With the preliminary election behind us, the focus now turns to the Nov. 5 city election, which will not only include the contest for mayor but contested races for aldermen-at-large in Ward 5 and ward aldermen in Wards 1 and 2, plus one city-wide School Committee contest (Ward 2).
I spotted the sign in this photo on a lawn in the Highlands recently, even though the official date for placing signs on our lawn for the fall is tomorrow (Saturday)
Will you be posting any signs on your lawn? If so for whom?
And how do you feel when you see signs for incumbents who are in uncontested elections?
This sign has been up since at least August, 2013. Maybe even earlier. It is on a side street, so I didn’t even see it until I went on a walk.
For the Mayor and Alderman Yates.
I have had one for the Mayor but will be adding one for Chris Steele. I would add one for Bob Burke if we had them for Area Council candidates.
I’ve never had a lawn sign in front of my house but I’d post a Bob Burke for Area Council sign there too.
I am totally excited about this, my first election in Newton!!!!! So the Ward 3 Alderman at Large race looks large for me!!! Thank you for asking.
Maybe I don’t have to get Joe Biden or Jerry Reilly and the rest of the Upper Falls Fusiliers to invade the Highlands on my behalf.
Chris Steele and Brian Yates
I think there are two really interesting races;
Ward 2- Norton vs Tapper for Ward Alderman
and
Ward 5- Steele vs Yates for At-Large.
All of these candidates have long resumes of service to the city, have a loyal following and are quality candidates.
@Terry Malloy – isn’t the ward 5 race a 3 way race for two seats with Deb Crossley as the 3rd candidate?
@Jerry Reilly, you are absolutely right, Ward 5 Alderman At-Large is a 3 way race for 2 seats. That’s why my answer above was Steele and Yates. I hope we can remove the supposition that it’s Brian vs. Chris.
I’m totally excited about James Cote’s first Newton campaign, too.
I only hope that when James Cote joins the Board of Aldermen, he’ll bring the positive energy and enthusiasm to the board that he has shown on this blog.
Yes Jerry, of course there are three candidates for the two Ward 5 at large seats. As I said, I think the interesting race is between Yates and Steele. I’m sure you can figure that out.
@Terry Malloy – I presume that means that you think Crossley is either a shoe-in or not a contender … I’m just not sure which.
Jerry
If it were a horse race I’d bet an Exacta box and key Deb Crossley.
Unless someone whats to pipe in and tell us what about Mr Steele would have improved Ward 5s at-large participation in the BoA, I’m voting with the “ain’t broke” mindset. Both Ms Crossley and Mr Yates have shown they’ve invested a great amount of time in their volunteered roles, they know the facts inside and out, they are responsive to residents, and they vote on the issue before them with a mindset of the future not just the fire in front of them.
Ah, political theory.
This W5 race could be a good one. Be mindful that voters get two votes. And while incumbency has its advantages, controversial positions taken tend to delight/irritate different groups. Meanwhile, there is a theory once posited by a wise man* who knew a bit about Newton politics, where the candidate who most wants to win the race, usually does.
I’ve seen the CW and impregnable “bases” get rocked and splintered too often in recent years to lean heavily on that. Meanwhile, I think that a hungry, serious candidate does appeal to voters. My own technical theory in these three-way match-ups it is that the candidate who can convince their supporters to cast bullets most will have an advantage. If so, then “base” collinearity might be a problem for the other two.
*David Cohen
In terms of importance, since there’s only 8 school committee members, the ward 2 SC race should be highlighted. And the ward 1 race has two candidates quite different both stylistically and substantively.
Here’s a sign in Upper Falls:
http://on.fb.me/1f4x9Vk
@Anil. Wow. we’ve never had anything like that in Newton Highlands.
That’s because signs hadn’t been invented back when the Highlands Area Council was formed.
@Greg. I think you’re right. I’ll ask Rodney Barker
Definitely the Ward 5 at-large race. The voter in our household is going to vote for Deb Crossley, so for us it’s a contest between Chris Steele and Brian Yates.
BULLET VOTING IS KEY FOR YOUR FAVORITE!
In a ward 5 race with 2 established incumbents and an interesting challenger, in the form of Chris Steele, I don’t see how any of the 3 should be discounted.
Incumbents do have a built-in edge, but in a city where we still face many challenges, I pay close attention to up-and-coming candidates, because fresh thinking is an important feature where change is called for.
I’m impressed with how Chris Steele approaches problems, and with his thinking process in general, and though all 3 are good candidates, I’d like to se Chris make it through November and onto the Board.