After graduating high school, most students who have an interest in politics pursue this interest through higher education, seeking a political science or public policy degree in hopes of breaking into the field one day. For Brookline Selectboard Chair Eddie Arnold, his interest in politics resulted in a more immediate, practical application: being elected to the Brookline selectboard.
After graduating from HBHS in 2016, Arnold did not have plans to go to college, having started his own landscaping company that spring. In March of 2017, when the next town elections were held, Arnold was on the ballot as a candidate for selectboard.
Arnold’s decision to start participating in Brookline government was contributed to by a number of factors, in addition to his interest in politics. His grandfather, the first in what is now a 3-generation line of Brookliners, was the town moderator for 40 years, the school district moderator for 45 years, and founded the Brookline Ambulance Service with Arnold’s father and uncle. Arnold also lives next to Tad Putney, who held the position of Town Administrator for fourteen years.
“I just decided to go for it, and I won,” Arnold said.
Initially, not much of a campaign was necessary, as Arnold was running unopposed. A few weeks before the election, there were some questions surrounding who was on the ballot, which was when people began to look into Arnold as a candidate and forming opinions on his age and political leanings.
“There was a write-in campaign to try to stop me from getting on, but they failed,” Arnold said. On election day, Arnold had to campaign to an extent, but ultimately won despite the write-ins, having just turned nineteen at the time of his election.
Despite having a starkly different post-high school experience than many would expect, Arnold says that this did not disconnect him from his peers, as most of his friends did not attend college either. With his landscaping company, he was able to make his own hours, and dedicate much of his time to the selectboard, not tied down by a rigid school schedule or those of friends.
After winning the election there was, of course, the task of learning how to be a selectboard member, especially at such a young age. At the time, there was an age discrepancy of at least 30 years between Arnold and his fellow selectmen. Within the first year, however, Arnold had earned the respect of the citizens of Brookline through his hard work and quickness to learn.
“I think I proved everyone wrong pretty quickly just by doing the job, showing up, caring about it and knowing what I’m talking about”
Although he never pursued a traditional college education, Arnold’s experience-based learning was bolstered by classroom learning as he sought to understand more about the state laws on selectboards.
At one point, he took a class on RSA 91:A, New Hampshire’s “Right to Know” law, which outlines the statutes surrounding meeting information being public to voters, and what kind of communication is permitted in selectboard meetings. He also has taken some classes through the New Hampshire Municipal Association and the Academy of Good Government.
In 2021, Arnold assumed the position of the chair of the selectboard. This position is not an elected position, but rather is nominated by the other selectboard members. The chair does not have any more voting power than any of the other selectboard members, but has the added responsibility of leading the meetings and making sure that they are properly posted, as well as being a kind of spokesperson of the selectboard. Although not being able to act outside of the board, if things come up in between meetings, Arnold is the one that they call.
The typical matters that Arnold deals with are helping with legal action against the town, personnel matters or anything related with HR, and anything dealing with town-owned land or financial matters.
A large part of the job is also preparing for the annual town meeting, in which voters are presented with warrant articles on town business that they can speak and vote on. Arnold does background work on warrant articles, as well as informing voters. One of the biggest things to prepare for the town meeting is the budget; making the budget starts in September, and doesn’t end until it’s passed in mid-March.
After having prepared for the meeting, the selectboard also has to attend the meeting, present the budget and warrant articles, and explain the need for them. The selectboard makes a vote on whether or not they choose to recommend a warrant article, and will often explain that choice at the podium.
The opinions of the selectboard however, Arnold says, aren’t the crucial opinions at the meetings.
“The town meeting is the people’s meeting. We are there more to facilitate the communication and give the information, and then Peter Webb, the moderator, is the one who controls that meeting”
When a selectboard member has a personal opinion, in fact, they will often go in front of the microphone and wait like any other citizen, so as to not be sharing their opinion from the position of authority in the front of the room.
Although the town meeting creates quite a bit of work, Arnold has also made connections through this time spent at the meetings, as the town government is often the same year after year.
“I really enjoy sitting next to Patti Howard, the town clerk. She’s up there taking minutes, so I sit next to her, and we have a great relationship.”
All this work surrounding the selectboard is also compounded by other town involvement, as selectboard members have to be members on other town committees as the selectboard representative. Arnold is also the chair of the Melendy Pond Management Committee and the vice-chair of the Library Feasibility Study Committee, as well as an alternate on the Planning Board. Throughout his time on the selectboard, he has also served on various other study committees and groups.
On average, he says, he spends about 5-10 hours per week on town business, which is on top of the 40 hour work week which he now has working in sales. This workload varies based on how many meetings he has, as well as what business might be going on with the town.
It’s easy to see how a heavy workload, with little recognition of the work that goes into it, can be a tiring job. Many selectboard members serve only one term, or at times two. Arnold is finishing his third term, and will not seek re-election in March after 9 years of service.
This type of shifting of positions is common in town government and town committees, which Arnold says is actually a goal.
“One of our big things when we’re trying to find a volunteer to fill a position, we tend to go for the people who haven’t volunteered before, and that’s for two reasons. One, it adds someone else that hasn’t done it before, so adding new blood, but two, when you have the same people volunteering on committees over and over again, they get burnt out”
There are many parts of the job that Arnold has enjoyed and found valuable, including the public facing position and the work that has gone into it.
“I like the relationships that come out of it. I’ve met a lot of people in town. My dad grew up in town, and he remembers when people would walk by the house and you knew everybody. That’s not really the case anymore, because Brookline has 5,600 to 5,800 people in it, so you can’t know everybody, but being in this position allows you to know more people.”
There are more technical parts of the work that he still finds fun, although he thinks others may find that strange, like running meetings efficiently and making strategic decisions surrounding town business and negotiations.
Arnold also respects the non-partisan aspect of town government, in comparison with politics at the state and national level. Although some topics can be polarizing at times, Arnold does his best to regroup everyone and avoid the town being split over issues.
“Ultimately we’re here representing all 5600 residents, not just the republicans or the democrats,” Arnold says, “We’re all here for Brookline.”
“That’s something that I think the state and federal government could use more of. Doing it for the people, and not the party.”
Despite pulling back from his official town work, Arnold will still be involved with the town, both through town business and possibly different positions. He has had discussions with Town Moderator Peter Webb of possibly running for moderator when Webb decides to step down from the position.
He has also considered getting back into working with the Brookline Fire Department at some point, where he used to be a firefighter.
On the whole, however, Arnold is looking forward to being able to spend more time on his personal life, and have his nights free.
Overall, Arnold says he would recommend getting involved with town government to HB grads, if they have an interest in it. Whether diving right into a position like selectboard member or just volunteering, there is always work to be done and perspectives to be heard. 
