The Gazette offered all of the candidates for the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council the opportunity to submit biographical statements for publication on our Web site.

The election will take place on July 12 at Jamaica Plain Orange line stops, as well Hi-Lo Foods in Jackson Square, J.P. Licks, and in the parking lot next to Star Fish in Egleston Square. Polls will be open between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. and again between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Kevin Leary
I have lived on Woodland Road in Jamaica Plain for the past thirty six years, having been first elected to the Neighborhood Council in 1993 and have served as chair of the Council Zoning Committee for the past ten years. My wife, Susan, is a teacher at the Charles Sumner School in Roslindale. I am a member of a small law firm with offices in downtown Boston specializing in real estate zoning and the financing of multifamily subsidized housing. I believe that the Council and its committees serves as a mechanism for allowing residents to express their concerns for matters to be addressed by the City, and by using whatever experience I may have, including my familiarity with certain City departments and personnel, I would like to think that I can be helpful in having those concerns be heard more effectively.