I am very pleased that Mark Sandeen is running for Selectman. I met Mark many years ago when he joined the board of LexFarm. His skills that were so effective on that board will benefit Lexington on the Board of Selectmen. Mark brought smart marketing practices to our case for retaining open space for the community and maintaining a farm. Without attachment to his own ideas, Mark helped to attract others’ expertise and ideas. He worked collaboratively until the project was approved by the town.

Mark has applied his business background to the challenge of transitioning Lexington’s power source toward renewable energy. He is responsible for proposing, leading a planning team, and overseeing the completion of the municipal solar electricity project at the Lexington dumping site on Hartwell Ave. Over the years he has led other sustainability projects, all—like the Hartwell project—as a volunteer. The town and schools benefit every day from these projects with lower energy costs and lower dependence on fuels that harm the planet.

He is probably best known for his leadership of the Sustainable Lexington Committee. But Mark’s long involvement with the town goes beyond that. He is active with science education in the schools; he helped to found the Interfaith Garden, which grows thousands of pounds of vegetables for the Food Pantry; and he actively supports community building and public conversations around cultural diversity and anti-racism education. He is highly attentive to responsible spending and to the need to keep excellent schools and town services.

I hope you’ll join me in voting for Mark Sandeen on Monday March 4. For more information about the candidate, see his Web site, marksandeen.com.

— Margaret Heitz

This letter appeared in the Lexington Minuteman on February 21, 2019.

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