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.
I grew up in the Quincy Point neighborhood of Quincy, MA. I attended a local elementary school and, with the help of many people working behind the scenes, I attended B.C. High and Boston College where I earned a degree in Mathematics, with honors.
Our neighborhood was made up of a mix of single family and traditional two-family homes. As with most of my friends, I grew up in an over/under two-family home. It was owned by my grandmother who bought the home in 1919. We were a three generation household.
I met my wife Jolanda in 1981. We have two children, Alexandra and Lionel, who grew up in Lexington. They attended the French-American school in Arlington (now Cambridge) followed by the Lexington Public Schools. We also have three grandchildren.
In my youth I loved playing baseball, hockey and golf. Now I enjoy all kinds of projects around the house—both working alone and with my close friend. I also help my children whenever I can. I stay in touch with my old friends from Quincy. We get together for breakfast regularly and also spend New Year’s Eve together. Text messaging is the weekly communication tool.
Why are you running for Town Meeting?
I am putting extra effort into running for Town Meeting this year because of the consequential vote regarding Article 2—a change to the MBTA Communities housing Bylaw. I bring a balanced view to all of my work and this is what is needed for this important Town Meeting decision.
How has your past experience — whether in your professional life, elected office, or as a community leader — prepared you for a role in Town Meeting?
Professionally, I designed, developed and implemented business systems software in support of greatly improved business processes both in the U.S. and in Europe. In the U.S. I developed my employer’s first on-line order processing system. For another employer I did the same for their European subsidiaries. I lived for two years in the Netherlands and for six years in France as the European marketing systems manager.
While in school I had several summer jobs: caddie at the Hyannisport Club–I spent three summers living on the golf course in military tents with 55 other boys ages 13–16 who grew up in towns anywhere from Reading to Hingham; custodian in the Quincy school system; helper, and sometimes welder, in the pipe shop at the Quincy Shipyard; scheduling tennis court time for members at the Dedham Polo and Country Club.
I learned a lot about kids from extremely different towns, cities and cultures. I learned a lot about people with diverse educations and I became even more aware of how different people live and what they have to do to earn a living. These life experiences combined with my blue collar family and neighborhood prepared me well to represent different points of view. There is, of course, always more to learn.
I work on behalf of the Town and the town residents and I do my best to represent their interests in decision making. There are very often conflicting interests and different points of view. Therefore, for me, a balanced approach is always necessary. I have no problem compartmentalizing my thinking on a project when there may be the impression of conflicting interests on my part. Every project stands on its own merits and I do consider the other point of view before landing on my own position. Ideology is not part of my decision making.
What is the most important issue in this election to you personally, and what ideas do you have about how to address this issue?
This year the key issue before Town Meeting is the Citizen Article, Article 2, regarding a change to our MBTA Communities multi-family housing bylaw. This is my current position as things are evolving during Planning Board public hearings:
As a member of the Planning Board I participated in identifying properties to be included in the MBTA Communities zoning. There was a rationale for all the locations, but not for the total number of acres, and there was no research done to help us understand what dimensional controls (setbacks, allowable units per acre and, in some cases, height of buildings) would make development desirable without creating too much housing too quickly. Unlimited units per acre, small setbacks and, in some cases, high height limits are written into the current Bylaw. Estimates provided by the Planning Board and Staff, and others, turned out to be very inaccurate. Therefore, we are seeing proposals/projects that deliver as many dwelling units as possible on the various project sites.
Using Major Site Plan Review as a controlling tool has delivered very limited results. Major Site Plan review is no match for the property rights written in to the Bylaw.
I agree with those who are sounding the alarm regarding the costs that will come with too much housing in too short a period. In my opinion, the best course of action is to watch as these nine or more projects develop over the next five years. The impact on Town services will then be known and not just estimated.
I work on behalf of the Town of Lexington and its residents. I vote for Town expenditures. Given that we will quickly meet or exceed our regional multi-family housing goal, my fiscal responsibility easily takes priority over any thought of exceeding our regional housing responsibility.
I see this as an urgent need requiring a pragmatic and fiscally responsible vote.
Article 2 is not an anti-housing proposal.