Brookline 2023 Annual Town Meeting: What To Know

BROOKLINE, MA –Each spring, Brookline holds its annual town meeting to enact the following year’s budget, allocations to the Brookline school system, as well as other matters placed on the town meeting warrant.

This year, the annual town meeting will be held at the Brookline High School Auditorium, located at 155 Greenough St., at 7 p.m. Brookline community members can also watch the virtual town meeting live here.

Town meetings typically last three or four evenings depending on the length and complexity of the meeting agenda. In addition to the May 23 date, town meeting dates will also be held on May 24 and May 31.

At the town meeting, 255 elected town meeting members, the select board, and any state representative or state senator who resides in Brookline will come together to pass a balanced annual town budget and enact all town by-laws.

Included in the warrant – or agenda – for the annual town meeting are 25 articles to be discussed and voted upon by town meeting members.

The articles cover numerous topics of town governance, both big and small. Brief titles of what the articles seek to amend or address, provided by the annual town meeting combined report, are listed below:

1. Appointment of Measurers of Wood and Bark. (Select Board)
2. Approval of Collective Bargaining Agreements. (Human Resources)
3. Annual authorization of Compensating Balance Agreements.(Treasurer/Collector)
4. Report on the close-out of special appropriations / Bond Authorization Rescission. (Select Board)
5. Approval of unpaid bills of a prior fiscal year. (Select Board)
6. Acceptance of legislation to increase certain property tax exemptions. (Assessors)
7. Annual (FY24) Budget Appropriations Article. (Advisory Committee)
8. Annual (FY24) Community Preservation Program Budget (Department of Planning and Community Development)
9. Amend Article 2.1.13 of the Town’s General By-Laws to increase the number of registered voters required for petitioned warrant articles from 10 to 50 (Gordon)
10. Amend Article 2.1.13 of the Town’s General By-Laws to define and require lead petitioners for warrant articles (Gordon)
11. Amend Articles 2.5.2 and 3.22 of the Town’s General By-Laws to revise the process for Select Board and Advisory recommendations and hearings on warrant articles (CTOS)
12. Amend Article 4.1 of the Town’s General By-Laws to require the Town to change auditors at least every five years and seek competitive bids for auditor at least every 10 years. (Lebovitz, Toffel)
13. Create a new Article 3.12A of the Town’s General By-Laws to establish an Office of Housing Stability (Wu, Card)
14. Amend Article 4.08 of the Town’s Zoning By-Laws (Inclusionary Zoning) to lower the unit threshold for developments that must include onsite affordable housing units (Blood)
15. Amend Article 5.9 of the Town’s General By-Laws to clarify and update votes previously taken regarding the Stretch Code and Specialized Energy Code, and add fossil fuel free restrictions in accordance with the MA DOER Demonstration Project. (Department of Planning and Community Development)
16. Amend the Zoning Map and Articles 3 and 5 of the Town’s Zoning By-Laws to create a new zoning district to set forth building massing requirements in two existing T-5 (two-family) zoning districts north of Beacon Street to encourage reuse and deter demolition (Department of Planning and Community Development)
17. Amend Article 8.37.2 of the Town’s General By-Laws to change “marijuana” to “cannabis” and to permit two additional Storefront Cannabis Retailers licenses for Equity Applicants (O’Neal)
18. Amend Article 10.3 of the Town’s General By-Laws to establish penalties for repeat violations of Article 8.8’s requirements for refuse storage and removal. (Lebovitz, Goodwin, Ishak)
19. Create a Brookline Black N Brown Commission
20. Amend the Menstrual Hygiene Product Access By-Law of the Town’s General ByLaws, currently Article 8.39, to change the Article’s duplicative numbering and add provisions relative to reproductive and gender health care (Stone, et. al)
21. Create a new Article 8.XX.1 of the Town’s General By-Laws to establish training, notice and reporting requirements for Innholders to prevent human trafficking. (Davis, Levin, Margolis)
22. Home Rule petition to establish ranked choice voting in Town elections (Rank Choice Voting Committee)
23. Resolution requesting the Select Board, Town Administrator and Human Resources Director to work with the Police Department to adopt and implement an in-car and body worn camera policy for the Police Department (O’Neal)
24. Resolution requesting the Select Board and the Town’s legislative delegation to initiate or continue efforts to modify Department of Housing and Community Development guidelines promulgated pursuant to the MBTA Communities Act, requesting the Moderator to appoint a committee on compliance with the Act and requesting the Select Board to direct the Planning Department to staff the committee (Gordon, et. al)
25. Reports of Town Officers and Committees. (Select Board)

Warrant article explanations can also be found here.

This year, Brookline will also hold a special town meeting within the annual meeting, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Brookline High School Auditorium on May 23.

At the special town meeting, the Advisory Committee and the Select board will vote on a warrant article submitted by town meeting members Anthony Ishak, Janice Kahn, and Petra Bignami to address gun control in Brookline.

The warrant article seeks to amend General Bylaw 6.6, “Discharging Firearms,” by adding a new subsection 6.6.2 “Carrying Firearms” and adding the words “And Carrying” to the heading of Article 6.6.

The proposed new subsection 6.6.2 would bar the carrying of a firearm in any building owned by or under control of the town, and at any gathering conducted on town property. Exceptions to carry a firearm would be made for law enforcement officers, military personnel, and authorized security officers, according to petitioner’s article description in the special town meeting combined report.

The proposed warrant article also seeks to increase the penalty violations under Article 6.6.1 from $100 to $300 and to add a new 6.6.2 penalty violation of $300.

At a meeting held on April 25, the select board voted 4-0 to recommend favorable action on the motion that the town amend General Bylaw 6.6, as follows (language to be added appears in bold and underline):

Section 6.6.2 Carrying Firearms
(a) For the purposes of this section, “firearm” shall mean any device, loaded or unloaded, capable of firing a projectile using an explosive charge as a propellant, including, but not limited to, a gun, pistol, shotgun or rifle.
(b) No person shall carry a firearm in any building owned by or under the control of the Town of Brookline, including, but not limited to, any location being used by the Town as an active polling or voting site, including use for the certification of votes and vote counting; at any Town of Brookline park, playground or recreational facility; or at any public gathering, public assembly, or special event conducted on Town of Brookline property, including but not limited to, a demonstration, march, rally, vigil, protest, or picketing event that requires the issuance of a permit from the Town of Brookline.
(c) This section shall not apply to: (i) law enforcement officers duly qualified to carry a firearm on their person; (ii) security guards duly licensed to carry a firearm on their person as part of their official duties; (iii) active-duty military personnel where permitted by State and Federal law; (iv) Town employees or others under the express written consent of the Chief of Police or their designee; (v) law enforcement officers who qualify to carry firearms under the federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, 18 U.S.C. 926 C; or (vi) to the carrying of firearms in any building or on the grounds of any school under the control of the Public Schools of Brookline, which conduct is expressly prohibited as provided in M.G.L. c. 269, s. 10(j).
(d) If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, word, provision or application of this bylaw shall be found to be invalid, illegal or unconstitutional, that finding shall not affect or undermine the validity of any other section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, word, provision or application of this bylaw.

2) Amend Article 10.3, TABLE OF SPECIFIC PENALTIES UNDER ARTICLE 10.3, as follows (language to be stricken appearing in strikeout, language to be added appearing in bold and underline):
Article 6.6 Discharging and Carrying Firearms $100.00
Section 6.6.1 Penalty $100.00300.00
Section 6.6.2 Penalty $300.00