Another candidate has emerged for Lexington’s May 2 special election to replace a Town Council member.

Edwin Gerace — a 15-year resident of the town, a former member of the town Planning Commission and a Lexington-based realtor — has announced he will seek the seat. The 53-year-old will face 30-year-old Gavin Smith, the owner of his own public and government relations firm and a partner in the scuttled Navy Yard on Main beer garden, in the upcoming election.

The winner of the race will fill the remainder of the term vacated by Steve Baker, serving on council through 2025. Baker announced his resignation last month ahead of a move to Florida.

Gerace told the Chronicle he was motivated to run for council by a desire to give back to the town that he and his family call home.

“We have a lot to offer,” he said of Lexington. “We’ve got great schools, my daughter’s a River Bluff graduate. We’ve got great amenities, the amphitheater, and the park system itself is growing. We’re friendly and safe. And we’ve got some really good restaurants. It’s a great place to raise a family.”

Among the top priorities he identified to strengthen Lexington’s positive attributes are reinforcing the ties between residents and the town, promoting and helping small businesses, and fostering greater transparency between the town and its residents.

Asked to elaborate on that last point, he said he doesn’t think the town really comes up short when it comes to being transparent, it just needs to continue to find ways to better educate the public as it navigates the rapid growth it has seen in recent years.

“Many residents blame the town to say, ‘We should allow only so many mattress stores on 378,’” he said, giving an example of an issue over which the town doesn’t have complete control. “And I think we need to educate the residents about growth and what falls under the parameters of the town.”

When it comes to examining the town’s relationship with small businesses, both Gerace and Smith have made that a priority in their campaigns. Gerace said he believes his ability to draw on his experience serving nearly 10 years on the Planning Commission and owning a small business in town make him the right person to help in this regard.

“I’d like to walk through the process to start a business in the town,” Gerace said, “figure out, ‘Are we doing everything right and we just have a lot of growth, or is there things we could do to make it better for the town as well as for the business?’ I don’t have a concrete plan. I just know that we need to look at that.”

He added that he’d like to see more public community spaces in town, whether they be parks or basketball courts or other amenities. 

“Figure out a way to build that up,” he said. “The business and residents, we need to collaborate some. And maybe we need to look at fostering public and private partnerships to help with that.”

Filing for the May 2 election is open now and closes March 6.