Lexington Town Meeting Member, Precinct 7
Dear Residents of Precinct 7, Lexington, MA:
I am running for re-election to Town Meeting from Precinct 7. I would appreciate your vote on Tuesday, March 3, 2020.
Harry Forsdick
Town Meeting Member, Precinct 7
46 Burlington St.
Lexington, MA 02420
(781) 799-6002
I am running for re-election to Town Meeting from Precinct 7. I would appreciate your vote on Tuesday, March 3, 2020.
Harry Forsdick
Town Meeting Member, Precinct 7
46 Burlington St.
Lexington, MA 02420
(781) 799-6002
I have lived in Lexington for almost 43 years. I have been a member of Town Meeting for four years. My wife, Marsha Baker, has been a Town Meeting Member for more than 30 years.
Many of you may know my name because in 2002 I set up the Lexington List and built it up from a list with 10 members to one that currently has more than 1600 members. Along with a sibling list, the Lexington Politics-Religion list a wide variety of subjects are discussed from the mundane to the profound. After 18 years I am still happily running and moderating these lists that have become a grassroots forum for residents of Lexington to engage in civil discourse.
Over the last 14 years since I retired, have been involved in a number of Town Organizations including LexMedia, where I was Chairman of the Board for about 5 years. During that time, we transformed LexMedia to it’s current innovative digital infrastructure with live broadcast and on-demand program transmission. I worked with LexMedia Staff and Board members to write a proposal to the Town for a contract that has insured LexMedia’s financial well-being for a 10 year period.
I left LexMedia to become a member of the Selectmen’s ad hoc Community Center Advisory Committee, spending the next two years planning and designing how the Mason’s property purchased by the Town would be transformed into the Lexington Community Center. In serving on this Committee, I learned a lot about how the Town works -- the Town Committee process, the possibilities and limitations of budgets for capital improvement projects, as well as the diversity of opinions, needs and ideas of Lexington residents.
Finally, for the past 7 years I have run a small retirement-business out of my home called Lexington Photo Scanning, which serves the local and surrounding communities.
In deciding how to vote on Articles that come before Town Meeting, I follow three priorities:
I am generally favorable to zoning changes that promote mixed use development -- a development that requires residential units that sell for a range of values, increasing the affordability of homes to an economically diverse population.
Again, on March 3, 2020, please vote for me to be a member of the Lexington Town Meeting.
Thank you,
Many of you may know my name because in 2002 I set up the Lexington List and built it up from a list with 10 members to one that currently has more than 1600 members. Along with a sibling list, the Lexington Politics-Religion list a wide variety of subjects are discussed from the mundane to the profound. After 18 years I am still happily running and moderating these lists that have become a grassroots forum for residents of Lexington to engage in civil discourse.
Over the last 14 years since I retired, have been involved in a number of Town Organizations including LexMedia, where I was Chairman of the Board for about 5 years. During that time, we transformed LexMedia to it’s current innovative digital infrastructure with live broadcast and on-demand program transmission. I worked with LexMedia Staff and Board members to write a proposal to the Town for a contract that has insured LexMedia’s financial well-being for a 10 year period.
I left LexMedia to become a member of the Selectmen’s ad hoc Community Center Advisory Committee, spending the next two years planning and designing how the Mason’s property purchased by the Town would be transformed into the Lexington Community Center. In serving on this Committee, I learned a lot about how the Town works -- the Town Committee process, the possibilities and limitations of budgets for capital improvement projects, as well as the diversity of opinions, needs and ideas of Lexington residents.
Finally, for the past 7 years I have run a small retirement-business out of my home called Lexington Photo Scanning, which serves the local and surrounding communities.
In deciding how to vote on Articles that come before Town Meeting, I follow three priorities:
- What is best for all Town residents? My first priority is to vote in a way that makes Lexington a better place to live for all residents. Sometimes these are fundamental issues such as Town or School operations, other times the issues are things like traffic flow along Massachusetts Avenue, the maintenance and restoration of the Center of Lexington, the acquisition of land for conservation uses, or the restoration of historic properties through the use of Community Preservation funding.
- What is best for all residents in Precinct 7? Every precinct has its own special issues. For example, the area around the intersection of Hartwell Ave and Bedford street has a serious traffic issue. I pay close attention to Articles that address these sorts of issue that have direct impact on all residents of Precinct 7.
- What is best for a small set of residents of Precinct 7? Infrequently, but sometimes, an Article has a significant impact on several individual residents of the Precinct. Although I am a big believer that decisions made by Town Meeting ought to benefit most of the people in Lexington, there are occasional issues that will impact a small number of people in our Precinct, and if I agree with the desires of individuals, I am willing to go to bat for their concerns.
I am generally favorable to zoning changes that promote mixed use development -- a development that requires residential units that sell for a range of values, increasing the affordability of homes to an economically diverse population.
Again, on March 3, 2020, please vote for me to be a member of the Lexington Town Meeting.
Thank you,
