All About Brooklime

Brookline Environmentalists Hope to Further Town’s Recycling

By: Mary Vitale

BROOKLINE – Jeremy Windsor pulls two empty soda bottles out of his knapsack and tosses them into a large, black recycling bin next to the Walgreens in Coolidge Corner. A sixth grader at Edward Devotion Elementary School, Windsor said he has learned the importance of recycling his plastic bottles and extra papers from his parents and the environmental awareness campaigns of the town and schools.

“I like using the recycling bins, because they help keep the town clean,” Windsor said. “[Recycling] is good because it reuses plastic and paper so we don’t need to keep using more and more of it.”

Brookline recycles more than 40 percent of its materials and has reduced its trash by 400 tons this year through recycling, according to the Solid Waste Advisory Committee. The committee recently launched the “If It Rips, Recycle It” campaign to help residents understand what they can recycle and how. The committee also has recently initiated several programs such as adding recycling bins in Coolidge Corner and Washington Square, mailing environmental literature to residents, and awarding prizes to students who fulfill their pledged recycling quota. Ed Gilbert, Solid Waste Advisory Committee manager, said Brookline’s high recycling rate is a result of the new programs.

“These are great ways to raise awareness and to educate residents,” Gilbert said. “Most people in Brookline want to help but aren’t sure how. If we keep putting information out there, more people will be aware.”

In honor of Earth Day this week, the Soule Early Childhood Center hosted a fundraiser encouraging residents to purchase eco-friendly items such as recycled paper from Let’s Go Green, an environmentally safe product store. For every purchase, the center receives money to pay for classroom supplies and parent educational forums. Rachel McQuillan, parent and organizer of the event, said the fundraiser benefits the Soule Center and encourages the purchasing of recycled goods.

“I feel we are each responsible for going the extra distance to change our lifestyles and to make those choices [to protect the environment],” McQuillan said. “As parents of young children at Soule, I think this type of fundraiser helps advocate this behavior and is good role modeling. Extending ourselves out of our comfort zones is the only way that we can each do our small part to make a difference.”

Adam Mitchell, chairman of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee, said he hopes the town’s recycling rate increases to 60 percent within the next year.

“Brookline has a pretty good recycling rate, but there is always room for improvement,” Mitchell said.

The committee is looking at possibly instituting a “pay as you throw” program for residents. Residents now pay a flat rate for garbage removal; the new program would allow their garbage fee to be determined based on the amount of trash they produce to encourage recycling.

“In some communities that have the ‘pay as you throw program,’ trash volumes have gone down and their recycling has gone up, so I see it as a viable option,” Mitchell said. “It’s also a good way to make trash fees equitable.”

Nancy Daly, chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen, said the new program could benefit the town, but some citizens oppose it for economic reasons. The program could substantially raise trash fees for large families who produce a hefty amount of garbage each week. Many Orthodox Jewish families in Brookline with several children have already voiced opposition.

“We will discuss and continue to look into it,” Daly said. “However, we must make some adjustments to make sure it is fair to all residents. Many Orthodox Jewish families have five or six children and not a lot of money, so we need to ensure they would not be penalized for producing more garbage than the average home.”

Mitchell and Daly said the town plans to form a recycling committee within the next few months to discuss the benefits and costs of such a program.
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Immigrant Children Add New Element to Brookline Education

By: Mary Vitale

BROOKLINE – Of the 57,000 residents in Brookline, more than 25 percent were born outside the United States, according to the Brookline Community Foundation. The town has the third highest immigrant population in the state of Massachusetts. There are also 500 immigrants within the Brookline public school student population. School committee member Alan Morse said diversity adds a new element of quality education for the students of the town by exposing them first-hand to different cultures.

“Foreign students provide diversity that many children would never otherwise come into contact living in Massachusetts,” Morse said. “In today’s world, they will later need to interact with other cultures as adults, and by exposing them to that now, we hope they will find these different cultures positive and interesting, rather than threatening.”

