Michael Raymond, Community Contributor

The main reason I chose to be a patch Mayor is so that I can use my professional and personal experience to educate the patch readers as to the environmental issues that are part of their daily lives.

I am retired, and have and have liver my North Woburn home for 49 years. I have been married to my wife Linda for 49 years. We have two sons both educated through the Woburn School System. I am a thirty-six-year life member of the Woburn Elks Lodge 908 and a twenty-nine-year member of the American Legion post 0101. Little League Coach for 6 years. I served proudly in the Army National Guard from 1968 through 1974. I participated in 20 Walks and Fundraisers for the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk. As an aid to other walkers I developed a walking instruction website in conjunction with a course on walking that I developed for the Woburn Adult Education Program.

Employment Experience:

Some of the highlights of my 50 plus years of working experience include;

(a) Corporate Vice President in three different industries; Transportation, Manufacturing and Import and Export

(b) Senior Warranted Contracting Officer; US Department of Defense and US Department of Transportation

(c) Licensed Real Estate Broker and Notary Public (active) from 1980.

(d) Instructor and Tax Preparer; H & R Block

(e) Teacher; Woburn Adult Education

(f) Alderman, City of Woburn 2007 – 2015: During my tenure as Alderman I can cite many accomplishments that will leave a lasting positive effect on the City of Woburn. A few of the most notable were the spearheading of St Anthony’s property revitalization which now includes Alzheimer Memory Care Unit and a CVS, and the redevelopment of the Woburn Landfill turning a wasteland into a Solar Farm with thousands of solar panels producing a revenue stream that will benefit the residents of Woburn for the next twenty years.

Volunteer Experience:

Chairman and one of the founding members of the Woburn Neighborhood Association, Inc. (WNA). The Woburn Neighborhood Association was formed in 2002 by a group of residents determined to stop the dumping on the unlined Woburn Landfill. Over the years the role of the group has been expanded to include other environmental issues that affect the quality of life issues in the Woburn/Wilmington communities. Website: www.woburnneighborhoodassociation.com

Presently, one of the residential concerns we are pursuing is the 40B Ledges project. I am working with Alderman Tedesco and have established a network of concerned citizens who will be affected by the planned disruption of their neighborhoods due to the Ledges project at 1042 Main Street. Our first Neighborhood Meeting was held on January 7, 2019 with over 150 residents, City officials and Town of Wilmington officials attended. The focus of this Neighborhood Meeting was to listen to and list the concerns and questions regarding the health, safety and welfare of the residents and present this list to the City of Woburn Department heads prior to issuing the Building permit for the project. After the Department Head meeting, and prior to the issuing of the Building Permit, we will issue complaint guidelines for construction. Along with the guidelines we will issue a list of contacts that the residents can use to report complaints. To this end we have set up a facebook page and have over 550 members (Route 38 Santullo MT). This facebook page is being used as an information forum. The Woburn Neighborhood Association website will be used for posting of pertinent documents www.woburnneighborhoodassociation.com

Chairman and founding member of the Aberjona Study Coalition, Inc. (ASC). ASC is an EPA watchdog coalition consisting of environmental groups representing 225,000 residents from the six communities boarding the Aberjona River. The Coalition was formed in 2002 and is still actively monitoring the Aberjona River clean up and restoration. Over the past 15 years the Coalition has received in access of $150,000 in federal and private grants and used 100% of the funds to hire Environmental Engineers to monitor all aspects of the project. Website www.aberjonastudy.com

Appointed by former Mayor Tom McLaughlin to the Town of Wilmington Community Advisory Panel. This panel was established by the Town of Wilmington Selectmen for the purpose to hire an environmental consultant firm to aid in their on-going environmental issues. My priority was to protect Woburn’s interest regarding the serious environmental issues facing the Town of Wilmington