Name: Brielle Kissel Meade
Office Sought: Town Meeting Member Precinct 8
e-mail address: brielle.meade [at] lexingtontmma.orgmichaelschanbacherlexpb [at] gmail.com (
)phone number: 781-405-4775

Community Activities: 

• Lexington Town Meeting Member, 2018-present
• Lexington Town Meeting Member Association (TMMA) - Executive Committee Officer, 2019-present
• Economist at a local company, M.S. in Economics and Urban/Environmental Policy & Planning
• Lexington High School Class of 2000
• Parent of Hastings 3rd grader and Kindergartener. Hastings Library and Big Backyard volunteer
• Lexington High School building project Visioning Team

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?

While I will wait to hear the proponent's presentation and discussion on the Town Meeting floor before deciding, at this point I would not support this article. I feel that in general 16-year-olds do not have enough life experience, responsibility for budgeting and finances, or maturity to participate in municipal elections. Many (most?) local decisions at stake involve financial issues and zoning issues, and 16-year olds, who don't own property in town and are generally supported by their parents, are not directly affected and may have a hard time understanding the issues and making educated voting decisions.