Andrew Emil Pomerantz
Candidate for Town Meeting
Lexington, MA. Precinct 4
About Drew
I have lived in Lexington for nearly 20 years: one decade in East Lexington and now near Lexington Center (precinct 4). I have two children, both of whom attend Lexington public schools. My son goes to Hastings Elementary School, and he is active in the Cub Scouts—growing up, I was an Eagle Scout, and now I’m an adult leader in his Cub Scout pack. My daughter goes to Diamond Middle School, and she plays a lot of sports, particularly basketball—growing up, I was not very good at sports, but I now coach her teams as best I can! My wife and I met in graduate school at Stanford, where we both earned our PhDs in chemistry. Currently I work for a large company in the oil industry, and for the past decade I have worked to transition the company toward the clean energy industry. Professionally, I am the founder and director of a division that measures and mitigates greenhouse gas emissions.
My priorities
Let me discuss my top three priorities. First is education. My family and I moved to Lexington in large part because of the public school system, and the quality and inclusiveness of the Lexington schools continues to set our town apart. I believe our teachers should be fairly compensated for the value they provide for our children and for our town. I also believe our children’s increasing exposure to social media represents a substantial risk to their development and wellbeing, and I would encourage the schools to be even more proactive about working with parents to ensure our children experience the right amount of digital technology at the right age.
Second is affordability. With a child still in elementary school, my family is going to be in Lexington for a while. Town Meeting is primarily responsible for appropriating funds and must ensure families can afford to live in Lexington for the long term—including families who do not have school-aged children.
Third is environmental sustainability. Recently, many organizations have started to backtrack on their environmental commitments. As someone whose profession revolves around sustainability, I disagree with that approach. Emerging technologies frequently make the sustainable approach the lowest cost approach, particularly with proper planning. I believe Town Meeting should ensure that Lexington remains an environmental leader and resists external pressure to reduce our ambitions.
All three of the issues coalesce around the new high school. It remains to be seen what surprises—and what requests for additional budget—will emerge once construction begins. I will prioritize constructing a facility that serves our town’s educational needs, without making Lexington unaffordable, and without sacrificing the clean energy features in the current design.
Why I decided to run
I was active in the public discussion regarding the new high school, attending and speaking at many of the open meetings. I was concerned about several aspects of the project and spoke about multiple topics, but I focused on how to minimize disruption to the students who would attend LHS during construction. Lexington Public School Superintendent Dr. Julie Hackett noticed my engagement throughout the process and invited me to join a town committee focused on this issue. In the committee, I was able to work with several town officials to come up with a few solutions to minimize disruption. After that experience, I became a strong supporter of the high school project and volunteered for the Yes4Lex campaign. More importantly, I saw firsthand how working constructively on issues important to the community can lead to real results that make Lexington an even better place to live. That experience inspired me to run for Town Meeting.