Sarah Baffel, the program manager of the Brookline Community Foundation, said Brookline has seen a large increase in Hispanic, Asian and Russian immigrants over the past 10 years and their presence adds a wonderful diversity to the town and its schools. At the Edith Baker and Pierce schools, more than one-third of the students speak English as a second language. Because of this major influx of foreign students all eight elementary schools offer an English language-speaking program for immigrants.

“I feel this increase in foreign-born students has allowed Brookline children to learn the value of another culture and to better understand a world that is becoming more and more diverse,” Baffel said. “As a parent and as a town resident, I think this is a wonderful thing.”

Each Brookline elementary school offers a particular foreign language and culture program, such as Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Hebrew, Korean, and Russian. Another school committee member, Dr. Kevin Lang, said these programs help ease the transition for immigrant children into the town, as well as, help native Brookline children understand the culture of their classmates.

“Many parents choose to send their children to a certain devotional school based on where their child was born,” Lang said. “Each cultural program at each school allows these children to be proud and to remember their culture while being educated in the United States.”

Morse said many immigrant parents find comfort in connecting with other parents who speak the same language and who have similar experiences as them.

Nancy Pronovost, a Brookline resident, has adopted two children from China and one child from Vietnam. Provonost said Brookline’s diverse population is what prompted her to move there.

“My children are totally confident and comfortable going to school here,” she said. “The students and community are very welcoming and by attending the Michael Driscoll School, they are still exposed to Asian culture through the Mandarin Chinese program.”

There is a large immigrant presence in Brookline High School, as well. The Brookline High School student population of 1,880 teenagers represents 75 nations, according to the Brookline Community Foundation. June Harris, president of the High School Parent-Teacher Organization, said the students at the high school are proud of their different heritages, and it is reflected in student activities.

“One of the most moving activities of last year was when each child stood up at graduation and said hello to the audience in the language of their home country,” Harris said. “It’s great that Brookline is a town with such a diverse and proud community.”

Pronovost said she has never experienced any anti-immigration sentiment from anyone in Brookline since she has moved there.

“Racism is just something that is not in the culture of this town,” Pronovost said. “My children have never received any form of opposition, and I have never heard of any other families experiencing any.”

Lang said he has never heard any parents opposing immigrant children attending school with their children.

“I have never heard any anti-immigrant statements here,” Lang said. “I am sure there may be one or two parents out there who may not like it, but the majority of our parents welcome and value this diversity. Immigrants make our town and our schools extremely interesting places.”

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Record Award Winning Cake Shop Adds New Element to Appeal to Neighborhood

By: Mary Vitale

BROOKLINE – Ellen Bartlett unlocks her shop in time to see the sunrise as she prepares for another day of client appointments, baking instructions and artistic cake decorating. Bartlett is the owner and head baker of Cakes to Remember, a Brookline small business that specializes in baking and designing five-tier wedding and event cakes. Now, the shop also offers specially designed cookies.

“I think these artistically designed cookies will add a unique new element to the shop,” Bartlett said.

Bartlett says she has enjoyed baking and art since she was a child. Her ideas and ornately decorated cakes won Cakes to Remember the Improper Bostonian award last year for best wedding cakes. Since 1988, the shop has won Boston Magazine’s Best of Boston Award for wedding cakes a record five times. Susan Allen, an event planner who often recommends her clients to Cakes to Remember, attributes the shop’s success to Bartlett’s love of her craft.

“Ellen is by far the best person in the area [at making specialty cakes],” Allen said. “She is always my first choice to recommend to clients, mainly because she’s very creative, her cakes are excellent, and she’s extremely reliable.”

Bartlett wants her products to appeal more to her local Brookline clients, which is what prompted her to team up with Jennifer Shapiro, a marketing and pastry professional, to create a new line of cookies called Better Batch Cookies.

“I feel like these cookies will allow us to reach out more to local residents because they are much more low key and less expensive than our cakes,” Bartlett said.

