CALex hosts Lexington town election candidates forum on Feb. 2

On Saturday February 2nd, 2019, in order to promote civil engagement of Chinese Americans in Lexington MA, CALex (Chinese Americans of Lexington, https://calexma.org/) held a Candidates Forum at the Lexington Community Center . Six candidates were invited to the forum. During the 2-hour forum, all the candidates introduced themselves to the Chinese American voters, elaborated their reasons to be elected and answered questions from the Chinese American community. At the end of the forum, CALex encouraged the follow Chinese American voters to actively participate the election and hence get their voices heard on several controversial topics in the town of Lexington.

The annual local election will be held on Monday, March 4th. Each major committee of the town of Lexington will have some members to be re-elected. These committees play a critical role in the future development of Lexington. For the Board of Selectmen, Suzie Barry (current chairman) and Joe Pato (current selectman) are campaigning for the two three-year positions and two other candidates are running for a single one-year position. Similarly, for the town planning committee (which is in charge of the planning and design of the town), two candidates are trying to win the single open position.

During the candidates forum, pre-collected questions were answered by each candidate. Some highlighted questions are:

· How to manage financial expenditures and property taxes to ensure appropriate and sustainable development of Lexington;

· Whether we should support or oppose the establishment of marijuana dispensary;

· Opinions and suggestions on zoning bylaws.

This CALex-hosted Candidates Forum facilitates a face-to-face communication between the candidates and the Chinese American voters. It should boost mutual-understanding so that Chinese American citizens will not only be more likely to cast a vote but also vote with higher confidence in the upcoming election. This is the latest CAlex activity along this line.

As a reminder, for those Chinese American citizens who have not yet registered, if you want to participate in the local vote on March 4th, you must complete the voter registration by 8pm on Tuesday, February 12th, either via online registration at https://www.sec.state.ma.us/OVR/, go to Town Clerk’s Office or send an email. For voters who are unable to vote on March 4th, the last date to submit an absentee ballot application is March 1st.