PRECINCT 13 PARTNERS
FOR A SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY
Mike Best, Laura Knott, Werner Lohe, David Mendels, Michael Rubenstein
PRAGMATIC, OPTIMISTIC, BOLD
We are working to enhance our vibrant town and help create a sustainable world for all.
Fully fund schools, municipal services, and pedestrian and bike friendly streets.
Move equitably toward Brookline’s Net-Zero future.
Bring forward the needs of low and moderate-income singles, partners, families, and seniors who are struggling to stay in our community.
Enable new, fair, affordable, and transit-friendly housing that strengthens neighborhoods—to make Brookline an even greater place to live.
Preserve opportunities for existing businesses and attract new and diverse commercial enterprises.
ENDORSEMENTS
All of our candidates have been endorsed by:
WHO WE ARE
Mike Best
Runkle parent and non-profit attorney, organizer and lobbyist for a more equitable economy for 15 years. I spent a great decade in D.C., but came home to Massachusetts to raise our kids and put down roots in a community where I could connect my policy and politics skills to local action. I believe in finding common ground, and building coalitions to get work done, and never letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. I hope I can lend those skills to our town.
Laura Knott
I’m running for Town Meeting to help answer this question: “How can we—all of Brookline, together—apply our skills toward building a bright and fair future for our town?” I’m a volunteer with Mothers Out Front. I organized the first exhibition on climate change ever mounted by the MIT Museum. I hold a degree in Political Science, with a second major in Dance, from Duke University, and a Master’s degree in Visual Studies from MIT. My two children attended Driscoll from Pre-K through 8th grade, and graduated from BHS. My husband and I own and live in a two-family house in Washington Square.
Werner Lohe
Thirty-four years ago, I moved to Brookline with my family. Soon after we arrived, I began to work on traffic calming, an issue I felt was essential to keeping our neighborhoods livable and our kids safe. While this issue remains important to me, I believe that the more urgent challenge to livability and safety for all of us is the climate crisis. Over the last two decades, I co-founded Climate Action Brookline, served as co-chair of the Select Board’s Climate Action Committee, and have recently been appointed to the Zero Emissions Advisory Board. I am a member, and past chair, of the Brookline Conservation Commission, and former president of the Salisbury Road-Corey Farm Neighborhood Association. A retired civil rights lawyer, I have worked in both affordable housing and fair housing: as Chair of the state Housing Appeals Committee and as General Counsel of the Boston Fair Housing Commission. I have led a number of climate initiatives in Brookline. I chaired the subcommittee that drafted Brookline’s Climate Action Plan, and I led SolarizeBrookline, a public-private partnership that resulted in more than 60 new residential solar installations in Brookline. The committee I chaired resulted in the new Driscoll School being a fossil-fuel-free, all-electric building, and I co-sponsored the warrant article in Town Meeting to require that all new construction be fossil fuel free. This requirement has formed the basis of a state pilot program, which Brookline is likely to adopt this spring. I graduated from Yale College and from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Our two daughters attended Driscoll School and graduated from BHS; I coached both of them in youth soccer for more than 10 years.
617-739-0892
David Mendels
My wife and I are 23 year Brookliners and raised 2 amazing boys who graduated Driscoll and BHS. I have worked as a leader in the private sector as CEO of a software company, and in recent years in multiple social impact nonprofits. I am a co-Founder of ZeroCarbonMA, focused on developing smart policies for reaching our Net Zero goals in Brookline and MA; Board President of Resilient Coders where we teach low income people of color software engineering to advance racial and economic justice in the tech sector; and lastly, I work with first time entrepreneurs from Palestine and Israel to start social impact ventures and build trust in that conflicted region via my role at Our Generation Speaks.
Michael Rubenstein
I am a pragmatic leader who enjoys working with others to change the world as it is into the world as it could be. After 25 years as Founder and CTO of a software company, I have engaged in social justice work over the last twelve years. As Co-chair of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization healthcare team, I engaged throughout Eastern Massachusetts to lower costs and improve access in health care. I serve on the boards of a 10-year education program (Beacon Academy) and a public regional charter school (Prospect Hill Academy), closing the opportunity gap for children from under-resourced environments. I also sit on the Climate Council of the Alliance for Business Leadership. My wife and I have lived in Brookline for 30 years. We have raised two amazing children here and cherished the community of which we have become a part. Our children attended Heath school and graduated from Milton Academy.
VOTING INFORMATION
Important Dates
Election Day: Tuesday May 2, 2023 at Runkle School (50 Druce St, Brookline)
Early Voting: Saturday April 22 - Friday April 28, 2023. More information about early voting locations can be found here.
Last Day to Register: Saturday April 22, 2023
