Dozens of residents gathered at town hall last Wednesday for a forum with Select Board candidates ahead of next month’s election.
The forum, hosted by Brookline Neighborhood Alliance, was one of several featuring the three candidates vying for the open seat on the town’s five-member Select Board: architect Carlos Ridruejo, photographer Liz Linder and entrepreneur Michael Rubenstein.
All three candidates are members of Town Meeting, the town’s legislative branch, and have served on various town committees.
When asked what made them different from the other candidates, Ridruejo noted his unique perspective as an architect. Linder emphasized her front-row seat as someone who works in Brookline Village. Rubenstein mentioned his experience leading a software development company.
Resident Anne Trecker said she had watched a previous candidates forum online, but this was the first she had attended in person.
“I know these people, and I was anxious to see how they presented themselves to answer the questions,” said Trecker, a former town meeting member. “I learned a lot tonight.”
Questions from residents centered around development and the town and school budgets. The candidates answered five questions submitted in advance by the Brookline Neighborhood Alliance, then spent the remaining half of the session answering questions from the audience.
On the issue of balancing neighborhood character with the need for more affordable housing, all three candidates stressed thoughtful planning.
“We really need to think about valuing what we have, like tree canopy, walkability, as we move forward,” Linder said. “I’m excited about development … but it has to be done so that it fits in the neighborhood, or it’s not a good neighbor.”
On budget challenges, Rubenstein said the Select Board needs to continue fixing inefficiencies in town services, and needs to find ways to increase revenue instead of relying on cuts every year.
Ridruejo said the two problems could be solved in tandem, by encouraging more commercial development.
“Commercial development has a lesser strain on town services versus the taxes it collects for mixed use,” Ridruejo said. “Residential is always a loss.”
Another topic raised was whether Brookline – the largest town in Massachusetts by population — would benefit if it were to become a city. As a city, an elected city council with 7 to 24 members could replace the 255-member Town Meeting as the legislative branch, and the Select Board could be replaced with either an appointed manager or an elected mayor.
Linder said she wants to learn more about potential benefits but likes that town government is accessible to its residents. Ridruejo noted that the town’s current structure, which has 255 members of town meeting, might allow for more diverse viewpoints than a smaller city council would.
Rubenstein said he wants a formal process to evaluate whether Brookline would be better as a town or city.
“We should talk about the challenges of getting sufficient input, versus the challenges of actually making progress towards articulated goals,” Rubenstein said.
In response to a question about how the Select Board should deal with “bullies” at the federal level, Linder said the town is less dependent on federal funding than Brookline schools are. Ridruejo said that projects that expect federal funding, such as the Beacon Street Historic Bridle Path Reconstruction , may have to consider the possibility of not getting it. Rubenstein said the Select Board plays a role in evaluating the town’s strengths and values.
“The first question I come back to is, what are the values that we hold, and how are we communicating and sharing those values?” Rubenstein said. “We have to understand our finances, understand where we have risks of losing federal funding if we take certain positions, and where we don’t.”
The three members balked at answering a question about what they would do about racism in Brookline if elected to the Select Board, instead speaking about the benefits of diversity in the community and the need to understand others in the community.
Arthur Conquest, who had asked the question once before, at a prior forum with the same candidates, said later in an interview that he’s still not completely satisfied with their answers.
“One of the ways that people answer the question is by avoiding it,” said Conquest, a Town Meeting member for Precinct 6. “If you notice, there was only one other Black person here this evening.”
Resident David Lescohier, who attended the meeting, said what he values in a Select Board member is the ability to challenge their own opinions.
“I don’t expect to always agree with them, but I value a Select Board member that I can approach and talk to,” Lescohier said. “There’s a kind of flexibility, if people aren’t wedded to some ideology.”
This story is part of a partnership between Brookline.News and the Boston University Department of Journalism