The Precinct 1 Coalition Members
Cathleen Cavell, Re-elected 2009
Cathleen Cavell has lived in Precinct One for nearly 40 years. A
graduate of Radcliffe College, Cathleen holds a Masters in Teaching from
Wesleyan University and a J.D. from Boston University Law School. With her
husband Stanley, a writer and philosophy professor, she raised two sons in
their house on Monmouth Court. She served the Town from 1977 to 1989 as
Associate Town Counsel. Cathleen has long been active in local, state, and
national political work, campaigning for President Obama and elected as a
Brookline delegate to seven state Democratic Conventions. From 2002 to 2008,
she was an adjunct law professor at Boston College Law School. Currently, she
prosecutes misconduct by teachers for the Massachusetts Commissioner of
Elementary and Secondary Education. In 2007, Governor Deval Patrick appointed
her to his Judicial Nominating Commission, the group that recommends candidates
for appointment as judges. Cathleen is co-chair of the Friends of the Carlton
Street Footbridge and a strong supporter of Brookline's schools, neighborhoods,
parkland and environmental initiatives.
Ernest Cook, Re-elected 2010
Ernest Cook lives at 4 Euston Street with his wife Cynthia and daughter Liz. They moved to Precinct 1 in 1994, and Liz is now a graduate of Brookline High School. Ernest is a senior vice-president of the Trust for Public Land, a national land conservation organization, where he directs a program that helps state and local governments dedicate funds for parks and protection of natural resources. He is a graduate of Harvard College and received a Masters in public administration, specializing in urban planning and public finance, from New York University. Ernest serves on the boards of several conservation and environmental nonprofits. He played an active role in the Yes! for Brookline campaign that supported the 2008 override. An avid bicyclist and rower, Ernest is co-captain of the men's rowing team at Riverside Boat Club in Cambridge. Ernest was first elected to Town Meeting in 2007.
Anne Covert, Re-elected 2011
Anne Covert has lived on Monmouth Court since 1991. Anne attended Mount Holyoke College and received her BA from Hamilton College, her MA in Marriage and Family Therapy from Syracuse University, and is a Clinical Member of AAMFT. Anne is a Deacon at the Church of the Covenant on Newbury Street in Boston. She has also been a Hospice volunteer for many years. Before moving to Brookline, Anne was President of the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood of the Mohawk Valley and a founding member of Mohawk Valley Association of Dyslexic Children. A mother of five children, Anne is particularly interested in strengthening Brookline's resources and services for people in need -- the elderly and those dealing with illness or family emergency -- and continuing her late husband Ed Cutler's environmental commitment.
Sherry Downes, Re-elected 2010
Sherry Bingham Downes returned to the Boston area in 1995 when her husband Richard
took a job as Rector of the Church of the Redeemer in Chestnut Hill. In
2003, he retired and they moved to a condo at 71 Saint Mary's Street. Sherry
taught high school history and was a political researcher and fundraiser
for Senators Edmund Muskie and Bill Bradley and Congressman Barney Frank.
Her life in politics began early as the daughter of Jonathan Bingham, a
nine-term Congressman from the Bronx. She first lived in the Boston area
as a boarder at Milton Academy. Sherry received her BA from Vassar College
and a Masters in Public Administration from Golden Gate University in San
Francisco. She is the mother of three sons and grandmother of six beautiful
grandchildren. Since moving to Brookline, Sherry helped find jobs for 10,000
volunteers at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Last year, she gathered
signatures in the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization's successful campaign
to pass health care reform. Sherry is especially proud of her work for Deval
Patrick from the time he first announced his run for Governor. She has gotten
to know Precinct 1 well while walking her Welch Corgi, Balmoral. Sherry has
served in Town Meeting since 2007.
Dick Garver, Elected 2011
Richard Garver and his wife Penny have lived on Monmouth Court for nearly 30 years. Their
children attended Lawrence School and Brookline High School. Dick received his AB from Harvard
College and a master's degree in sociology from the University of Chicago. Now retired, his
professional background is in design, development, and transportation planning. His long history
of town involvement includes participation in a design committee for the reconstruction of the
Lawrence School playground, coaching Brookline Youth Soccer, and membership on the board of the
Brookline Education Foundation. Dick has been appointed to serve on a number of Town committees,
including one charged with recommending zoning changes that would encourage new development
compatible with existing neighborhoods in strategic locations throughout the town, two committees
established by the Selectmen to review plans for the Carlton Street footbridge, and a Planning
Department design review committee for a recent Brookline Village development
project. His involvement in Precinct 1 activities has included the reconstruction of Monmouth
Street Park, review and comment on requests for zoning relief, and his ongoing assistance to Beacon
Street businesses seeking to relocate the traffic control box obstructing the sidewalk at St.
