RanD Pitts

3-year term: January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024

Hailing from Boston, RanD Pitts had civic involvement thrust upon him at a young age when he was one of the first pupils to participate in Boston’s Operation Exodus. Moving to Somerville, he attended Van Derveer School and became a member of the Shiloh Pentecostal Church on Davenport Street. He graduated from Piscataway Township High School in 1977 and went on to study photography and fashion at Parsons School of Design. While attending Parsons, he worked as an entertainment photographer, photographing the likes of Whitney Houston and Paul Simon alongside Annie Leibovitz and other respected photographers.

In 1994, RanD embraced his entrepreneurial spirit and opened Sound Express, his first brick and mortar store on Main Street. Having always believed in Main Street’s ability to blossom, he evolved his business to match the needs of the growing community and opened Evolve Clothing Gallery in 2011. He was a member of the committee that transformed Division Street into a lively pedestrian walkway and believes that Somerville’s success is largely attributed to its balanced mix of retail and restaurant locations, leading to increased property values and the town’s notoriety as one of New Jersey’s de facto downtown destinations.

Long time resident, Main Street business owner and proud parent of a child in the Somerville Public School System, RanD is all things Somerville. Delving further into his community involvement, RanD has served on the vestry at Saint John’s Church and was appointed to the Downtown Somerville Alliance in 2010. As part of the DSA, he chaired the Events, Marketing, Recruitment & Retention Committees while also serving on the Architectural Review Board.

As a Borough councilmember, he is chair of the Police Committee and vice-chair of the Fire Committee. He is liaison to the Accident Review Committee, Complete Streets Committee, Municipal Court, Fire Police, By-Laws Committee and the Downtown Somerville Alliance, Inc. (DSA).