Voting began this week to fill open seats on the Devens Committee and the Devens Educational Advisory Committee, two volunteer boards created in 1994 to advise MassDevelopment—the agency that oversees the development of the former U.S. Army base—on the delivery of municipal services and education to Devens residents.
Three seats on the Devens Committee and two on the educational advisory committee are on this year’s ballot. On the Devens Committee, the three-year terms of Tracy Clark, Cindy Carter, and Michael Alves will expire this month as will the two-year terms of Jesse Lowe and Fahima Shaik of the DEAC.
In the absence of a municipal clerk, elections for both committees are conducted by MassDevelopment. The deadline for submitting nomination papers to the agency was Monday, Nov. 17; ballots were to be mailed to registered residents Friday, Nov. 21.
Lawrence LaForge, Austin Mackey, and incumbent Cynthia Carter are running unopposed for the three Devens Committee seats. There are no candidates for the DEAC.
Election day is Monday, Dec. 8. Ballots must be received by MassDevelopment no later than 4 p.m. via mail or drop-off at its headquarters at 33 Andrews Parkway in Devens. MassDevelopment will count the ballots and announce the results by email to residents Friday, Dec. 12.
Advisory by design
The Devens Committee was created by a memorandum of understanding signed by MassDevelopment and the select boards of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley to assure residents a means to advise MassDevelopment on its delivery of municipal services.
The committee consists of five members who meet monthly, in person, with MassDevelopment staff and residents at the agency’s headquarters on Andrews Parkway. Its meetings are typically attended by the agency’s executive vice president for Devens operations and, depending on the topic, the heads of the Devens DPW, fire, and police departments. Issues discussed at recent meetings have ranged from truck traffic to housing and future disposition. More recently, committee Chair Laura Scott represented Devens residents on Gov. Maura Healey’s Devens housing working group.
The DEAC was established by Chapter 498, the legislation that created Devens, “for the purposes of providing advice and consultation to [MassDevelopment] regarding educational and education-related issues and concerns pertaining to persons who reside at Devens.”
The committee includes four elected resident representatives—two of whom must be parents of school-aged children—and one member from each of the school committees of Ayer Shirley Regional School District and Harvard.