Minimum prices for specialty cakes from Cakes to Remember usually run around $300 to $500, while a batch of cookies can be purchased for $12. Shapiro and Bartlett devised their plan last summer to make the cookies quickly and affordably.

“We really worked out a great system to massively produce cookies and sell them at a reasonable rate, while still making a great tasting and aesthetically pleasing cookie,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro said she and Bartlett make an effective team because of her background in marketing and advertising and Bartlett’s background in culinary.

Kim Stone, a Massachusetts event planner, said Bartlett made a smart move by creating a more casual product.

“It’s always great to keep the market fresh, and Ellen is great at that,” Stone said. “They [the cookies] really personalize an event, and they are also offered at a reasonably low cost compared to special occasion cakes.”

Better Batch Cookies are rectangular or circular sugar cookies that Bartlett designs with a variety of artistic decorations. The designs include business logos or advertisements, drawing likenesses of photographs for special events, public service announcements for charity fundraisers, or artistic patterns. Customers can order cookies from Cakes to Remember in batches of 12 and can request Bartlett add a personalized text message to them in addition to a background design. Allen said some of her clients have already requested samples of the cookies for their events.

“An elaborately decorated cake is not always the right choice for someone’s event,” Allen said. “The cookies give her another line of products to offer existing and new clients.”

Dana Briley, a recent graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, has worked for Bartlett at Cakes to Remember for the past two years as a baking assistant. She said Bartlett’s talent and knowledge of production has been a wonderful example to her.

“I really like working in a small business like this,” Briley said. “Everyone who works here is involved in everything. It’s not like a big factory job, where you just do one thing over and over again. There’s also so much to learn here about baking and running your own store.”

Bartlett said while baking and designing cakes remains her primary passion, she has enjoyed creating the new line of cookies.

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Brookline Schools Budget Issues Causing Concern

By Mary Vitale

BROOKLINE – Students in all eight of Brookline’s public elementary schools scored well above average on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System standardized tests in English language arts and math in 2006 and 2007, according to the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System published reports. Brookline High School officials say 98 percent of their students on average graduate and 91 percent of 2007 graduates went to college. But future progress is in question as Brookline public schools face a major financial crisis.

Chairwoman of the Brookline School Committee Judy Meyers said cuts in state education funding and a sharp increase in healthcare and energy costs have plunged Brookline into a budget crisis. If voters do not pass the $6.7 million tax override proposed by town officials this May, Meyers said the committee will need to cut $1.5 million out of the school’s budget to close the gap.

“This year we’ve really been struggling just to make ends meet,” she said. “It is a very difficult time for budget decisions.”

If the tax override is not passed, School Superintendent Dr. William Lupini said major school programs and staff positions will be cut before the start of the next academic year. The cuts include eliminating the fourth grade instrumental music program, terminating all library assistants in the elementary schools, and laying off one social worker, two guidance counselors, and three full-time teaching positions from Brookline High School.

“Historically, the public schools of Brookline have been considered one of the premier public school systems in the United States, as measured by grade-level competencies, high graduation rates, and placement of our graduates at highly competitive colleges and universities,” Lupini wrote in his budget message to the town. “Unfortunately, a number of factors have led to concerns about the ability of the town and school department to sustain the level of financial report that has contributed to this success.”

Brookline Town Administrator Richard Kelliher said the town’s school system draws many families to Brookline. He worries budget cuts will lower education standards and will make the town less attractive.

“We just have a lot of financial planning to deal with right now and will work our best to make sure our schools continue to provide children with a quality education,” Kelliher said.

The school committee has voiced unanimous support for the upcoming override, claiming schools are in desperate need of further funding. Committee member Helen Charlupski said she hopes residents will realize the urgency of the override.

“If these cuts are made in our budget, it will gravely lessen the services being provided for our children,” Charlupski said. “With state and federal aid diminishing more and more, we’ve already cut quite a bit from the schools and I’m worried if we eliminate even more this year, these cuts will really begin to take a toll on Brookline education.”

