public Schools are under extreme financial stress. This past year, there was a spending freeze due to cost increases from the unforeseen need of staff to support students with additional needs. In the coming academic year — even with a larger budget — Dr. Hackett will terminate a number of teachers without “professional status” (essentially teachers with less than three years in the LPS), resulting in classroom consolidations: fewer teachers and larger class sizes. I am quite certain she wouldn’t make these cuts if she didn’t have to. Sadly, we learned that the Superintendent and School Committee have still not agreed on a new contract with the Unit C paraprofessionals. These dedicated workers provide essential care and support to our children throughout the district, yet are not being paid a living wage.
I know people might argue the school budget is not the same as the recreation department and I am making some sort of false equivalence. However, the point I am trying to make is we citizens, we taxpayers and yes, we Town Meeting Members, must begin to ask what are our values? I heard members saying that we must increase affordable housing so town employees can afford to live here. Do we mean that? Yet we aren’t paying these dedicated educators enough to ever possibly live here.
A spiffy new parking lot at Lincoln Park would be very nice. But if we checked our core values (if we know what they are), we might decide that paying our Unit C employees a decent, living wage is more important. To quote the Unit C Action Team, “We love our students and find great emotional fulfillment in the work we do, but emotional fulfillment cannot pay rent, buy groceries, heat our homes, or keep the lights on.”
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of Patriot’s Day, and reflect of the bravery of past Lexington citizens, perhaps today’s Lexington residents might find another sort of bravery.
Alex J. Tsouvalas
Town Meeting – Precinct 5
In support UnitC teachers and defining the “Core Values” of Lexington! Agree with the article, thank you Alex.
“Behind the trees we don’t see the forest”…
As we celebrate 250, lets think of our values and spend $ to support them!
$375,000.00 to redesign a parking? With some unitC teachers getting $30/hour, TMMs just voted to NOT pay for 12,500 hours of their work? That sums to 17 unitC teachers per year (180 days with 4 hour/day).
How could we prefer design of a parking to 17 dedicated human beings caring for our most vulnerable children… I wonder.
Thanks Lana. Great additional perspective.
Thank YOU very much, Alex! Unfortunately, I do not live in Precinct 5, but my vote would go to you without a doubt if you were to run for this position if I lived in that part of the town. I live in Precinct 7, and Oh My Goodness, this year I voted for quite a few known and unknown faces to allow them to serve in this prestigious TMM position. I am wondering how many of those brand-new TMM members think like you!
I hope the good values prevail in those people’s minds as well! You are Amazing, and this town needs YOU!!
Mamata, thank you so very much for your kind and generous words. I appreciate the support. I hope that through dialogue and some honesty TMMs might be willing to question some of their assumptions on how we have always done things and perhaps consider some different approaches. But you have my gratitude.
Thank you for these comments Alex Tsouvalas. I am not in your district, but we need to think about what items are necessities and what are luxuries. Things that cause inconvenience are not “musts”. Having a living wage and a place to live are necessities. Let’s work on those first. In a town like Lexington it is easy to consider “nice to have” as “must have”.
Thank you Robin. Very well said. “Nice to haves” are indeed just that, but we can’t do it all so… I want town government to take a hard and careful look at our priorities and values and then evaluate exactly what we should invest in with the very precious resources that our our tax dollars.