To the editor:

On March 28th we have another important town election in Natick. I am writing to encourage you to vote for Matt Brand for one of the two open School Committee seats. Our town and our schools have some pretty big challenges ahead and I believe it’s important to elect someone with the skills and temperament necessary to navigate these challenges but who also has experience doing it before. Matt has the skills and the experience.

I met Matt in 2014 when we were trying to get the Natick Dog Park built. He was a strong advocate and reasonable voice in a long journey that involved lots of meetings at Town Hall, helping us at FIDO of Natick figure out a social media and communications strategy, the naming of the park, and finally when we were able to open Eddie’s Park, one of Natick’s best community resources.

He has been involved in Town Government ever since (I think it is sort of my fault). If you’ve ever had a conversation with him you know that he’s a genuine person who cares deeply about this community. He and his wife are raising their teenage daughters in Natick and while it’s clear his family is his priority in his personal life, when it comes to his town government experience his focus is on the big picture. While he has strong opinions and ideas for how to improve the efficiency of our government, he never holds on to them so tightly that it impedes progress.

Through all those years and meetings, I’ve gotten to know Matt pretty well. He’s a reasonable person who is great to work with. Matt listens to ideas from other people, works hard to make sure people feel included, and communicates well (and directly). He’d probably be upset if I didn’t mention that he recently recorded an episode of my podcast with Kim Condon, “it is RUFF out there,” and that episode has been our most popular so far.

I don’t have any kids in the Natick Public Schools, but as a resident of this town I do think it’s important to elect people who are fiscally aware of the impact that the NPS budget has on the whole town. I see great value in our schools and want that to continue. The NPS is the largest part of our budget but it’s still just a part of the whole. Matt has always shown an interest in making sure people understand that the schools don’t exist in a financial bubble that is separate from the town. The NPS budget has an effect on the rest of the town budgets so being aware of those impacts is really important to me.

In this election, we each get 2 votes for School Committee. I’m proud to be giving one of mine to Matt Brand and I am hoping you will too.