Greetings,
The May 5 Town Election is a little more than two weeks away, and we need your help. If you have more time than money, VOLUNTEER HERE. If you have more money than time, DONATE HERE. And, please spread the word to your friends and neighbors to vote for B4E’s endorsed candidates. We know we are repeating ourselves from prior weeks, but these recommendations are worth repeating:
- For the Select Board, we endorsed Amanda Zimmerman and Anthony Buono for the two open seats. They share a commitment to increasing housing affordability; tackling the climate crisis; supporting a welcoming and diverse community; ensuring Brookline’s schools continued excellence; and effectively encouraging the economic development we need to help meet our budget challenges. For Town Meeting, we have endorsed 67 diverse candidates, including many first-time candidates, incumbents, renters, owners, students, parents, professionals, and retirees. You can find all the Brookline for Everyone Endorsements here.
- For Commissioner of the Brookline Housing Authority, B4E is proud to endorse Jonathan Klein whose wealth of experience in affordable housing and finance, and work with many tenant organizations, will serve the BHA well.
- Finally, we urge a “YES” vote for the Operating Tax Override on the May 5 ballot. A “NO” vote will result in devastating cuts to schools, public safety, infrastructure, and community services, including dozens of teacher layoffs. For details, please see FAQ – Yes for Brookline 2026.
See Brookline for Everyone’s Plan for a Vibrant and Sustainable Future.
Town Meeting Updates
Here is a quick overview of the critical issues we have been following and working on for the Spring Town Meeting, which begins on May 26 this year:
- Special Town Meeting Warrant Articles 1 and 2 to rezone the Chestnut Hill Commercial Area has had multiple hearings before the Planning Board, the Advisory Committee’s Land Use Subcommittee, and the Select Board, with more to come. We don’t want to jinx anything here, but it appears that both the proponents and the neighbors who have expressed concerns are nearing agreement on a plan that they hope will be broadly acceptable. Of course, as is often said, “it ain’t over ’til it’s over,” so stay tuned.
- The Planning Board has also endorsed both Warrant Article 14, updating our Accessory Dwelling Unit rules, and Warrant Article 15, which amends the Brookline Zoning By-Law to restore allowing cash payments instead of inclusionary on-site units for new developments with fewer than 20 apartments. At this point it appears that both will have strong support at Town Meeting.
- It now appears that Warrant Article 16, which would have rezoned 26 Pleasant Street for 103 new apartments (including 15 affordable units) will not be moved at Town Meeting, and will be postponed until the fall. We are hoping that, in the interim, the developer and community will engage in a robust process to work out the kinks and come up with a plan for this critically important new housing that can gain wide support.
- Finally, the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee met last week to continue its work, with a view toward beginning the draft process based on the extensive input they have collected and being able to present a final report by late summer or early fall. For more background, check out their website here.
Meetings of Note this Week
- The Select Board meets on Tuesday at 5:30 pm in person at Town Hall and by Zoom for public hearings on multiple Warrant Articles, including WA 14 on ADUs and WA 15 on Inclusionary Zoning. Agenda and registration here.
- The full Advisory Committee also meets on Tuesday at 7:00 pm at Town Hall and by Zoom to consider multiple Warrant Articles, also including WA 14 and WA 15. Agenda and registration here.
Brookline High School Innovation Fund Run on May 3
Brookline for Everyone is going to have a contingent run the Brookline Innovation Fund Run on May 2nd. This is a great opportunity to meet local families and show your support for the BHS Innovation Fund. If you’re interested in participating, please sign up (and donate!) at https://bhsinnovationfund.org/5K/. If you’d like to run with B4E folks in a trendy B4E t-shirt (which we highly encourage!), let us know! We’re working on confirming a new shirt order; you can request one here.
Please note that this is a strictly apolitical event, so we will not have a B4E team fundraiser; however, we encourage folks to join us as we continue to build community throughout our Town.
This Week’s Reading: Planning Ahead for Next B4E Book Club
For our next Brookline for Everyone book club on June 17 we’ll be reading Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families by J. Anthony Lukas, a landmark work of narrative nonfiction first published in 1985. The book traces the history of Boston through the lens of school desegregation and the lives of three different families caught up in the city’s turbulent 1960s and 1970s. Beyond its powerful storytelling, the book offers a deeply researched account of how housing patterns, zoning, and political decisions shaped (and limited) opportunity across neighborhoods. At 600+ pages, it’s a substantial read, but also a remarkably engrossing one, so you may want to start early ahead of our June 17 discussion. As Brookline continues to grapple with its own zoning and housing choices and their broader impacts, the book provides a nearby and sobering case study of how these dynamics have played out just across the city line, and what lessons they may hold for us today. For more background on the book and its impact, check out this 2014 “retrospective” in the Columbia Journalism Review.
Thanks, and have a great week,
Brookline for Everyone