Q&A With Heather Hamilton: Running for Brookline Selectmen

On May 2, Brookline voters are headed to the polls to vote to fill seats on public boards including the Library's Trustees, the School Committee and the Board of Selectmen. Patch sent questions to the three candidates running for the two open seats at the Board of Selectmen table in an effort to help readers get to know the candidates. See the bottom for links to what the others had to say. But for now, here's what Heather Hamilton had to say.

PATCH: What, to you, is the biggest issue facing Brookline today?
HAMILTON: I believe that the biggest issue facing Brookline today is maintaining all of our public services within our constrained budget.

What are some ways to solve that problem(s)?

We must be mindful of the impacts of our decisions. There are far more worthy uses of our tax dollars than there is tax revenue. Each time we allocate funds for a use, we forgo the opportunity to use those funds elsewhere. To raise more revenue requires more commercial development and/or more overrides. Over the next three years, we will need to have a robust discussion about how much money is needed to keep our vital public services, including schools, and what we are willing to sacrifice in order to make that happen.

Why are you running for selectman?

I am running for Selectman because I want to help guide my community with some difficult decisions. I see many challenges for Brookline, including a growing school enrollment, 40B projects, race and bias issues, and tighter budgets.

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What do you think the most difficult part of the job will be?

All of these issues facing Brookline are complex and have no easy answers. We need to work together to understand the resource limitations and identify our priorities that we can allocate our limited resources wisely and fairly.

What's something you think the current board could do differently?

The current board is made up of five different people with varied backgrounds and experience. I look forward to working with the other members and bring my viewpoint to the Board hopefully infusing new ideas to the discussion and deliberations as we move forward.

What do you think you bring to the role of Selectmen that no one else does?

I feel qualified to help tackle these challenges because of my education, work experience, and leadership in Town Meeting. I hold two masters degrees, one in Transportation Policy, Operations, & Logistics, and the other is in Public Administration. I’m employed by MassDOT, where I manage both a capital budget and staff. My previous work experience includes the Department of Civil Rights and Diversity for MassDOT, affording me experience with Affirmative Action Plans and recruitment strategies. As a Town Meeting Member, I have served as vice president and now President of the Town Meeting Members Association, and Co-Chair of the Green Caucus, I co-sponsored a warrant article, and I actively worked on the Yes for Brookline pro-override campaign in 2015. Most importantly, I am engaged with different sets of stakeholders and seek to listen and understand all sides. I am a natural mediator and I believe that my skill set will help to find workable outcomes for all.

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Also: Check out what Donnelle S. O'Neal and what Selectman Ben Franco had to say about the biggest issues facing the town.