This past Tuesday, the hard campaign work of many on this list paid off as Brookline for Everyone endorsed candidates won Town Meeting races across many precincts. B4E endorsed 64 candidates across 16 of 17 precincts, and 52 of these candidates were elected, a rate of 81.25%! All 26 endorsed incumbents were re-elected, and we added 26 new pro-housing voices to Town Meeting. Taking into consideration folks who chose not to run again, we see this as a net gain of 18 seats, and importantly knocking off some anti-housing incumbents. Brookline for Everyone candidates swept all 5 3-year seats in Precincts 5, 10, 11, 13, and 17. While Arden Reamer’s Select Board candidacy came up a frustratingly narrow 26 votes short, her success as the top candidate in 8 precincts (and tied for top in a 9th) shows how strongly her message resonated across large swaths of Brookline.
Brookline for Everyone volunteers met hundreds of voters in Coolidge Corner, Brookline Village, and parks and other locations around Town; hung thousands of door hangers; sent thousands of text messages; shook thousands of hands on election day; and sent thousands of postcards. And crucially across all of these efforts, engaged Brookline voters beyond the folks who show up every May. The consistent refrain we heard, particularly when talking to people who had previously been overlooked (newer residents, renters, irregular May voters), is exactly what we’ve been saying – housing unaffordability makes Brookline hard to access, harder to stay in, and harder to build community in, and B4E’s priorities around housing production, economic development, efforts to combat climate change, and safe & reliable transportation options should be the priorities of the Town.
We want to thank everyone who gave their time and/or money to help with this campaign; we couldn’t have done any of this without your help!
If you haven’t contributed this cycle, and have the capacity to do so, we could still use donations to help us close out our 2023 campaign expenses. Here’s the link to contribute.
And with the 2023 campaign season behind us, we’ll need your help this summer and beyond to advocate for meaningful MBTA Communities Act compliance, more funding for low and moderate income housing, enhancing our Accessory Dwelling Unit by-laws, and more! Stay tuned!
Join GBIO in Lobbying the Senate to fully fund Public Housing
Our friends at Greater Boston Interfaith Organization are asking folks to contact their state Senators to make public housing funding a priority in their budget discussions. Here’s more from GBIO:
GBIO is outraged by the passage of the House budget which includes only $102,050,000 for the state owned public housing operating line item.
At a time when the “housing crisis” has been proclaimed a priority by leadership on Beacon Hill, this move demonstrated a complete lack of recognition for the Commonwealth’s public housing needs. The true need is $184 Million.
GBIO has an online form to complete that will contact your state senator asking that $184 million be included in the budget for public housing. Click here to contact your state senator!
Town Boards and Committee Meetings
This week the Brookline town boards and committee picks back up in full force. Here are a few that we wanted to highlight.
- The Affordable Housing Overlay District Study Subcommittee will be meeting Monday, May 8 at 7:30pm (Zoom link here). This week’s meeting includes a “Brookline Zoning 101” session from B4E Board Member Jonathan Klein and Planning Board Chair Steve Heiken. The goal of this committee is to consider potential zoning overlays to allow larger buildings with more homes if a substantial number, if not all, of the units are restricted to lower income residents. Agenda/info here.
- The Economic Development Advisory Board (EDAB) will be meeting on Monday, May 8 at 7pm (Zoom link here). Their agenda focuses heavily on the Town’s compliance with the MBTA Communities Act and how to encourage/ensure new development along Harvard Street will include ground-floor retail. This will be an important discussion related to the likelihood that Brookline Town Meeting will vote to approve the zoning changes necessary for compliance in November. Agenda/info here.
- The Select Board’s MBTA Communities Act Multifamily Permitting Committee will be meeting on Tuesday, May 9 at 2pm (Zoom link here) Tuesday’s agenda includes continued discussion of the inclusion of existing multifamily districts as compliance options. Agenda/info here.
- The Community Preservation Committee is meeting Monday, May 8 at 6:30pm (Zoom link here). Tuesday’s agenda includes discussions of potential funding categories, focus groups, and an upcoming community forum and online survey. Agenda/info here.
Thanks and have a great week,
Jeff Wachter, on behalf of the Brookline for Everyone board