Leslie Burg in New England

Leslie Burg is running for a second term as Alderman-at-Large in Newton, Massachusetts. Newton is a large, leafy, affluent suburb of Boston, and I used to live there in 1993-95. Leslie was my friend and neighbor. I did some work on her garden -- reconstituting her special bed of irises and figuring out a way for her beloved dogs to co-exist nicely with her nice flowers in the same backyard.

When my daughter, Eva decided to home-school herself instead of going to high school, Leslie acted as a mentor and helped Eva complete her high school studies and go in to a very good college.

Leslie recently retired from a career as a professor of education at Northeastern University in Boston. She studied sculpture for a while and made some nice pieces, but that wasn't enough. So she plunged into local politics -- What, is she crazy?

Whatever, she got elected, and mastered the complexities of the Comprehensive Plan and all those dreadful committee meetings. You couldn't PAY me enough to do that kind of work. But this is a public service that Leslie does and she seems to be thriving.

I read her statement on her campaign website and wished it were a little more candid and informal. But I can tell you that even in real life Leslie is more circumspect than I am.