Candidates offer their views and make their pitch

Earlier this year, the Lincoln Squirrel asked candidates running in the annual town election (then scheduled for late March) to discuss their experience and the important issues they thought would face their board or commission in coming months and years. The Squirrel published responses from candidates for the Water Commission and the Planning Board (the only contested race this year) earlier this spring, as well as three new pieces by Planning Board candidates Lynn DeLisi, Bob Domnitz, and Rick Rundell. See the full slate on this specimen ballot. Here are the responses from the remaining candidates.

Manley B. Boyce II

Cemetery Commission (22-year incumbent)

Hard to believe that I have been on this commission since 1998. Before being on this commission, I spent three years on the Emergency Fund with the Council of Aging under the direction of the Board of Selectmen.

Although some of the land formation has changed, the direction of the members of the Cemetery Commission has not. We have always, as a commission, been united in our mission to support our townspeople with a beautiful and restful sanctuary to respect and honor our friends and family members.

If reelected to this position, I would strive to be a part of this commission to continue to oversee and orchestrate the tranquil presence of our cemeteries. This requires funding and land expansion that is needed now and will be required to accommodate future generations.

As our cemetery expands, we find we now need a full-time custodian to oversee the preservation of the cemetery land and for the ongoing burials. Funding is imperative to achieve this goal. A second and crucial funding need is for a mini-excavator to reach our hard-to-access lots. This mini-excavator would be shared, used, and maintained by the Highway Department;

Jonathan Dwyer

Board of Selectmen (three-year incumbent)

Having finished one term on the Board of Selectmen, I am running for reelection. A key BOS responsibility is to ensure the town’s government is responsive to residents. I consistently hear concerns about the cost of living in town, the need for expanded social services, and desires for developing a more diverse tax base. Residents want a community center, a vibrant town center, greater town commitment to net-zero living, and improved transportation infrastructure supporting multi-mobility and safety for all roadway users. Voices also call for more diverse housing, expanded conservation of land, and greater investment in our historic structures. 

Considering that big projects like the town office renovation and athletic fields expansion are done, the new school project is underway and Oriole Landing is on course to meet our affordable housing goals, I think it is time to discern the town’s current priorities and update its 11-year-old Comprehensive Long Range Plan. I would be honored to serve another term on the board to listen and to lead in partnership with colleagues Jennifer Glass and James Craig.

I respectfully ask that you make me the last “Selectman” to run for office in Lincoln (there is a citizen’s petition to rename BOS to “Select Board” at a future Town Meeting yet to be scheduled).

Harold Engstrom

Lincoln-Sudbury High School District Committee (first-time candidate)

While I have helped on boards around Lincoln before (Codman, soccer, etc.), I haven’t run for nor been elected to any position anywhere. In the three-year term I’m running for, probably the most important part of the job will be helping to select new leadership for L-S because the current superintendent will come to the end of her tenure. My motivation for running for L-S School Committee is very general: provide responsible stewardship and help our community maximize the potential and development of all students and staff at L-S. I expect that my approach will be to (1) first understand how the L-S school committee currently functions and why it functions that way, then (2) understand what the currently stated guiding principles and currently approved plan for L-S is, and then (3) work to execute duties as decided on by the committee. It is possible that I may not agree with the majority sometimes, but that will not keep me from working constructively to do what we vote to do. Our public schools are our biggest and most important ongoing community project.

I was asked to run and I also feel that giving back is important. My sons graduated from L-S and my daughter graduates this spring. Helping to keep L-S a great place for others, and possibly helping to make it even better, would be a privilege.

Derek P. Fitzgerald

Commissioner of Trust Funds (six-year incumbent)

The town’s trust investments have had a good run over the last several years as the markets have gone up significantly. The immediate task is to keep a good monitoring program in place and to avoid unneeded risks and complexity. At some point the markets will turn and trusts need to be positioned to minimize risk to capital yet still earn a reasonable return on investment. I believe the Lincoln trusts investments are well positioned, but this is an on-going process. 

In the last year, the board directed our portfolio managers to minimize the trusts investments in the fossil fuel industry in pursuit of the ESG goal of supporting a greener planet. Lincoln didn’t have much exposure to begin with so the impact has been minimal on the investment holdings and performance.

Less glamorously but perhaps just as importantly for the prudent management of the trust, the board updated and adopted a new investment policy to direct our portfolio managers in the oversite and allocation of the town trusts.

