'Hardest Decision': Select Board Members On Alston Appeal

A Statement from Select Board Members Heather Hamilton and Ben Franco: Voting to appeal the August 3, 2019 decision of a Superior Court Judge was the hardest decision we have had to make while serving as members of the Brookline Select Board.

We take seriously the signal our decision sends to the community and want to take this opportunity to explain why we reached our decision. Several other board members have made their own statements regarding the appeal of the August 3 decision, and because our views and thinking differ from our colleagues we are releasing this separate joint statement. The Civil Service Commission’s order places Mr. Alston on indefinite paid leave.

We voted to appeal because we need a fresh set of eyes to look at the Superior Court decision. We believe this next step will provide both sides a much-needed sense of finality. We will accept whatever ruling is rendered and do not intend to vote for any further appeal on this matter in the future. While the Town has improved its policies and procedures and implemented mandatory discrimination and unconscious bias training for its police and fire employees, there is more work to do; we commit to continuing the work already underway and to look for additional opportunities to improve the Town and ourselves.

Many people will disagree with our choice, we accept and respect that. We have a great deal of healing and repairing to do as a community, and we are committed to being a part of that. We want all residents to feel free to reach out to us with questions, comments, or concerns about this or any other matters in our community.

Related: Brookline Appeals Superior Court Ruling On Firefighter Alston

Select Board Member Raul Fernandez Statement On Gerald Alston Vote