This past Thursday, Brookline for Everyone was delighted to release our endorsements (which you can find on our website here) for the upcoming May 7, 2024 Town Election.
- For the Select Board, Brookline for Everyone has enthusiastically endorsed Alec Lebovitz, currently a Town Meeting Member from Precinct 8 who has shown a commitment to affordability, housing abundance, equity, climate sustainability, and an understanding of the financial challenges facing our Town.
- For Brookline Housing Authority Commissioner, we were pleased to endorse Kimberly Richardson, a BHA resident since 2012 and TMM in Precinct 2. We were particularly attracted to Kim’s comprehensive approach to addressing the needs of BHA residents, including increasing resident involvement and participation, tackling issues of discrimination and harassment within BHA properties, and advocating for safe and respectful living environments for all residents.
- You can find our Town Meeting Member endorsements for each Precinct here. Brookline’s 255+ member Town Meeting is our legislature, and decides all important policy issues, including approving the Town’s budget and any changes to our Town and Zoning Bylaws.
The election is only 5 weeks away, and we need your help to elect our pro-housing candidates. We’ll be texting voters, knocking on doors, tabling in Coolidge Corner, and building precinct teams to help get out the vote. Let us know how you want to be involved by filling out this simple volunteer form. We also continue to need your financial help to run a strong campaign to elect our pro-housing candidates, so please consider a generous donation to the Brookline for Everyone PAC (and thank you to everyone who has contributed so far!).
Brookline Town Board Meetings this Week
There is a lot going on this week, including (at least) three meetings to consider the HAB’s proposed Warrant Article 13 to make ADUs (accessory dwelling units) more feasible in Brookline. WA 13 revises the currently overly-restrictive by-law to make ADUs more viable for more homeowners in Brookline and provide significant benefits to the community as a whole by creating more naturally occurring affordable housing units.
- The Economic Development Advisory Board (EDAB) meets on Monday, April 1, at 7:00 pm where it will consider WA 13 on ADUs and a draft letter of support for Commercial Area Vibrancy-related Community Preservation Act projects. The full agenda is here, and you can register for the Zoom meeting here.
- The Housing Advisory Board (HAB) will have its regular monthly meeting Wednesday, April 3, from 5:30-7:30 pm via Zoom, where the packed agenda will include further discussion of WA 13 (including several proposed amendments) and a review and discussion of the “Community Housing” funding requests to the Community Preservation Act Committee (which will be meeting on April 8; see below). You can register here for the HAB meeting, and see the full agenda here.
- The Planning Board will meet on Thursday, April 4, at 7:30 PM to review both Warrant Article 13 (regarding ADUs) and Warrant Article 14, which reduces the minimum rear and side yard setbacks in some situations to allow the installation of heat-pumps and other energy-saving electrification equipment. You can register here, and see the full agenda here.
In addition, there will be an important Joint Public Hearing of the Select Board and the Parks & Recreation Commission and Conservation Commission on Tuesday, April 2, at 5:30 pm for approval of geothermal wells as part of the Pierce School reconstruction that was approved by the Town last year, but which has not yet begun due to this final needed approval. This critical meeting will be in a hybrid format in the Select Board Hearing Room (6th floor of Town Hall) and also on Zoom; you can register here. B4E strongly supported the “Yes on 1” campaign for the Pierce School, and we strongly encourage all necessary bodies to give this final approval so this important project for the Town can proceed ASAP. The formal meeting notice and agenda are here.
Finally this week, we recommend “Harnessing Climate Fears into Positive Action” on Wednesday, April 3, from 7:00-8:00 pm, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Brookline in collaboration with Brookline Mothers Out Front, Climate Action Brookline, the Brookline Health Department, the Friends of Brookline Public Health, and Elders Climate Action-Massachusetts Chapter. The program will be in person at the main branch of the Brookline Public Library at 361 Washington Street. You find more information and register here.
Preview of Coming Attractions
- The Community Preservation Act Committee (CPAC) will be meeting on Monday, April 8, at 6:30-8:00 pm to make final decisions on all the 2024 applications, including two from the Brookline Housing Authority and three from the Brookline CDC. Please mark your calendar now for this important meeting.
- GBIO Housing Justice Lobby Day is coming up on Thursday, April 11, from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. This is the follow up to GBIO’s very successful event several weeks ago where over 1,700 of us (including 100+ from Brookline) showed up to support housing justice. Join GBIO on the steps of the State House (24 Beacon Street, Boston) to remind our legislators of their commitments and ensure the critical legislative and budget asks to support public and other affordable housing get across the finish line. If you can make it, please register here; all are welcome, and you need not be a GBIO member to participate.
What We’re Reading This Week: Market-rate Housing will Make Your City Cheaper
Economist Noah Smith just published a thoughtful blog explaining the importance of producing market rate housing for housing affordability. The article discusses the importance of this being done regionally and not just in a single area. At B4E, we’ve been making this point for a while, arguing that Brookline needs to play its part regionally, and we appreciate Noah’s detailed analysis and explanations. And, we also believe — and have consistently advocated — that any comprehensive housing strategy needs to have a significant component of subsidized and affordable housing.