Adam Hogue

School Committee (one-year incumbent)

The biggest challenge facing us currently is the current pandemic. My goals on the committee is to keep our budget fiscally responsible to the town and also be an advocate for our students to give them the best education possible.

Sarah Cannon Holden

Town Moderator (12-year incumbent)

I am running for my fourth three-year term as Lincoln’s Town Moderator. My prior experience includes six years on the Finance Committee, two years on the Community Preservation Committee, nine years on the L-S School Committee, and six years on the Board of Selectmen. In each position I have learned a little bit more about the town (and probably myself), and I cherish the friendships that I have made while serving the town.

My interests in civics, politics, and service led me to law school 20 years after I graduated from college. I have had an active and interesting career in labor arbitration and mediation. It was interrupted briefly in 2001-02 when I ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor as a qualified Clean Elections Candidate. My role now as moderator seems to fit in with this background. I certainly enjoy the role and the challenges that it poses. I hope always to conduct a fair, open and respectful meeting, and to be receptive to new ideas for making the meeting run efficiently without sacrificing the robust and complex essence of democracy.

My three children attended the Lincoln and Lincoln-Sudbury Public Schools.

This year’s Town Meeting will be a new experience for all of us. It will be in a tent on June 13; it will be a very abbreviated meeting with all presentations having been done online in the weeks and days beforehand, and it will include a comprehensive consent calendar with only three other articles for our consideration. Our primary concern is the health of all in attendance. With that in mind, I believe that it is important for us to work through the agenda carefully and as efficiently as possible.

I will do my best to lead us through the meeting after so many volunteers and staff have done the work to get us prepared. Please check in early on June 13 so we can get started at 9:30 a.m.

I ask for your vote on Monday, June 15. The polls at the Hartwell School parking lot will be open from 12–4 p.m. Thank you.

Fred Mansfield

Board of Health (20-year incumbent)

Important issues for the upcoming year(s) include:

• Infectious diseases and the town’s response, e.g. EEE, Covid-19, West Nile, tick-borne disease
• Water quality
• Natural gas leaks
• Town nurse coverage for elderly and disabled
• Immunization advocacy: measles, flu, Covid -19
• Issues around control of nicotine and cannabinoid distribution and use

Ellen Meadors

Board of Assessors (18-year incumbent)

The main goals of the Board of Assessors are to:

• Provide fair and equitable assessments based on true market values
• Meet with citizens and citizen groups to discuss their assessment concerns
• Propose and support tax relief measures for those who need them
• Coordinate with and support other departments, boards, and commissions
• Incorporate new technologies to improve assessments, enhance services and reduce costs.

In the next few years, we expect to be incorporating new technologies into our assessing process. In particular, our assessing contractor, Regional Resource Group, is finding it more and more challenging to do the yearly periodic re-inspections of properties. Qualified assessing staff is getting more and more difficult to find and some homeowners feel it‘s an invasion of privacy to have people walking around their house measuring the exterior. We are hoping to be able to use high-definition aerial images and image processing software tools to do detailed exterior inspections via computer that are sufficiently accurate to meet State requirements. The Board will be working with RRG to define a new process and get State approval.

Tara Mitchell

School Committee (three-year incumbent and current chair)

There are so many exciting aspects of working with the school district at this point. The new primary and middle schools at Hanscom and the Lincoln campus renovation project is allowing our district to advance into 21st-century education. Teachers at both schools are building skills, honing techniques, and collaborating to help better prepare students for the challenges they will face in the future. Lincoln staff have started to reimagine how they use spaces and how they work with students and colleagues now and in the future.

As a school committee member, I’m excited to support the district’s strategic plan, which focuses on professional development, elevating instructional practices within all classrooms, and providing deeper learning for all students. I look forward to communicating how this vision is becoming a reality and ensuring the policies and budget recommendations continue to support the district’s goals. 

Rob Stringer

Recreation Department (first-time candidate)

No previous government offices held, but I am a soccer coach, baseball and basketball assistant coach, and I’m on the PTO.

There are a few things I’m very interested in helping the Rec Department deal with in the next few years: how to handle the adjustments to our yearly program of events due to the school building work (Fourth of July, parking for the pool, use of fields) and how can we build on the work to leave a legacy that makes us stronger. Look for new ways to engage Lincoln residents and surrounding communities using the wonderful parks and people we have. 

I enjoy working with the communities I’m already involved in (PTO and local sports) and thought it would be another way to stay involved as my kids age out of my ability to coach them.