Meet Christopher Mutty - Candidate School Committee & Town Meeting P17

Hello Neighbor!

My name is Christopher (“Chris”) Mutty, I am running for both Town Meeting (Precinct 17) and School Committee, and I am writing to ask for your vote on May 2. I live at 15 Green Street–between the old Osaka building and the Waldo/Durgin project–with my wife Peg, our two sons Morgan (5) & Malcolm (2), and our dog Fitz. After 9 years of living & working in Brookline–starting a neighborhood business (“Green Line Growers”), founding a nonprofit (“Hub Rugby”), and raising a young family–I want to put my experience to work for my neighbors.

My wife and I grew up in the diverse old mill city of Winooski, Vermont (population 8,300). Peg and I both attended the Winooski public schools, which are now majority minority because of Vermont’s humanitarian role in resettling refugees from Vietnam, Bosnia, Sudan, and Somalia. Many of my Winooski classmates received free school lunches. Winooski’s graduation rate was far below the state average. Few of my Winooski classmates went to college. At Winooski High School I captained the football, basketball, & baseball teams, was active in theater productions (mostly one man shows) and school politics (elected class president). I also took several night and college courses to supplement my public school’s inability to provide Advanced Placement options. Despite its limited resources, Winooski was an incredibly supportive community and the public schools there provided a tremendous foundation for my life.

Thanks to generous financial aid, I enrolled in Middlebury College (2006-2010) as a FEB. I loved the liberal arts and took several semesters to discover economics as my major. I also focused on environmental studies and political science, but chose to take courses that interested me over fulfilling Minor requirements. My initial plan was to play football for Middlebury, but a chance encounter with the rugby coach set off a reaction that resulted in a lifelong passion for the sport of rugby. I was a part of 2 national championship teams (2007 & 2009) and captained the club in my final semester. Middlebury was an unbelievable experience. The highlight was my year spent as a First Year Counselor (RA) where I mentored 30 students from diverse backgrounds. I loved my time at Middlebury and still try to give back every way possible. 

After graduation, Peg and I moved to Burlington, Vermont  where I worked for a renewable energy developer turning brownfields into solar arrays. It was the early days of community scale solar and the startup also specialized in building arrays on underutilized farm land to “take the least productive acre of land and make it their most productive.” Peg and I married in May of 2011 at what the local press dubbed the “muddy Mutty” wedding (pictures available on the website). Afterwards we left Vermont and moved to Massachusetts so Peg could start a job at Massachusetts General Hospital. I worked in startups before landing a sales position at Zipcar. Finding corporate life was not for me, I decided to spend a year as a substitute teacher in the Boston Public Schools. It was a tough year. I learned that every classroom and student is different, administrators can make a huge difference in a school’s environment, and that teachers have one of the hardest jobs imaginable.

In 2014, I discovered a small start-up in Boston called “Freight Farms.” Curious about the possibilities of urban farming, I began exploring the potential to bring a hydroponic farm to Brookline. I spent the next year researching the technology, business model, and potential sites. As many of you know, my business partner and I launched “Green Line Growers” in 2015 and later added a local food store/farm stand called “Brookline Grown” all here in Precinct 17/Coolidge Corner. The press coverage was incredible including an article in the Boston Globe, included with this letter. I did everything to be embedded in the Brookline community including hosting school tours of the farm and our annual pumpkin patch where countless kids decorated their jack-o-lanterns. “Green Line Growers” and “Brookline Grown” was a roaring success for five years, but we shut down in 2019. It was one of the hardest decisions of my life to close the business. I am proud of the business’ legacy and lasting successes including at least one business incubated/spun out of our store that exists today in Jamaica Plain. I cannot thank Brookline and the Coolidge Corner community enough for supporting “Green Line Growers” and “Brookline Grown” and love seeing my former customers around the neighborhood and the town.

Since 2019 I have explored other entrepreneurial and start-up opportunities (stay tuned Brookline!). Peg and I also expanded our family during the pandemic, so I’ve taken on the best and hardest job of all, being a stay-at-home parent. In addition, I returned to my rugby roots, taking roles as (1) an assistant men’s rugby coach at Harvard University and (2) head coaching “Beantown” a women's premier league rugby team. I also co-founded the nonprofit Brookline Youth Rugby (now known as “Hub Rugby”). Hub Rugby is a non-contact, coed program for kids in K-8 from Greater Boston. You can come see us practice on Sundays at the Ridley school! Teaching kids to play rugby and sharing my passion for the game has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and makes up for the administrative burden of running a 501c3 nonprofit. Rugby has played an important role in my life and Rugby is the community that has made me feel at home.

I am asking you to consider voting for me on May 2. I want to serve Brookline as a former teacher, a serial entrepreneur, a rugby coach, and most importantly as a parent with children in the local public schools. It is with these experiences and the skills acquired that I hope to have an impact on the School Committee and as a Town Meeting Member. I invite you to visit my website: www.chrismutty.com to learn more about me, what I’m passionate about, and to support my campaign. I cannot do this alone!

Take care and talk soon,

Christopher Mutty

15 Green St, Apt 2 Brookline, MA 02446

Candidate Brookline School Committee

Candidate Brookline Town Meeting Member - Precinct 17

(617) 935-2589 (calls or texts welcome and encouraged)

muttychristopher@gmail.com

www.chrismutty.com

P.S. Even if you don’t vote for me please get out and vote in favor of the override and debt exclusion. See my stance on the Pierce Debt Exclusion on my blog www.chrismutty.com/blog