Brookline Election Results: Kate Poverman, Miriam Aschkenasy

Brookline MA

04 May, 2021

2:11 PM

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BROOKLINE, MA — Brookline elected its first female Town Moderator in recent memory. Also for the first time in at least a decade, a challenger pushed out an incumbent in the Select Board race. Kate Poverman will take over for Town Meeting Moderator Sandy Gadsby. Gadsby announced ahead of the election that he would step down after some three decades leading the town's legislative branch meeting. "Kate, like so many in this community, cares so much about Brookline and is honored to be the next Moderator," her campaign manager Rebecca Bueno said. "She is ready to get to work, and is committed to making sure Town Meeting has the benefit of sound information and diverse perspectives, and is a welcoming place to all." The Select Board race was also ground breaking. For the first time in more than a decade an incumbent lost a seat. Chair Bernard Greene kept his seat, but Town Meeting member Miriam Aschkenasy led the pack of five, pushing out incumbent Nancy Heller. "Today Justice, Inclusivity, and Good Governance won a foot in the door of Brookline politics," Aschkenasy said. "Now we must throw open that door, invite everyone to join us and make more room at the table." On the ballot questions: Question 1 (on whether Town Clerk should be appointed or elected): No Question 2 (an increase in property tax to fund preservation): Yes In the end, some 18.7 percent or 7,453 of the town's 39,790 registered voters cast ballots. That's a percentage point higher than voted in 2020. How they did: Select Board: Miriam Aschkenasy: 3,518Bernard Greene: 3,315Nancy Heller: 3,171Zoe Lynn: 2,731Donelle O'Neal: 915 Town Moderator: Kate Poverman: 3,876 Scott Ananian: 3,197 School Committee: Steven Ehrenberg: 3,738 Valerie Frias: 2,582 See the results in more detail: Unofficial Results 05-04-2021 by Jenna Fisher on Scribd You can watch State Rep. Tommy Vitolo as he tallies the unofficial election results on the town's cable access station. Hand sanitizer, masks and rain It was a slow morning at the polls. Many election officials attributed that to the rain and the availability of early and mail-in voting. Still, hundreds of people wearing masks, and taking a pump of hand sanitizer, showed up in person before they headed in to their polling place to cast ballots. By 1 p.m., the halfway mark in the day, 3,659 of about 40,000 Brookline residents had voted, including early voters and mail-in ballots. By 7 p.m., with just an hour left to vote the tally was up to 6,937, or 17.3 percent of voters.To put that into context: Last year, 6,815, or 17.5 percent of Brookline's registered voters cast ballots for the annual spring election. Jenna Fisher/Patch But last year didn't seem as competitive as this year, said Town Meeting member Regina Frawley outside of Precinct 16 after she cast her ballot. Frawley said she hoped between the mail-in ballots, early voting and day-of voting, turnout would be greater than last year. But with the inclement weather, turnout is anyone's guess. Former Town Clerk Pat Ward often said that poor weather impacted voter turnout. "It's rainy and cold," Frawley said. At 11 a.m. there was no line, but a steady trickle of voters coming into Putterham Library. Some 153 people had cast ballots, including those who had voted early and those who had voted absentee. "We don't have as many people this year," said Alice Gray an election warden. She said a small glitch in the voting machine prompted a call to the Town Clerk's office right when the polls opened. "They sent a technician right away to come and fix it," she said. Even when the machine went down, it's been smooth sailing, she added. While the machine wasn't working properly, voters placed their ballots in a locked, black box. Those ballots will be tallied at the end of the day, she said. "Everything is going smooth," Gray said. "Everything is working well." At Precinct 4's polling location in Town Hall, election clerk Carol Deanow echoed that sentiment, noting it felt slow. "Every once in a while, we'll get a couple of people," she said, adding she hoped it would pick up in the evening. Jeffrey Nutting of the Town Clerk's office said there were no issues out of the ordinary as of midday across the polling locations. "It's cold and wet out here," Town Meeting Member Regina Frawley said. She's running unopposed. (Jenna Fisher/Patch) There are several contested races to watch, including a two-way race for Town Moderator. Five people are vying to fill two open seats on the Select Board, and there's also a two-way race for an open seat on the School Committee. Read more:Who's Running, What To Know All but three of Brookline's 16 precincts have races for Town Meeting members. There are also two ballot questions this year. Election signs outside of the Runkle School. (Jenna Fisher/PatchJenna Fisher/Patch Jenna Fisher is a news reporter for Patch. Got a tip? She can be reached at [email protected] or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a something you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how.