Brookline Town Meeting Moderator Candidate Profile: Scott Ananian

BROOKLINE, MA — C. Scott Ananian, 44, who has been a member of Town Meeting, Brookline's legislative body, since 2015, is running to take over the role of Brookline Town Moderator in the May town election.

The moderator sets the order of the agenda and presides over Town Meeting. The moderator also appoints members of the Advisory Committee, the Committee on Town Organization and Structure and ad hoc committees authorized by Town Meeting. The moderator also declares the outcome of all voice votes.

Brookline's Town Meeting Moderator Sandy Gadsby, the man who has presided over the town's legislative body for nearly three decades, announced in February that he would not run for another term. His announcement came after three residents indicated they planned to run, including Ananian.

Ananian will face off against Town Meeting member Kate Poverman. This is the first time in recent memory there has been a contested race for moderator. Gadsby has run unopposed since at least 2000.

Ananian lives in Brookline with his wife Jessica Wong, and their children Zachary, 8, and Adalynn, 5. He finished his PhD at MIT in 2007, and before that attended Princeton.

For the past 24 years, he's been a software engineer. Until 2013, he was the director of new technologies at One Laptop Per Child. He's currently the senior features engineer at the Wikimedia Foundation, the custodian of Wikipedia and other collaborative educational projects. Since 1997 he's maintained and authored open source software author.

Patch reached out to all the candidates and presented the same list of questions for each, here's how Ananian responded:

Why are you seeking elective office?

I am running for Moderator to further Brookline’s democratic ideals. As Moderator, I will lift every voice at Town Meeting, respect every individual, and continue doggedly bending our Town’s arc toward justice. I believe Town Meeting should facilitate participation of single parents and others who have been excluded by outmoded requirements, and each person deserves the courtesy of being addressed by their chosen name and title. Our Town Meeting can be kinder, more effective, and more inclusive and I hope voters will give me the opportunity to make it so.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Brookline's Town Meeting was established in 1705 with a soaring democratic principle: everyone living in Brookline would collectively make the laws for our Town. Of course, for over two thirds of the three hundred years since, less than two thirds of our Town were actually represented.

Our Town government is a collaborative volunteer effort, but there are many barriers to effective contribution. I will work to dismantle these stumbling blocks to allow broader participation in Town government: through education programs in our schools and senior centers, by fully embracing remote participation, by demystifying the warrant article process to empower new contributors, by overhauling our Town Meeting website, and by other changes both large and small.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I have personally brought 18 warrant articles or motions through Town Meeting and know how our Town government works (and where it sometimes doesn't work). Further, I've assisted dozens of folks to bring *their* warrant articles through Town Meeting, so I know where folks get hung up and where they have been surprised or stumbled.

I have a long career working on collaborative software in communities of volunteers, so I know how to organize volunteers and keep them engaged and motivated to contribute their best to our Town —and our Town owes much to those who volunteer to serve on our Town's boards and committees and as Town Meeting members.

Finally, my computer science background will help us modernize the infrastructure of Town Meeting to provide greater information and transparency to Town Meeting Members and the public.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

n/a

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

n/a

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

I am committed to an inclusive, representative, and *friendly* Town Meeting, and to a collaborative Advisory Committee who can work with Town Meeting to safeguard the fiscal stability of our Town.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have demonstrated my knowledge of Town Meeting parliamentary procedure in my time as a Town Meeting member, advocating not only for my own issues but also navigating parliamentary process to put forward motions on behalf of others. I have a long history working for volunteer-driven nonprofits on collaborative projects, so understand the social dynamics necessary to encourage constructive participation.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

I lead a team in an annual competition at MIT. My 8-year-old was asking me what it meant to be a "leader," and did it mean I got to make all the decisions? I told him that being a team leader didn't mean I got to tell everyone what to do, but instead that I organized things so that we could *all collectively* make the decisions.

In talking to him about this, I realized that I was implicitly describing the Moderator's role in the Town as well — not to make decisions, but instead to enable the Town to collectively do its best work. Trust in a robust, inclusive, and collaborative process helps unify the Town: even when we disagree on the outcome of a vote or issue, we believe in the process by which that outcome was reached.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Success opening up Town Meeting depends on my regularly hearing from folks who have good ideas, or who are stymied by a particular bit of Town process, or who can offer feedback on how things are working (or not). There's a feature on my website to schedule a call or zoom, and I'd love to hear from folks —nd if, elected, I will continue that 1-on-1 practice and other ways to ensure I'm regularly hearing from the community.

Campaign website
https://ScottForBrookline.org

Other candidates in Brookline Town Election 2021:

Select Board:

• Miriam Aschkenasy
• Nancy Heller*
• Zoe Lynn
• Bernard Greene*