Brookline 2023 Candidate Profile: Arden Reamer, Select Board

BROOKLINE, MA – Brookline’s spring town election is coming up on Tuesday, May 2 and Brookline Patch has reached out to candidates in contested races to answer questions about why they're running.

In 2023, only races for select board, school committee (1-year term) and housing authority are contested.

Arden Reamer is running for select board for the first time this election. Here's why she’s running.

Arden Reamer, 52

Occupation:
I was raised in Brookline, and I am now raising my own family here. My husband and I have 2 teenagers, who attend the Florida Ruffin Ridley School and Brookline High School, and our dog, Oreo. My mother and brother are also longtime Brookline residents. With a Master’s in Education and an MBA, I began my professional life in social services working with underserved communities and managing the public safety budget for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I have served as the Devotion/Ruffin Ridley School PTO Treasurer and School Building Committee Parent Representative. I’ve also been active in supporting Brookline’s reproductive health providers. In 2021, I became a Precinct 8 Town Meeting Member and won re-election for a full 3-year term in 2022.

Relevant experience:
After college and graduate school, I returned home to Brookline to eventually raise my own family here. During this time, I established my roots in social services and supporting underserved women and their families, and advocating for women’s reproductive rights and gender equality. After receiving my MBA at Boston University in Public Nonprofit Management and Finance, I used my public/non-profit credentials to work in the Executive Office for Administration and Finance. I helped manage the $900 million Massachusetts public safety budget in a bi-partisan government. It was there on Beacon Hill, that I was first exposed to the challenges of balancing stakeholders’ interests, the value of our dedicated public servants, and most importantly, the impact that government can have on our communities.

It was my children who reignited my lifelong connection to our Town. Our son and daughter entered the school formerly known as Devotion, and I got involved running the PTO and representing parents on the Building Committee. After reinforcing my community connections as a Town Meeting Member in Precinct 8, I am now running for the Select Board because there are many goals I want to accomplish for this Town I love so dearly. And, I believe that my goals for Brookline are shared by most of our residents. I think my values are aligned with those who also see a bright future for our town, but there is much work to be accomplished to get there.

Why are you running for Select Board this year?
On May 2, we the voters of Brookline, have a decision to make. I entered this race so that you could have a choice for the Select Board. If I had not entered the race, the election for Brookline’s executive office would have remained uncontested for the second year in a row.

I will be a leader that supports the growth and development of local business, establishes equitable priorities for our Town, and advances proactive policies to make our Town more accessible and affordable for all residents. But more importantly, I will work with the community to bring Brookline in the direction that YOU want. So if you are ready for a change, then vote for me, Arden Reamer, on May 2 and I will get to work for YOU.

• Enact policies to create a broader tax base and additional sources of revenues to decrease our structural deficit and take pressure off of taxpayers.
• Improve transparency and accountability in the budget process as well as prudent fiscal oversight.
• Implement proactive climate policy to reach our sustainability goals.
• Advocate for policies that reduce rent inflation and the establishment of an Office of Tenant Stability to assist cost-burdened residents.
• Support our thriving businesses to ensure that they remain thriving.
• Strive for educational equity to ensure that all of Brookline’s students receive equal access throughout the district.
• Evaluate our Town / School partnership and ensuring that all stakeholders interests are met.
• And last but not least, problem solving our affordability crisis through careful detailed evaluation of our housing and business models and how we can prioritize municipal policies that foster a sustainable financial future for Brookline.

What's one thing lacking in Brookline that you would like to see change?
I am currently a co-petitioner, along with the Brookline Commission for Women, of Warrant Article 20 – Safe Have Brookline - protecting reproductive rights and gender affirming care in Brookline.

The Governor of Massachusetts in July 2022 signed the law “An Act Expanding Protections for Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Care.” That Act, put forward by the ROE Coalition of Reproductive Equity Now, Planned Parenthood, and the ACLU and building on the advances of the previously passed ROE Act, anticipated the influx of pregnant people from abortion-banning states seeking care in Massachusetts and, crucially, protects abortion providers and patients from out-of-state lawsuits and extradition.

While many are confident that, with those Acts, Massachusetts is a “safe haven” for abortion and for gender-affirming care, even here we still have challenges from anti-abortion individuals and organizations, as well as a vocal and hostile population opposed to gender-affirming care. Municipalities have therefore been urged, if possible, to take local action affirming a local commitment to reproductive and gender-affirming care. As a life-long advocate for reproductive rights, I am proud to lead the effort to enact strong local protections for the rights of women and members of the LGBTQA+ community.

What's something the district does well, and how would you support that as a member of the Select Board?
Climate change – Brookline has made a lot of progress as a local leader in addressing the climate crisis, but I believe we can do even more. I will do everything possible to implement municipal policies addressing the climate crisis, including making funding available for electrification of our housing stock, serving as the first Select Board representative on the Zero Admissions Advisory Board, and pushing to make all of our infrastructure fossil fuel free.

What's your top priority?
Strong financial and executive management - To ensure Brookline’s future, we are asking a lot from residents to shore up the structural deficit Brookline is facing. We must strive to benefit the most people and protect the most vulnerable with policy choices. The key to our financial future is commercial spaces occupied with thriving businesses, providing quality jobs and an expanded tax base. To enable this goal, housing availability and affordability must improve, so that those who want to live in Brookline can afford to and those who want to stay in Brookline can continue to live here. In addition, development in transit accessible areas should use sustainable, fossil fuel free standards such as Passive House to help guarantee access to state and federal funding assistance. Expanding the tax base to increase revenues to cover critical services is the top choice to bridge the gap in future needs and improve quality of life here.

Equity – On the Select Board, I will champion equitable hiring practices, expand direct assistance programs for low- and moderate-income communities including LMI scholarships, support a strong and empowered CDICR, and use every lever of municipal government to create an equitable, welcoming, and inclusive community.