Without the passage of the override, 15 members of the schools’ staff would be cut before the start of the next academic year. Many schools would not receive improvements planned for 2009, such as building repairs and expansions, a longer day of instruction, and a new world languages program.

“We really are not comfortable with continuing to raise fees and making these significant cuts, but we really have no choice,” said Peter Rowe, Brookline School’s deputy superintendent for administration and finance. “If this override does not pass, then this is what we will be faced with.”
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Brookline Homelessness Transitional Program Brings Hope Amid Housing Woes

By: Mary Vitale

BROOKLINE – Social worker and coordinator of Brookline’s Homelessness Outreach Program Wendy Northrop chats with tenant Brittany in her small two-bedroom apartment during one of their required weekly check-in visits. Brittany reports she received a raise at her new job as a CVS cashier and her two-year-old daughter Alice is getting over her cold. But she still has only have seven months to achieve her financial goals to remain in affordable housing.

Brittany, whose full name is protected under confidentiality, is a 27-year-old single mother accepted into the Homelessness Outreach Program in January. The program, provided by the Brookline Mental Health Center, helps homeless families make the transition from shelters to permanent housing. Northrop said the program usually takes a year, while families can live in apartments rent-free as they work to meet goals set by the program and Brookline Housing Authority. The goals include finding a secure job, saving a certain amount of money and complying with the rules set forth by the program.

“Financial stability is surely the key goal of this program, but it is not the only thing required to be accepted and to be able to graduate,” said Susan Barnette, member of the Brookline Housing Authority and supervisor of the Homelessness Outreach Program said. “We want to see these people be self sufficient in all aspects of their lives.”
Northrop, who has worked with the program for three years, said 95 percent of families graduate the program.

“This is a wonderful transitional program for these families,” Northrop said. “It helps people get themselves and their children out of poverty, and it teaches them how to live independently.”
Tfawa Haynes, another social worker and psychiatrist at the Brookline Mental Health Center, works mainly with families at the town’s homeless shelter and said he always tries to refer families to Northrop when they meet the necessary criteria for admission into the program.

“The outreach program is a great way for families to transition out of the shelter,” Haynes said. “But sometimes transition isn’t the solution for all families. Some of them require substance abuse counseling or rehab before they can be considered for transition into permanent housing.”

Those experiencing drug or alcohol addiction must receive treatment before they can be considered for the program. Northrop said Haynes’ work helps find families who fit the criteria for admission.

“We have to consider the safety of all our tenants, so those homeless still involved in criminal behavior cannot be admitted to our program until they have proven themselves eligible,” Northrop said.

Once families graduate the program, they become permanent tenants in housing units provided by the Brookline Housing Authority and pay 32 percent of their income as rent.

“One of our top priorities has always been getting people out of various homeless shelters and into proper housing,” said Brian Cloonan, executive director of Brookline Housing Authority. “We try to work closely with shelters and outreach programs to mutually achieve our goals.”

Northrop said the program might be cut from a year to nine months, because of pressure from the housing authority and the welfare system to move people through the program as quickly as possible.

“Only 10 families are allowed to remain on the program at one time,” Northrop said. “Recently, homeless shelters in Brookline and Boston have become overcrowded so housing authority has been putting pressure on us to quickly move people through the program.”

Barnette said the town’s budget and the program’s long waiting list require a cut in the duration of the program.

“We feel that families should be able to prove they have become self sufficient within the nine month period,” Barnette said.

Brittany said the Brookline Mental Health Center has been wonderful for her and her daughter, but the requirements of the program can be difficult.

“Nine months isn’t that much time, but luckily I have this job at CVS now,” she said. “Hopefully that’ll help me save enough money to be able to stay here permanently.”

Brittany, like other women in the program, has been in and out of shelters and scattered site apartments for the last few years. Northrop said many single mothers get kicked out of their apartments for not being able to pay their rent or flee to the program as victims of domestic violence.

