Pavel Payano's family came to Lawrence in the late 80s in search of the American dream. For the past several decades his parents worked as teachers in the Lawrence Public Schools. As a product of the Lawrence Public School system, the son of two Lawrence Public School Teachers, he is deeply committed to improving K-12 education and making higher education more affordable and accessible to working class families.
As a School Committee Member and City Councilor, Pavel has seen how ever increasing rent costs has affected working class families. He has seen how the struggles to keep up with rising rents has made it more difficult for many to reach their version of the American Dream. He will advocate to increase first-time homeownership by investing more in down payment assistance.
In the past few years we have seen housing underproduction lead to the high costs of homes and high increases in rent. Pavel will support policies and initiatives and that will help the Commonwealth build the 108,000 housing units they need to meet the current demand.