Mary's Street. Dick is a member of the board of WalkBoston and of the magazine
ArchitectureBoston's editorial board. For recreation he rows out of Riverside Boat Club. Dick
looks forward to continued service to the Precinct 1 neighborhood and the town.
Neil Gordon, Elected 2009
Neil Gordon lives on Ivy Street with his partner, Laura Weisel, a former Town Meeting Member long active
in the Brookline schools, and her two children, Jared, a sophomore at Bates College and Noah, a junior at
Brookline High School. Neil is president of N.R. Gordon & Company, Inc., a corporate finance consulting
firm. He has a strong history of public and community service: he was a board member of the Frederick
Douglass Charter School in Roslindale, the Andover Soccer Association and a founding member of the Andover
Disability Commission. He is an active supporter of AIDS Action and the Boston Harbor Island Alliance.
Neil has a B.A. in accounting from The Pennsylvania State University Smeal College of Business, served
on active duty with the United States Navy, and is a Vietnam veteran. He is an avid sailor and cyclist.
Endorsed by the Brookline PAX Campaign Committee, Neil is a member of the Brookline Recorded Vote Coalition.
Helen Herman, Re-elected 2011
Helen Herman moved to Beacon Street from New Orleans with her husband, Shael,
in November 2006. Before retiring, Helen was dean of students and Shael was a
professor of law at Tulane Law School. Helen also taught at Loyola Law School
and at the Sorbonne (University of Paris) and served as a law clerk to the former
chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. In addition to her law degree, she
holds Masters degrees in sociology and history. Before attending law school,
Helen was a caseworker with the Louisiana Dept of Social Services, Child Welfare
Division, and helped resettle Russian refugees for the Jewish Family Service.
Helen immigrated to the United States at the age of six with her parents, who
were Holocaust survivors, and is the mother of two adult daughters. She is
a volunteer at the Minot Rose Garden, has been a frequent participant of
Hall's Pond cleanups, and is a member of the Brookline Medical Reserve Corps.
Carol Hillman, Elected 2009
Carol Hillman worked more than 30 years with Fortune 500 companies and non-profit institutions
in communications and public relations. Carol left New York City in 1982 to become vice
president for corporate communications at Worcester-based Norton Company. She, her husband,
and their Portuguese Water Dog Hildie have been Brookline residents since 2008 having lived in
Framingham for more than 25 years. Carol is a Phi Beta Kappa
graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She studied as a Fulbright Scholar at the
Université de Lyon, France, and earned a master's degree in history at Cornell University.
Carol has volunteered for United Way, CASA, and Planned Parenthood. Currently, she chairs
Honoring Eleanor Roosevelt, a project to preserve her Val-Kill Home, so that future generations
will take action on the issues she championed: human rights, civil rights, education, economic
equality. She is an avid skier and golfer. Carol loves the blend of urban convenience and
natural landscape offered by our neighborhood and wants to preserve both.
Lee Johnson, Re-elected 2010
Emily "Lee" Johnson has worked in architecture and construction for 35
years. A graduate of the University of Connecticut with a B.G.S. in the
Study of Work, she is a LEED-accredited registered Architect working as a
specifications consultant, specializing in Museum, University, and green
buildings. Lee also has a studio at SoWA Galleries on Harrison Avenue where
she works in felt and polymer clay. She has worked for several years with the
New England Yearly Meeting of Friends. In addition to her service in Town
Meeting, Lee was a member of the Brookline Green Technology Committee, served
on several Brookline Design Review Committees, and was president of a
community development corporation in Hartford, CT, responsible for an $11 million
affordable housing project. She settled in Brookline in 1999
and lives in a condo on Amory Street with her dog, Lily. Lee was elected to
Town Meeting in 2007.
Sean Lynn-Jones, Caucused in 2011
Sean Lynn-Jones lives at 53 Monmouth Street with his wife Karen, their daughter Taylor, and their two cats, Will and Grace. He has lived there since 1995. Sean is editor of International Security, a quarterly journal of international politics that is based at Harvard and published by the MIT Press. He was trained as a political scientist at Haverford College and Harvard and periodically publishes articles on international relations and U.S. foreign policy. In Precinct 1, Sean has been particularly active in working with the Friends of Monmouth Park to encourage the Town to redesign and renovate the park. He also worked with the Town and neighbors to improve the trees and other plantings on Monmouth Court, and to upgrade and repair sidewalks. He is member of the Brookline Advisory Committee (the Town's finance committee), which provides analysis and recommendations to Town Meeting. He is on the Advisory Committee's Planning and Regulation Subcommittee and previously chaired its Schools Subcommittee. He is also a member of the Town's Zoning Bylaw Committee and has served on various Town committees on parking, Coolidge Corner streetscapes, and other issues. Sean is a co-chair of the Brookline Neighborhood Alliance. He is a life member of the Brookline Historical Society. For many years, he coached youth soccer in Brookline.
