After retiring from Harvard, I was elected as Town Meeting Member. I am deeply indebted to my next door neighbor Masha Traber and my son Vivekanand P. Vimal.
History- Lexington was incorporated as town in 1713 and was first to adopt the town meeting in 1929. 1st election was held in 1930 that included 51 members from 4 precincts.
Town Meeting is the legislative branch of town government, used to enact local laws, pass budgets and authorize spending of town money. https://www.lexingtonma.gov/566/About-Town-Meeting
Bylaws: https://ecode360.com/LE1818
Citizen’s Academy – To learn about the inner workings of town of Lexington I completed this course.
Town Celebration Commitee-Patriots Day, Vetaran's Day, Memorial Day,
Dance Around the World and Treasurer
Executive committee - write articles, prepare questions, attend meetings
As a Lexington resident since 1988, I am invested in serving and contributing to Lexington. As a committed Town Meeting Member for several years, I have never missed a single session and I always make certain to immediately respond to any constituents who reach out to me. I have also served as an officer in the Town Meeting Members’ Association Executive Committee. Town Meeting is one of the oldest forms of direct democracy in the world, and I feel privileged to be a part of this democratic tradition and help move Lexington forward.
When voting, I carefully analyze every article and bring in perspectives from my life experiences. The 4 major issues which I feel most strongly about are protecting the environment, serving the aging population, preserving social justice and enhancing education.
For environmental issues, although we have considerable conservation land in the town, we can do more to preserve our wildlife and biodiversity by having pollinator gardens, planting trees and avoiding harmful chemicals. To bring more awareness, I am a board member for both the “Lexington Living Landscapes” and “Citizens for Lexington Conservation”. I grow many native plants and have a composting area and an apiary in my yard.
I realized the issues surrounding the aging population when I was a nursing home Ombudsman in Lexington. This made me acutely aware of the condition of some of our seniors. Our community center organizes wonderful workshops and trips for seniors. I was able to lead many of them before the pandemic. I think more should and could be done to improve the quality of life for our seniors who have contributed so much to this town.
As an Indian American, I believe there should be more opportunities to share and understand different cultures. In 2018, I co-chaired - “Dance Around the World” through the Town Celebrations Committee. This event brought many different cultures together to perform. In the Town Celebrations Committee, we are trying to create more of these events to increase multicultural awareness. I have also been teaching the course “Beginning Hindi- a Language and Culture Sampler” at the Lexington Community Education to share language and Indian culture with the community.
Lexington does a great job of educating our children. All three of my children are successful products of the Lexington School system. Recently, I retired as the Assistant Director of the Harvard Secondary School Program after 26 years where I worked on projects to make education equitable and accessible. I hope to provide more educational opportunities to the students of Lexington.
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