In race for selectman, the differences don't stand out
To an outsider, the issues that separate the three candidates for Brookline selectman may be indistinct.
The haziness may stem partly from the polite veneer of the campaign so far. The contest - which pits incumbents Nancy Daly and Gil Hoy against challenger Dick Benka for two seats on the board - also has been overshadowed by the override vote on the same ballot in the election, scheduled for May 6.
But with the last of the town's major political groups making their endorsements this month, political tea-leaf-readers can now ascertain who stands where in Brookline's continuum of "left" and "right."
For most of the state, and the nation, a Brookline "right-winger" might look fairly liberal. The decidedly most progressive of the municipal endorsing groups is PAX, which gave just one candidate a thumbs-up - incumbent Hoy. It based its endorsement on his stands for down-zoning, government openness, and opposition to the war in Iraq.
The self-defined "centrists" at the Brookline Civic Association and the more conservative Coalition Against Unfair Taxation both have given their imprimatur to incumbent chairwoman Daly and challenger Benka. The coalition cited the candidates' financial experience and "fiscal discipline."
Robert Sperber, a spokesman for the Civic Association, said his board based its endorsement on experience and character.
All three candidates are lawyers by training, although Benka currently volunteers as a math tutor at a charter middle school in Hyde Park, which Sperber said showed a "well-developed sense of social justice."
On the big question facing voters this spring, the Proposition 2 1/2 override, all three have expressed support. The distinction is that Benka is "not convinced" of the advisability of the bigger, $6.2 million property tax increase that would retain and expand the elementary world languages program. Hoy supported putting just the $6.2 million question before voters; Daly championed the two-question arrangement that will be on the ballot and includes a $5.4 million option.
Other areas of agreement became clear during a recent candidates debate sponsored by the Brookline Neighborhood Alliance. Those areas included the need for stricter zoning controls, support for town-funded affordable housing and open space, and that Town Meeting - the legislative body - be heeded by the selectmen.
Differences were mostly a matter of degree. Hoy championed board openness and listening, particularly on zoning matters; the St. Aiden's housing development; and the recent civil rights complaint about police behavior toward Arthur Conquest, an African-American member of Town Meeting.
"I always focus on transparency. I think there's a trust gap and a listening gap" on the board.
Daly regretted being unable to open the civil rights hearing up to more discussion, and said she voted against a settlement with neighbors who had sued to stop redevelopment of St. Aiden's Church because she felt the neighbors' case had no merit.
Benka supported the general idea of board openness, and of having selectmen listen actively to speakers at board meetings.
Benka and Daly stressed fiscal responsibility, funding retiree obligations up front, and reining in benefit costs. Hoy agreed when the question turned to finances, but unlike the others, used his opening and closing remarks to talk about building consensus and keeping the board's discussions open and wide-ranging, something he hinted might not happen if he were voted off the board.
All three have extensive local political experience. Hoy has been on the board the longest, at 12 years. Daly, in office since 2005, also sat on the town's Fiscal Advisory Committee. Benka has been a Town Meeting member for 27 years, several of those on the Advisory Committee or specializing in zoning issues.
Zoning has been discussed and changed at most Town Meetings in the last five years, and all three candidates agreed that neighborhood issues should be weighed with the town's need for new growth and the tax income.
Benka discussed each question in exhaustive detail; Hoy focused instead on ensuring neighbors got a full say on the issues. Daly reserved comment, saying she first wanted to hear from the Planning Board, but in her closing comments said she believed there is a need for "better relationships between boards and commissions and the public, especially around building and zoning." 