Barry Miller, Elected 2011
Barry Miller moved to Brookline in 2010. Barry is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School. Since 2009, Barry has been a University Attorney in the Office of the General Counsl at Harvard. In an earlier life, Barry worked for ten years as a federal prosecutor in Chicago, concentrating on public corruption and fraud cases. Before that, Barry served as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., then practiced civil litigation for 18 years at a Chicago law firm. While in private practice, Barry served as president of the Chicago Council of Lawyers, a law reform group, and as a volunteer attorney for the ACLU, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the HOPE Fair Housing Center. Barry lives on Beacon Street with his wife, a physician at Brigham & Women's Hospital, and their standard poodle, Keiko. He has two children in college (one of whom spent the summer of 2010 interning for the Deval Patrick campaign). Barry still enjoys softball, but now plays it very badly.
Bob Schram, Re-elected 2010
Bob Schram has lived at 47 Monmouth St, on the southeast corner of Carlton, for
eight years and is the proud father of two recent Brookline High School graduates.
Active in the community as a former U14 and U16 soccer coach for the Brookline town
team, a leader of the youth program at United Parish of Brookline, where he also serves
as Moderator, and the co-proponent of Article 5 at the 2009 Town Meeting, an article to
restore the Carlton Street Footbridge
and accelerate Brookline's participation in the overall Muddy River restoration and
flood-relief project which passed by a resounding 194-24 margin. Bob is a graduate of
Harvard College and a Managing Director in the Boston office of Aon Risk Services
(the world's largest corporate insurance broker). Nearly 15 years of his business
career were spent overseas, much of that in Brazil where he met his wife Patricia,
a Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrician at Children's Hospital specializing in
treating teenage substance abuse and who also serves pro bono as the vice-chair of
the MA Federation for Children with Special Needs. Bob is often seen around the
neighborhood walking his children's unfortunately named dog, Fofo. Bob has been
serving Precinct 1 in Town Meeting since 2007.
Kate Silbaugh, Elected 2011
Kate Silbaugh moved to Brookline in 1994, and to Amory Street in Precinct One in 2000.
She is Professor of Law at Boston University School of Law, where she teaches education
law, family law, employment law, and statutory interpretation. Her three children attend
the Brookline Public Schools - two at Lawrence and one at Brookline High. Her extensive
community work has been mainly school-centered: Kate serves as a board member of the
Brookline Education Foundation, raising and distributing private funds to public school
staff for professional development; as co-chair of the school system's ECS PAC (the parent
advisory committee for extension and challenge support); and on the Lawrence School Council.
She played an active role in the Yes! For Brookline campaign that supported an override in
2008. Kate initiated the public works process that led to the installation of the stop
sign at Amory and Freeman Streets, and advised a group that led a similar process at Sewall
and Marshall Streets. She is a bike commuter. Kate and her family are members of All
Saints Brookline, and Kate serves as an overseer at the Epiphany School in Dorchester.
Tommy Vitolo, Re-elected 2010
Tommy Vitolo has lived in the neighborhood for ten years with his wife Jenny, first
renting on Saint Mary's Street and now a homeowner at Longwood Towers. Tommy recently
completed a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering at Boston University, and now works as a
consultant in the electricity industry. Since moving to Brookline, he has volunteered
at the MATCH School, the Boys & Girls Club, and the Brookline Community
Foundation, as well as at a number of neighborhood park cleanups and planting sessions.
Tommy was a Precinct Captain for the Deval Patrick and Barack Obama campaigns, is an
active member of the Brookline chapter of Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts, and
has served as an elected delegate to the MA Democratic State Convention for the past
five years. He served as a member of the Amory Park Design Review Committee, Clean Car
Committee, Pay as you Throw Committee, and the Reprecincting Committee, and currently
serves on the Bicycle Advisory Committee, the Emerald Necklace Bicycle and Pedestrian
Crossing Committee, and on the board of the Friends of Hall's Pond. Two warrant articles
written by Tommy have passed unanimously: a bylaw to prohibit the sale of tobacco products
in pharmacies and on educational campuses and a resultution calling for the Town to clean
its municipal and school buildings with green certified cleaning products whenever practical.
Tommy was first elected to Town Meeting in 2007, and also serves as one of Brookline's five
elected Constables.