Issues

Joe on the Issues

As a member of the Select Board, Joe Pato has consistently collaborated with key stakeholders and stayed focused on what makes Lexington a great place to live, work, and educate our children.

Joe’s 2025 priorities

High School Redevelopment Project
Rally our community to support a Lexington High School building project that strikes the right balance for students, taxpayers, and our community as a whole.

MBTA Housing Zoning and Growth
Address multi-family housing development and its impact on our schools and services, lands and roads.

Lexington complied with the multi-family zoning requirement of the Massachusetts Zoning Act (Ch 40a) in the spring of 2023. This rezoning provides the opportunity for badly needed diversity of housing in Lexington – housing that will support residents who want to downsize, or who want to live closer to retail stores and professional services. It will also offer some lower cost, attainable housing.

This summer it became clear that new MBTA multi-family development projects were being proposed faster than expected and this warrants a slowdown or pause to allow the Town to examine the results of those projects already in the pipeline. Joe supports acting at the special town meeting this spring to right-size our zoning in a way that maintains our compliance with state law and allows us to better control the rate of growth. Let’s mend it, not end it.

In the meantime, Joe has advocated for and helped organize fact-finding initiatives that will enable Lexington to respond to these challenges with informed decision-making. For example:

  • Joe is in contact with LPS adminstration reviewing housing project proposals as they are submitted.
  • Joe requested a +1 meeting (chairs +1 member of Select Board, School Committee, Appropriation Committee, and Capital Committee) with town staff to discuss broader impacts of growth – resulting in:
    • Tasking staff to outline departmental effects of growth
    • Investigating additional tax mitigation strategies for funding the high school project beyond current resources: the capital stabilization fund and the dedicated incremental tax revenue policy
  • Joe requested and obtained a revival of the School Master Planning committee to examine and revise student population growth scenarios at all grade levels.

See Joe’s answers to resident questions on MBTA Zoning

Climate and Environmental Initiatives
Continue to be a strong voice and leader on climate and the environment. Joe has:

Town Management Transition
Provide continuity and support for our excellent new Town Manager

Joe will pursue these priorities while sustaining the policies and initiatives he has pursued since being elected to Town Meeting in 2008:

  • Advance economic development in a manner respectful of surrounding neighborhoods while reducing the burden on residential taxpayers.
  • Manage Lexington’s Sustainable Action Plan and Getting to NetZero Plan for a healthier environment.
  • Improve our streets and sidewalks so they are safe and accessible for all — for those who walk, bike, drive, or need assistance getting around.
  • Strongly support quality education in our schools.
  • Ensure Lexington continues to be a welcoming and inclusive community.

Fiscal and Economic Development Policy
Joe asks tough questions to ensure that every penny spent by the Town is justified. From his first days on the Appropriation Committee, Joe has rolled up his sleeves and worked to find ways to save residents money.

Public Safety
Public safety is one of Joe’s highest priorities. When discord emerged over policing, Joe initiated and co-led a community-wide listening tour that fostered understanding and enabled our Police Department to be more responsive to community concerns. Joe’s advocacy has also helped Lexington to:

Collaboration & Community
Joe believes that we are one community, and that the role of a Select Board Member is to balance competing interests and bring people together: