TAYLOR CARROLL SINGH

TAYLOR CARROLL SINGH

Name: Taylor Singh
Office Sought: Town Meeting Member Precinct 6
e-mail address: taylorcarrollsingh [at] gmail.commichaelschanbacherlexpb [at] gmail.com (
)phone number: 781-632-2208

Community Activities: 

  • Fiske Parent and Volunteer
  • Lex4Literacy Member
  • LHS Visioning Team Member
  • iGIG Member
  • LDTC Member
  • Fiske PTO President (fmr)
  • Lex LWV Board (fmr)

Article 43 on the 2024 Town Warrant is asking if the Town will authorize and request the Select Board to petition the General Court of the Commonwealth for Home Rule Legislation to allow any citizens in the Town of Lexington, who have reached the age of 16 or older, to register and vote in municipal elections within the Town, or to take any action in relative thereto. Would you support this article? Why or why not?

I support students under the age of 18 sitting on civic boards as honorary members. Lexington does this on our School Committee. Students are exposed to our current issues and share their perspectives. I support exploring more ways to get students civically engaged without giving them the right to vote.

The campaigning piece is one of the biggest hurdles in why I do not support 16 and 17 year olds being given the right to vote in municipal elections. Will Select Board candidates tailor their campaign promises to teens?

My cousin is a high school Civics teacher in a nearby town. She pointed me to one of Eleanor Roosevelt’s papers “Good Citizenship: The Purpose of Education.” Mrs Roosevelt wrote: “I would have them see how government departments are run and what are their duties, how courts function, what juries are, what a legislative body is and what it does.”

Another factor on my mind when weighing this article’s merits includes that the Boston news last week featured my kids’ favorite Celtics player, Jaylen Brown advocating for the “Raise the Age” bill at the State House. From the Boston Globe: “The proposed bill would gradually raise the age of criminal responsibility to 21, meaning that 18 to 20-year-olds stay in the juvenile system, where they must attend school and rehabilitation programs.” From the LWV MA site: “In 2013, Massachusetts raised the age of juvenile jurisdiction to include young people 17 years of age. This reform was adopted in response to studies demonstrating that brain changes continue through adolescence, a period during which impulse control and judgment are not fully developed.”

I look forward to listening to the arguments delivered on the floor of town meeting this season before casting my vote, but I am inclined not to support it at this time.