Residents elect four newcomers and an incumbent to Devens advisory boards

When the Devens Committee and Devens Educational Advisory Committee convene in January, four freshman representatives will be seated at the table.

In this year’s annual election, which closed Monday, Dec. 8, voters chose Tolga Caglar, Aaron Farber-Chen, and Lisa Kendrick from among six nominees to fill three open seats on the Devens Committee, each with a three-year term. All three reside in Emerson Green, Devens’ newest residential neighborhood.

There were no nominees for the two open two-year seats on the Education Advisory Committee, but voters wrote in the names of eight residents, with Philip Cheung and incumbent Fahima Shaik receiving the greatest number of votes. According to MassDevelopment, however, those results are preliminary until Cheung and Shaik confirm they accept the positions.

MassDevelopment reported in its weekly newsletter that 219 ballots had been mailed to residents who registered for the election; 99 were returned, a 45% turnout.

Tolga Caglar, a Turkish-born naturalized U.S. citizen, moved with his wife and two children to Devens in 2020, according to a campaign statement posted online by MassDevelopment. He is the industrial design manager at VITO Design USA of Southbridge, Connecticut.

Aaron Farber-Chen, a pediatric registered nurse and family nurse practitioner, moved from Arlington to Devens with his family at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. He is a member of Harvard’s Addiction Abatement Fund Working Group.

Lisa Kendrick, according to her biographical statement, also moved to Devens in 2020 after living in Harvard for 12 years. She is employed as a bookkeeper for a management company in West Concord as well as a local attorney. “In Devens I was able to downsize my home and land; remain in the school district; enjoy great municipal services, utilities, public works, and real estate tax rates,” she wrote.

MassDevelopment announced this year’s results Friday afternoon, Dec. 12, in its weekly newsletter. They were posted as well at the Devens Community website.

In the absence of a municipal town clerk the results were certified by Karen Montoya, MassDevelopment executive secretary for Devens operations and Devens office secretary Roseanne Hunter.

2025 Devens Election Results