Brookline's Zoe Lynn To Run For Select Board

BROOKLINE, MA — As Brookline prepares to head to the polls to vote for several open seats in May, Zoe Lynn, the town's former sustainability program administrator has announced she will run against the incumbents for one of two seats on the Select Board.

"I’m running for Select Board because the challenges we face demand strategic, skilled and innovative leadership, with new energy and vision," the Tappen Street resident said Thursday.

Select Board Chair Bernard Greene and board member Nancy Heller's terms are up. Both have indicated they plan to run for another three-year term. Lynn joins Town Meeting member Donnelle O'Neal Sr. and Miriam Aschkenasy in indicating they plan to run. Candidates have until March 12 to take out and return nomination papers for the May 4 town election.

The Select Board, as Brookline’s executive branch, has the responsibility to facilitate and set policy and priorities — critical leadership actions to get us on a path to tackling challenges from the global health crisis, the town budget to reopening schools and the economy, she said.

The Select Board is made up of five members. As the chief elected and executive officers of the town, the select board is vested with all the municipal authority not specifically retained by the town's legislative body, Town Meeting.

"Too often this unique responsibility gets lost in the details — details that lack a strategic direction," she said. "My previous public-facing, leadership roles in Brookline and other communities have prepared me well for the work at hand."

Lynn was hired as the town's sustainability program administrator in 2019, and cites an expertise in "facilitating stakeholders to address complex challenges and set strategic community direction." It's unclear when she left that role.

Lynn was responsible for working with multiple partners in Brookline to implement the Climate Action Committee’s updated Climate Action Plan.

"We’re not meeting our affordable housing needs," she said. "We have a climate crisis which demands urgent action. And we are confronting painful and historic issues around racism — we can do so much more to be an inclusive and equitable place to live, work, and study, for all people in Brookline."