In an exciting local race that could see current Green-Rainbow Party co-chair MK Merelice elected to the Selectboard of the second largest town in Massachusetts, the Brookline Tab weighed in with a persuasive endorsement for one of the two open spots.
Merelice is a longtime progressive stalwart who has worked at the grassroots level and has run for state office. The breadth and depth of civic issues she has delved into in her 44 years in Brookline is formidable: development, zoning, open space, climate change, race relations. As a former vice president at Putnam Investments, she has financial and managerial experience.
But maybe the most important thing Merelice would bring to the Board of Selectmen is the willingness and ability to listen. We’ve been hearing so much lately about people feeling marginalized in Brookline. It can only help to have someone on the town’s executive committee who is willing to hear their stories and engage with their concerns.
Watch Merelice in action at a recent candidates forum:
Even the national party weighed in with an effort to help sway the election, with an email pitch for last-minute donations.
From the Green Party of the U.S.:
Last year, Merelice, in her first bid for State Auditor, gained some 80,000 votes (4.0%) in the Massachusetts November election, promoting investment in people and speaking against a new fracked-gas pipeline. Now, in a May 5 town election, she is on the ballot for the five-member Brookline Selectboard, the executive branch of town government.
We have seen what happens when Green women are in leadership. Richmond, California is a prime example where corporations are actually being held responsible for their deeds, and eminent domain is being used to save people’s homes from mortgage foreclosure.
The election is Tuesday, May 4, and we at Green Mass Group are very excited to see how this unfolds.
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In Cambridge we now have a GRP-endorsed candidate for city council who doesn’t mention GRP in his literature and who sums up his platform as “Keep Cambridge Weird.” At least Merelice declared her GRP affiliation. In the end though, it was another “exciting local race” that wasn’t even close. Why doesn’t the GRP win even the most promising elections? Will we ever see any serious effort to reflect on this?