Bradford Kimball ’28 first became involved in politics working for Massachusetts Representative Tommy Vitolo (D -15th Norfolk) while in high school. Two years later, Kimball himself successfully campaigned for a special one-year election seat in his precinct on Brookline Town Meeting.

“It was sort of an act of serendipity,” said the rising sophomore, who plans to study English. “I got into Harvard in the middle of my campaign, so I was really all in.”

Kimball said he has found the overlap between the Harvard and Brookline communities helpful as he balances schoolwork and town meeting duties. Last year he took Humanities 10, in which he read 23 books.

Kimball has also provided hockey commentary for WHRB (Harvard Radio Broadcasting) and served on the Fiction Board of the Harvard Advocate – all while serving as an elected official. For Brookline, he works an average of an hour a day during “Town Meeting season” in November and May. There’s a fourfold increase when Town Meetings happen, but dips during the rest of the year, he explained.

This past May, Kimball won his re-election campaign for a three-year term on the Brookline Town Meeting for Precinct 1. As the youngest elected official in Brookline, he is eager to contribute to decisions on Brookline’s infrastructure, particularly when it comes to bicycle safety and walkability. Kimball is also an advocate for fiscal sustainability, including how to increase the town’s revenues. The town’s school budget deficit of $8 million is an issue he’s particularly concerned about.

“What’s so important about local politics and government is that’s where we can actually improve people’s lives. When it comes to helping people day to day, representing people and making sure that their voices are heard, that’s where local politics really matter,” Kimball said. “I felt it was important to run to give back to the community that has given me so much.”

Kimball said he sees Brookline as a leader not just within Massachusetts, but for the whole country. He noted the town has been “ahead of the curve” when it comes to sustainability and other environmentally conscious practices including voting to ban rat poisons that are harmful to birds and dogs.

“I hope that Brookline can continue to be a leader in making decisions and creating politics that other municipalities can follow, and then the state can follow, and then the whole country can adopt,” he said.

Being a member of both communities also taught him how to talk to people who may not agree with you politically, Kimball said.

“We have all these discussions (in college) about intellectual vitality and talking with people you disagree with, whether you disagree over the interpretation of a line of poetry or over politics,” he said. “I think both sides have been really symbiotic and synergistic in learning how to talk and disagree but not get mad and be able to come back tomorrow and say we're still friends; we can work together on other things.”

When Kimball decided to run for re-election for the full three-year term, he went in wide-eyed that the job would coincide with his remaining time at Harvard. Campaigning allowed him to meet more constituents, learn about the most pressing issues, and gave him the opportunity to explain his voting decisions from the last year.

“Most people are concerned about housing affordability and housing prices,” he said. “People are also concerned about their effects on the environment and energy sustainability.”

The recent campaign included younger residents vying for the same seat as Kimball, who said he was “thrilled” to see other young people run for office in his town. “Nobody knows the community as well as young people who live there,” he said. “So, I really hope that more young people get involved.

“I hope Brookline can be a place where everyone is welcome and everyone can get the quality of life they deserve. That’s really what Brookline should be,” he added.

Back on campus, Kimball is taking four English courses this semester, including a novella-writing workshop.

“I'm particularly excited about the novella-writing workshop with Andrew Krivak because it gives me the time and guidance to do something I've always wanted to do: write a short novel! It has been amazing to read my peers' work and learn from them as we all write,” he concluded.