Biking Brookline 2026 Town Election Information

Select Board Candidate Scorecard - Vote May 5th

The three Select Board candidates are running for two seats. The ratings represent the unanimous opinion of the Biking Brookline Board of Directors and are based on each candidate’s record and response to Biking Brookline’s Candidate Questionnaire. 

Additional Biking Brookline Perspective on the Candidates

Amanda Zimmerman has made “safer streets for all” one of the four cornerstones of her campaign.  In her roles as a Town Meeting Member and a member of the Brookline Bicycle Advisory Committee, she has a long history of working to make Brookline’s bicycling infrastructure safer.  She has been a consistent supporter of the Washington Street Project, the Beacon Street Bridleway, protected bike lanes on Chestnut Hill Avenue, and the South Brookline to BHS Bicycle Access Plan.  As a parent who sometimes gets around Brookline with her children on a cargo bike, she has first hand experience of using our public ways on bicycle.

Anthony Buono, like Amanda, has made roadway safety one of the four cornerstones of his campaign. He recognizes the need for infrastructure changes to consider the needs of small businesses. His views on this are influenced by studies showing that protected infrastructure can increase foot traffic and attract more customers. He promises to follow a data-driven approach to infrastructure changes, as he did on the Washington Street Complete Streets Project, where he helped persuade fellow Town Meeting Members that the project would not hurt businesses and had the potential to be good for local businesses.

John VanScoyoc actively opposes implementation of safe bicycling infrastructure. While his previous Select Board campaign platforms claimed support for safe bicycling infrastructure, he was the only member of the Board to vote against the Washington Street Project, and he is the only member of the Board seeking a pause in the Beacon Street Bridleway Project. John refused to meet with Biking Brookline to discuss the Washington Street Project. This refusal was consistent with a pattern in which he allies himself with certain stakeholders opposed to bicycling infrastructure while shutting out other members of the community, and in which he fails to acknowledge the strong public support for and the data showing the value of protected bike lanes.  This conduct has made it impossible to engage in collaborative discussions that would lead to roadway safety improvements that maximize benefits for our community.

Biking Brookline Select Board Questionnaire and Candidate Responses

All three Select Board candidates responded to the Biking Brookline questionnaire. You can read their responses at this link.

School Committee

All four School Committee candidates (who are running for three seats) responded to a Biking Brookline Questionnaire about how children get to school. You can read the candidate replies at this link.

Town Meeting

Sixty-six Town Meeting Member candidates responded to a Biking Brookline Questionnaire about:

1. Three upcoming Brookline Complete Streets projects;

2. The balance between providing adequate car parking and accommodating non-car transportation modes;

3. How the candidate gets around Brookline; and

4. The role that bicycling can play in helping Brookline meet its climate goals.

For the first two topics, we provided the candidates with some background information and then asked questions based on that information.  

You can find the Town Meeting Member candidate replies at this link. The replies are organized by precinct, with the candidates organized alphabetically within each precinct.