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Brookline for Everyone 2025 Select Board Endorsement Questionnaire

Below is the questionnaire requested by Brookline for Everyone.

Thank you for taking the time to complete the 2025 Brookline for Everyone Select Board endorsement questionnaire. Our goal is to better understand how you view issues related to housing affordability, and how you'd approach this policy area as an elected official.

If you aren't familiar with Brookline for Everyone, we are a grassroots organization of Brookline residents who want Brookline to be economically thriving, racially inclusive and environmentally sustainable; with a specific focus on housing affordability across the income spectrum.

In order to ensure the community gets a transparent view of where each candidate stands on issues of housing and land use, we will be publishing the answers provided in their entirety.

Brookline, and the Boston region in general, suffers from a housing shortage, which contributes to high housing costs. Rents and home prices are high and rising, with negative consequences for our community. Creating more homes is a critical element necessary to solve the twin crises of shortage and unaffordability. What, if anything, should the Town of Brookline do to support the development of multifamily housing, whether deed-restricted affordable (reserved for low- to moderate-income households), “workforce,” or market-rate?

Brookline should continue supporting the development of housing at all price points, with a particular focus on deed-restricted affordable units. As a member of the working group that developed the recently completed Housing Production Plan, I helped establish guidelines for increasing affordable housing, particularly on town-owned properties. The upcoming Comprehensive Plan, set for completion this year, will further aid in expanding the housing supply. A successful approach to the housing crisis requires solutions that earn community and neighborhood support.

Housing policy is closely linked to other policy/political areas, such as transit, racial justice, environmental policy, and economic development. How do you think about housing policy as it interacts with these other issue areas?

See below for policy areas

(a) Housing & Transportation

Public transportation options allow for higher density housing options as people can take advantage of mass transit to get to and from their home to other locations, hence the justification for the MBTA CA. Investments in public transportation must occur so that they can absorb the number of users in an efficient and affordable fashion.

(b) Housing & Racial Justice

To promote racial, social, and economic diversity, housing options must be available at all price points. However, the market alone will not provide this, necessitating state and federal support for financing deed-restricted affordable housing. Local governments can contribute by offering town-owned properties and entering public-private development agreements. Additionally, zoning bylaws can be adjusted to incentivize or mandate affordable housing production. However, these requirements sometimes deter market developers from building more units, and therefore they must be carefully considered. Moreover, existing housing stock is often more affordable than new construction, making its preservation a crucial step in bridging economic and social disparities.

New homes are generally more energy-efficient than existing ones and are built to meet decarbonization regulations. However, the embodied energy required for demolition and reconstruction can sometimes outweigh the efficiency gains of new construction, making it essential to evaluate each case carefully. For this reason, improving the energy efficiency and decarbonization of existing buildings is often the most sustainable approach. To support this, we must continue providing incentives and resources for homeowners to renovate and upgrade older structures.

(d) Housing & Economic Development

Local businesses rely on customers, just as residents need convenient access to groceries and other essential services. Integrating housing above or near businesses creates a mutually beneficial dynamic that supports economic development. However, preserving existing housing and commercial spaces is crucial, as they are often more affordable for both residents and business owners than newly built alternatives. It’s essential to ensure that small, local businesses are not priced out of our community. The town should encourage vibrant, street-facing businesses that activate public spaces, such as sidewalks, by offering incentives and streamlining permitting processes to create more dynamic and energized neighborhoods.

Brookline adopted a Housing Production Plan in 2024 which included some specific recommendations including developing affordable housing on municipal owned sites, increased housing density at major transit nodes like Washington Square, and increased housing density in areas undergoing transition or currently auto oriented such as Sullivan Tire on Commonwealth Avenue and Chestnut Hill Commercial Area on Route 9. How can your leadership as a Select Board member bring these already identified opportunities to fruition? And what would a successful conclusion to a project like the ongoing Chestnut Hill Commercial Area Study look like?

As a member of the working group that developed the Housing Production Plan, I fully support its recommendations, including increasing density along key corridors and nodes such as Beacon Street, Washington Square, Commonwealth Avenue, and Boylston Street (Route 9). Through my work on the Lower Boylston Street Corridor Zoning Committee and the Chestnut Hill Study Committee, I have advocated for greater density in mixed-use and commercial development. As a Select Board member, I will continue seeking opportunities to develop these areas in ways that align with neighborhood input and support. Achieving neighborhood consensus is essential to ensuring development meets both community needs and town goals. Additionally, we must follow the lead of surrounding municipalities by expanding commercial activity to grow our tax base, ultimately reducing the residential property tax burden—something that impacts both renters and homeowners.