Brittany said after she unexpectedly had Alice, she found herself struggling to make ends meet. While living in a shelter in Boston, she found an application for the Brookline Homelessness Outreach Program and thought it would be an improvement.

“I said to myself, ‘Hey take a shot,” she said. “And I’m glad I did because Wendy’s been so wonderful from finding me an apartment to helping me get daycare and also helping me to set and maintain my own goals. I am very grateful to her and the outreach program.”

Brittany said she hopes to graduate the outreach program, make enough money to get herself off welfare and became a licensed cosmetologist.
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Residents, Officials and Students Gripe Over Brookline Parking

By: Mary Vitale

BROOKLINE – Boston University junior Jackie Baidar leaves her Pleasant Street apartment at 8:15 a.m. with her friend Sarah, who is visiting from New York. The two brave the morning chill to walk the 10 blocks to a Brookline overnight parking lot to retrieve Sarah’s car before 9 a.m. to avoid a $30 parking ticket on top of the $10 fee they already paid for a one-time overnight parking pass.

This scenario is a common occurrence for Baidar and other Brookline residents who struggle with the town’s strict parking regulations.

“Even though I don’t have a car, it’s a big pain when I have friends or family come visit,” Baidar said. “But luckily for me, I have an overnight parking lot pretty close to me. I know some other students who have to park or have their visitors park all the way out in Allston.”

Brookline does not allow overnight parking. There is a two-hour parking limit. Commuters and shoppers often find themselves struggling to run errands or visit friends without getting a hefty parking ticket.

“There is no question that it’s a pain and an expense to have or drive a car in this town,” said Michael Sandman, chairman of the Transportation Board. “But we are an urban town, and if you look at other urban areas, it is not easier to park there either. We really are doing the best we can.”

Chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen Nancy Daly said officials understand the stress of the parking restrictions, but they do not plan on changing them. Daly said the board became concerned when many Boston commuters left their cars on Brookline streets for the day making it difficult for town residents to find spaces. This prompted many of the regulations.

“The transportation board and town government feel the need to protect residents from Boston commuters,” Daly said. “We also try to encourage residents to use public transportation.”

Several Boston University and Northeastern students such as Baidar who rent apartments in Brookline said they find the parking to be extremely difficult.

“I think any student who wants to bring a car to school if they’re living here is insane,” Baidar said. “It’s just too hard to deal with.”

Abby Swaine, another member of the Transportation Board, said residents who wish to have visitors park in Brookline can obtain different permits from the town.

“We try to accommodate special circumstances as much as we can,” Swaine said. “Unfortunately, I feel there will always be tension between people who need the limited number of spaces we have.”

Residents recently have been allowed to purchase yearly residential parking permits for $25, which allows them to park their car on their own street for more than two hours at a time. However, unregistered cars parking on residential streets are also a problem with parking in the town, according to some residents. Sandman said there are about 38,000 registered cars in Brookline, and many permitted residents are still finding difficulty to park their vehicles.

John Padris, 35, said he purchased a parking permit from the town this year, but he still sometimes cannot find a space in front of his home because many unregistered commuters continue to park on his street.

“It’s frustrating when you try to follow the town’s regulations and unregistered cars still manage to find their way on your street,” Padris said. “It’s a little ironic that so many people say parking in Brookline is impossible, yet these unauthorized cars never seem to get ticketed.”

Swaine agreed that Brookline’s transportation system would run a lot smoother if police enforced parking restrictions with more consistency.

“The number of police working full-time has declined the last few years, and we understand that handing out parking tickets is not their top priority,” she said. “However, we do have a major problem with parking enforcement.”

Sandman said the Transportation Board has proposed allowing meter maids to issue tickets along residential streets, as well as, metered parking on commercial streets to help ease the problem.

“The bottom line is Brookline was built before the era of the car and there will simply never be enough parking spaces for everyone who needs one,” Swaine said.
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