We hope all who celebrate have had a happy Easter and Passover, and a blessed Ramadan. Spring is always a busy time of year in Brookline, between the May election and Annual Town Meeting, and this year is no different. Let’s dive right in.
Action Item Number 1: We need your help to elect pro-housing candidates in Brookline. On May 2nd, we have a real opportunity to elect Select Board and Town Meeting members who will put our values into action.
You can help us mobilize and inform the voters we need to win.
Sign up here to volunteer with Brookline For Everyone.
We are already texting voters about the election to let them know what’s at stake. We also need people to help organize their friends to vote, pass out fliers, and wave signs in high-traffic areas.
You can view our full list of endorsed candidates here. If you cannot give us your time, please donate to help cover the costs of our “Get Out The Vote” program.
Action Item Number 2: The Brookline Planning Department hosted a “General Info & Compliance Options Workshop,” led by Director Kara Brewton. This session was the 1st in a series of 3 public engagement opportunities ahead of April 25th’s update to the Select Board on compliance efforts. This session was highly attended and gathered a diverse set of opinions that will inform the eventual MBTA Communities compliance proposal. You can watch the session here if you missed it, or review the presentation slides here.
The next session will be Friday, April 14 at 12pm. It’s important that voices supportive of legalizing more housing and the need to earnestly comply with the MBTA Communities Act are heard throughout this process, and your voice will matter if you’re able to attend this session. The town link is not yet available, but it will be posted on the Town Calendar (click here) by mid-week and pre-registration is not required. The third and final session of this series is scheduled for Monday, April 24 at 12pm.
Action Item Number 3: Greater Boston Interfaith Organization is hosting their next event as part of their ongoing Housing Justice Campaign at United Parish in Brookline on Thursday, April 13 at 5:45pm. The event will focus on the unacceptable conditions in public housing, both in Brookline and throughout Massachusetts. Here’s more from the official invite:
GBIO is on a campaign with the tenants and housing authorities to demand the legislature to approve the $184 million budget needed for this critical housing for our most vulnerable neighbors. We need to act now because the State House is releasing its budget on April 14.
This Thursday is our chance at United Parish to learn and show our support.
We’ll have pizza and refreshments, see a video, and hear from tenants and from Brookline’s public housing director Michael Alperin. We have invited legislators as well so they can see how important this is.
Click Here To Register for Brookline Action
Housing Related Meetings this week: There are a number of board meetings and hearings this week on housing related matters. Here’s a quick run-down and links for more information.
- The Affordable Housing Overlay District Study Committee will hold their first meeting on Monday, April 10 at 7:30pm (zoom registration). Chaired by Brookline for Everyone board member (and Housing Advisory Board member) Jonathan Klein, this committee is charged with considering how Brookline can create a district to incentivize the development of low-income housing in Town. More info here.
- The Advisory Committee’s Land Use, Zoning and Sustainability Subcommittee will hold a public hearing on Warrant Article 24 on Monday, April 10 at 7pm (zoom registration), which aims to insert a moderator’s committee into the Select Board/Planning Department process to develop an alternative zoning proposal to bring Brookline into compliance with the MBTA Communities Act. This additional bureaucratic layer in the process will slow things down and make compliance by our year end deadline more difficult. More info here.
- The Community Preservation Committee is meeting on Monday, April 10 at 6:30pm (zoom registration). The agenda includes a public hearing on the upcoming Fiscal Year’s CPA budget, which will allocate how the funds raised by a 1% property tax will be spent in the following categories: affordable housing, open space, historic preservation, and outdoor recreational facilities. More info here.
- The Planning Board and Zoning By-Law Committee will be meeting on Wednesday, April 12 at 7pm to hold public hearings on zoning related Warrant Articles (zoom registration). These include Article 14 (lowering the threshold for on-site inclusionary zoning units from 19 to 10 unit projects), Article 16 (changes to two family zoning north of Beacon Street, and Article 24 (creating a new committee to develop alternative proposals to MBTA Communities Act compliance). More info here.
Thanks and have a great week,
Jeff Wachter, on behalf of Brookline for Everyone