During Brian Herr’s last meeting as a member of the Select Board, on May 18, 2021, it was the board’s first in-person meeting since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Herr was gifted an engraved wooden chair and sent off with effusive praise from his fellow members, following 12 years on the town’s most prominent board, including a stint as chair.
Much has changed at Town Hall in those three short years, and many people would say it hasn’t been for the better. So, with two open seats in the May 20 Annual Town Election, Herr recently made the decision to return to politics, announcing his run for the Select Board.
Herr joins a candidate list that includes Peter Mimmo and Kyla McSweeney, both of whom serve on other committees in town, and political newcomer Joe Clark, who grew up in town and is the son of former Hopkinton Fire Chief Ken Clark.
Anna Dorcey also pulled papers but since has indicated she does not intend to run, according to Town Clerk Connor Degan.
Muriel Kramer and Irfan Nasrullah are not running for reelection.
“This was not on my radar screen for ’24 at all, but like so many Hopkins residents, I’ve watched things that have been going on over the last year or two, and we’re collectively shaking our heads, saying, ‘I don’t get it,’ ” Herr said in a recent phone interview. He said he had been encouraging other residents to get involved but eventually decided to join the race because “it seemed to be the right thing to do.”
Herr pointed to the recent firing of Hopkinton Police Sgt. Tim Brennan as well as the Upper Charles Trail Committee controversy as examples of where the Select Board has not demonstrated an ability to understand residents’ opinions.
“Clearly there’s some disconnects as to the general will of the community based on what’s going on,” he said.
Herr also expressed a concern about the town’s spending and how it will affect taxes as well as the town’s impressive credit rating.
A former Republican who once mounted a run for U.S. Senate in 2014 (losing to Ed Markey), Herr left the party and became unenrolled in 2018, expressing disappointment with the GOP’s policy shifts under then-President Donald Trump.
“I am very much and remain concerned about where the Republican party has gone in terms of its support of various policies that make no sense to me,” Herr said, although he added: “National politics is not what we should focus on. We should focus on things that affect us at the local level.”
“Clearly there’s some disconnects as to the general will of the community based on what’s going on,” he said. -Brian Herr
Obviously, Mr. Herr, doesn’t remember the public outcry while he was on the board of Selectmen and Chair in regard to the Main Street corridor project, especially from residents on Main Street losing frontage of their properties. They were snapped at, cut off and simply told by Mr. Herr this project was moving forward.
This is untrue. Main St. abutters did not lose any frontage. They were only asked to provide a temporary easement for equipment, and for this they were handsomely rewarded. Unless your name is Crosspoint/CVS, there was no land taking as part of the project, and Crosspoint was paid for that too.
No doubt Herr remembers the public outcry but he was likely balancing the needs of all Hopkinton residents, not just those that live on Main St.
I also remember a citizen petition at Special Town meeting in 2019 to rescind the approval of the Downtown Corridor Project. It failed by a wide margin (278 Yes, 504 No) The voters voted to continue with the project. To call out a single select board member is absurd.