Brookline Town Meeting Night 5: Face Surveillance, Leaf Blowers

BROOKLINE, MA — Elected Town Meeting Members voted to ban facial recognition technology in town, chose not to amend the zoning in Coolidge Corner to allow micro units - apartments 500 sq feet or less- and banned having leaf blowers blow leaves into the street.

"Why is it ok for Brookline residents to have to wait 5 to 10 minutes to cross the street to avoid harmful dust blooms," said Donald Warner petitioner for the leaf blower warrant article, mainly concerned about the pollution that leaf blowers kick up into the air.

"As somebody who is in the landscape business," said Faith Michaels, "We do definitely need those machines to get them up off the sidewalks."

The town also joined one other in the commonwealth to ban the use of facial recognition surveillance technology.

"We are not China," said Town meeting member and police officer Casey Hatchett, arguing that technology and civil liberties can co-exist. Her proposed amendment to make an exemption to the police department failed.

A representative from the ACLU said not allowing the technology in town would send a message both in the town, but also to the state legislature and to the federal government that such surveillance technology is fundamentally at odds with what it means to be a free people, she said.

Other Highlights of the night

And in a rare move, Town Meeting was set to reconsider a proposal that was voted on at the last meeting. Town Meeting Moderator Sandy Gadsby sent a note to Town Meeting members saying a duo of votes were confusing and he would reopen discussion on them. After hearing arguments for and against reopening the vote, Town Meeting chose not to re-vote.

The first was to refer the question of whether the town should ask the state legislator to set up a tax fund just for affordable housing to a Land Bank Study committee. That failed with 96 votes in favor and 101 against. The second vote was to ask the state for permission to put a vote to the voters on the tax. It was the second vote that passed on Night 4 of Town Meeting.

For the first time in recent memory a fall Special Town Meeting is set to go more than five nights. Night five, where the representatives from the town's 16 precincts gather and vote on proposals to change the town's bylaws, began at 7 p.m. it ended at 10:30 p.m.

Banning leaf blowers would protect everyone from toxic dust blooms. Banning leaf blowers from streets will keep our streets cleaner and our drains less clogged, argued the petitioner.

Votes:

25. Adoption of a new By-law prohibiting the Town from using Face Surveillance. (Hummel, TMM12) Amendment to grant exception to police department (Hatchett).

• Amendment: fails with just 13 votes in favor, 170 opposed, 13 abstaining
• Main motion vote: Passes: 179 in favor, 8 opposed, and 12 abstaining.

19. Amend the Town's Zoning By-law to allow Accessory Dwelling Units (Blood)

• Vote: Passes, 192, 2 opposed, 4 abstaining

20. Amend the Town's Zoning By-law to allow Micro Unit Dwellings (about 500 square feet) in the Coolidge Corner General Business District. (Zuker)

• Vote: Fails: 112 in favor, 80 opposed, 5 abstaining.

Leaf blowers:

22. Amend Town's By-laws to prohibit the use of gasoline powered leaf blowers. (Warner)

• Not being moved.

• Vote: A substitute motion presented by the Advisory Committee on the Leaf Blowers and particulate matter blowing out into the street: passes 110 in favor, 63 against and 8 abstaining.

What else will they vote on?

24. Amend Town's By-laws pertaining to the Commission for Diversity, Inclusion and Community Relations and Citizen Complaints (Conquest, TMM6)

• Vote:

29. Resolution pertaining to an Economic-Equity Advancement Fund (O'Neal, TMM4)

30. Adoption of a new General By-Law pertaining to the establishment of a Brookline Community Engagement Plan (Brown, TMM1, et al)
32. Amend the Town's General By-laws to replace "Chairman" and "Chairperson" with
"Chair". (Gordon, TMM1, et al)
33. Amend the Town's General By-laws to replace references to "inhabitants" and
"Citizens". (Gordon, TMM1)
34. Amend the Town's General By-laws regarding eligibility for membership on boards,
commissions and committees. (Gordon, TMM1)
35. Reports of Town Officers and Committees. (Select Board)

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• Town Meeting Night 1: Stipends, Driscoll, Oak Street
• Brookline Town Meeting Night 2: Bans Fossil Fuels, Renames Coolidge Corner
• Town Meeting Night 3: Brookline Votes To Lower Voting Age, Set New Hours For Cannabis Shops
• Electric Scooters In Brookline Saved 50K Car Trips: According To Lime

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).