The MBTA Communities Act Harvard Street rezoning article aimed to accomplish multiple goals, including adding more housing to Brookline and fostering mixed used development along Harvard Street. How did you vote on the MBTACA WA, and why? Do you think the rezoning of Harvard Street will be successful in adding mixed use development in Brookline? Should Brookline consider rezoning to help alleviate Brookline’s housing affordability crisis?

I fully support the intent of the MBTA Communities Act but voted against the consensus Warrant Article (WA) because I found it misleading. The MBTACA M+ option fully complied with the law and provided a significant number of deed-restricted affordable units at High Street. This was the only portion of the WA submitted to the state for compliance.

The consensus WA, however, included an abrupt rezoning of Harvard Street, projecting an unrealistic 800 additional housing units. Even the town’s Department of Planning and Community Development estimated only about 90 units—of which just 15 would be affordable—would be built over the next five years. The 800-unit estimate assumed a full redevelopment of the street to its maximum potential, a scenario that remains highly unlikely given the lack of developer interest in such projects. In fact, more than a year and a half after the WA passed, only one project has been proposed, and in its original form, it included zero housing units.

I was also disappointed that the consensus plan did not incorporate larger parcels such as Stop & Shop and TJ Maxx, which had the greatest potential for immediate mixed-use development. A more effective approach would have been to approve the M+ option, which met legal requirements, while allowing the upcoming Comprehensive Plan to thoughtfully address upzoning on Harvard Street. In the long run, this approach is likely to be more successful.

It’s also important to clarify that the MBTACA itself does not mandate affordable housing. Any affordable units that result from this plan stem from our local inclusionary zoning bylaws and how developers choose to comply with them. If developers opt for smaller projects with a few high-end luxury units, those projects will generate zero affordable housing—worsening, rather than alleviating, the affordability crisis.

Once the Comprehensive Plan has been finalized and approved, what role should the Select Board play in implementing the recommendations? How would you work to move an approved plan from vision to reality?

I will fully support the Comprehensive Plan and its recommendations. As an architect, I have the professional advantage to promote the implementation of its recommendations. I will work with the relevant staff, Town Administrator, fellow Board members and Town Meeting to put the plan into action as soon as it is feasible.

As Brookline continues to change and grow, how can we make public transportation, cycling, walking, and other transit alternatives to personal vehicles viable for more residents?

We must continue working with community groups, neighborhoods, and businesses to implement design guidelines that enhance safety for all modes of transportation and improve sidewalks for pedestrians. It’s also important to recognize that public transportation access varies across town—South Brookline, for example, has limited transit options. We need to consider mobility solutions that support seniors and residents with disabilities, ensuring they can meet their daily needs. Any improvements should be made in collaboration with the neighborhoods they affect, ensuring community consensus and support.

Since the earliest zoning laws were implemented more than 100 year ago, they have exacerbated segregation and racial exclusion, both by design and inadvertently. And based on the recent research report from The Boston Foundation and researcher Amy Dain, Exclusionary by Design: An Investigation of Zoning’s Use as a Tool of Race, Class, and Family Exclusion in Boston’s Suburbs, 1920 to Today, suburban Boston communities like Brookline doubled down on this approach in the 1970s and 1980s. How should Brookline zoning, planning, and housing policies consider racial justice and socio-economic diversity impacts?

When considering changes to zoning, planning, and housing policies, we must focus on the future and the kind of community we want to build. Our goal should be to make the town more affordable for both property owners and renters. In many cases, updating and preserving existing housing stock may be the most effective strategy. Encouraging the development of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) is one way to achieve this, as they create lower-cost housing options within larger homes—the former often built by homeowners rather than developers. Affordability challenges are increasingly pushing out the middle class, creating barriers that bear results reminiscent of redlining.

Appointed boards and committees often over-represent home-owners and longtime residents of Brookline; yet nearly 50% of town residents are renters. How can you in your town wide role work toward increasing the voices of renters in decision making and advisory roles?

The Select Board plays a significant role in shaping the composition of boards and commissions. It’s also important to recognize that property tax increases impact both homeowners directly and renters indirectly. This reality should be carefully considered when making policy decisions.

Anything else you’d like to add about housing production, affordability, and economic development in town?

We need to continue to work towards improving our current situation in all three areas, and we need to do it in a way that reflects having reached consensus with the community and its neighborhoods.

Thank you for the opportunity to complete this questionnaire and share my views with B4E.