Brownsberger speaks to Alewife contributors

by Barbara Mende

The Belmont selectman running to replace State Rep. Anne M. Paulsen, D, North Cambridge, spoke at the July 9 contributors meeting of The Alewife at Porter Square’s Subs Express & Pizza.

As a state representative, he will focus on working with state agencies to promote educational excellence. He also wants to make sure that health insurance plans focus on quality, said Attorney William N. Brownsberger, who is unopposed in September’s Democratic primary for the 24th Middlesex seat in the Great and General Court, which includes all of Belmont, most of North Cambridge, and parts of West Cambridge and Arlington.

“If we don’t do that we won’t be able to deliver on our access promises.” Brownsberger said.

“I was born in this area,” he said. “I was an Army brat and we traveled around, but mostly stayed here.”

His family had a strong tradition of service, as missionaries as well as in the military, he said. “But, the family opposed the Vietnam War.”

Brownsberger concentrated in math and science at Harvard, and continued to Harvard Law School, he said. “I thought it would broaden me.” After law school he clerked for a year for a federal district court judge, Walter Skinner, in Boston.

Although his true interest was public policy, after campaign research jobs for Rep. Barney Frank, D, Boston, then-Middlesex County District Attorney Scott L. Harshbarger and the City of New York, his father pointed him in another direction, he said.

Brownsberger had planned to become an assistant district attorney, he said. “But my father said I had to start paying some bills.” He went to Wall Street.

In New York, Brownsberger first focused on public financing and then turned to building computer modeling systems, he said. He worked for both Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

When he did return to Massachusetts, he rejoined Harshbarger, who was now the state attorney general, as a deputy chief prosecutor for public protection. His prime targets were contractors who preyed on the elderly, as well as prosecuted drug traffickers, he said.

He felt at home doing public service again, he said.

Brownsberger was first elected a selectman in 1998, an entrance in retail politics that began with his frustration with Belmont traffic.

“We chose our house on a Sunday in the summer,” he said. “We thought it was on a quiet street - Pleasant Street, also known as Route 60.”

When the summer ended, he realized his house was front row to a busy commuter thoroughfare.
Concern for children’s safety traveling to school was followed by work on reducing class sizes. He was instrumental in planning and promoting Belmont’s new senior center. He was also active in negotiations with McLean Hospital to protect over 100 acres, he said.

He now chairs the Arlington-Belmont-Cambridge Stormwater Flooding Board, which among other things addresses the real-life problem of sewage overflows into Belmont homes, he said.

Reaching back to his work on Wall Street, Brownsberger said he led the drive to improve Belmont’s management systems. The town instituted multi-year financial planning and consolidated departments. “We now have our arms around the big picture.”

On Beacon Hill, Brownsberger said his municipal background will make him a better informed legislator, better able to address help cities and towns improve their school systems and address problems such as health care and smart growth development.

He also said he promised to cut back on his law practice, his teaching. “I will be a full-time representative.”