Letter to the Editor: Amick Pledges Support for Mike Barrett

To the Editor of Concord Patch:

As a resident of the 3rd Middlesex District and former State Senator from Concord, I have a favorite in the Democratic primary to choose a successor to Sen. Susan Fargo. I support Mike Barrett. 

Why do I – and Cong. Barney Frank and State Rep. Jay Kaufman -- believe in Mike? Because we know him and we’ve worked with him.  Mike served in the Mass. House with Barney and in the Mass. Senate with me. He left the Legislature in 1994 to run for Governor and, with his wife and two daughters, moved the next year from Cambridge to Lexington, where he’s lived for 17 years, building a successful consulting practice focused on healthcare, computers and the Internet -- crucial parts of the state’s innovation economy.

Mike’s a key participant in a local group that crafts strategy against overly aggressive Massport development of Hanscom. In recognition of his leadership, the Lexington Board of Selectmen appointed him chair of the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission (HFAC). 

Barney Frank says of Mike, “His combination of integrity, idealism, his understanding of the legislative process, and his effectiveness combine to make him the ideal candidate – and, even more important, an ideal legislator once he is elected.”

To which I will add that Mike is smart, progressive and energetic. For helping cities and towns win increases in local aid and gain control over patronage-ridden county spending, the Mass. Municipal Assn. cited Mike’s “great skills at building coalitions and devising legislative strategy.”

This year’s party primaries fall on Thursday, Sept. 6, an odd choice of Massachusetts election day!  Let’s mark it on our calendars now. This is a race -- and a candidate -- we need to embrace.

Sincerely,

Carol Amick

Former State Senator