Dear Residents of Needham

I am seeking your support for an elected seat on the Needham Board of Health.  The Board of Health has a very important charge that touches every aspect of life in Needham; from the water quality in the Rosemary Pool, to inspections at our many local food establishments, to establishing standards for septic systems, and creating local tobacco control regulations.  The members of the Needham Board of Health have always stood up to the challenges of developing and implementing high-quality public health policy that continues to make Needham a national leader.

My background is in both traditional public health practice and non-traditional public health practice.  When I was the Health Agent for the Town of Cohasset, I worked with the Board of Health members to make Cohasset the first community in the Commonwealth to adopt the 2013 FDA Food Code, which shifts its focus toward prevention of foodborne illness through longer-term compliance strategies, and which Needham will be soon adopting.  Due to my strong belief in stakeholder engagement and consensus building, the Cohasset Board of Health was also able to pass major overhauls to their septic and private well regulations during my tenure.  My current area of focus is the overall built environment, and how it impacts morbidity and mortality.

Issues impacting individual and population health are evolving at lighnting speed and Needham needs a leader who can think outside-the-box and develop innovative public health initiatives and policies in order to keep up with those changes.

Please consider voting for me, Felix I. Zemel, on April 10, 2018

Thank you.

Felix I. Zemel, MCP, MPH, DrPH(c), CBO, RS, DAAS