Good news for those of us who like contested elections. Newtonville resident Lynne LeBlanc has announced her candidacy for Councilor at Large (or I guess Alderman at Large until the state approves the home rule petition?) from Ward 2.
Here’s an excerpt from her announcement:
LeBlanc decided to get into the race out of a concern for Newton’s future. “As a first-rung suburb of Boston, Newton faces significant challenges as well as opportunities. The growth of Newton is inevitable but we must ask whether that growth will be at the expense of our city’s unique character with its distinct thirteen villages. There are those who would like to see Newton urbanize into something else, but I would like to see us maintain a commitment to our moniker, ‘the Garden City.’”
Another impetus for LeBlanc’s entry into the race is a commitment to transparency and accountability. “There is an impression among many that too often decisions are being made to benefit not the greater good, but rather to serve the interests of a select group of influential residents and insiders—particularly related to development. New faces, new voices, and new City Councilors from all walks of life can keep our city from being entrenched in ‘business-as-usual’ politics.”
You can read the complete announcement here. She tells me her website will be live later this week.
What do you know about Lynne? What do you want to hear from her? What are the issues you care about in this race (in which all of Newton can vote).
Always good to have contested races. Best of Luck.
Amen, Joanne!
To the best of my knowledge, these are still Aldermanic seats until it passes in the MA state legislature.
Brava, Joanne ! What a welcome breath of fresh air and ‘disinfecting sunlight’ you will be.
Combine this with Jake Auchincloss’ candidacy — and presuming the two incumbents Albright and Johnson both run — we only need one more candidate to force a run-off. Anybody?
Good luck Lynne…Go getem’
I wonder where Lynne would stand on Robinhood Park ? Duhh ! This could be almost a referendum .
The selected excerpt show is right on target with large numbers of people. Good luck, Lynn!
Make that “Lynne” 🙂
@Charlie Shapiro: are you running again?
I thought it was a very divisive announcement. To identify people as “insiders” sounds very much like Josh Norman which I find troubling. We should be seeking to find common ground.
Really, Jane, you’re comparing Lynne LeBlanc to Josh Norman? Do you not know her background, or did she do something as Horace Mann PTO co-president, or programming chair at Day Middle School, or NNHS PTSO co-president, to upset you?
And based on Josh Norman’s past comments here http://village14.com/newton-ma/2014/08/ward-3-alderman-candidates-meet-again-this-time-at-democratic-sponsored-forum/#comment-49638 , he probably wouldn’t consider LeBlanc “one of us” because I see she’s only lived in Newton since 1999.
And not everything Josh says is wrong. There are political insiders, although as I noted in responding to Josh in that same thread, I’m not sure he’s always very good at figuring out who they’re supporting.
I’d have to agree with Jane. It’s easy to complain, especially for those of us not running for office, and some of the speculation and allegations did feel divisive. (And the “distinct thirteen villages” line is getting tired…) The announcement did appear to appeal most to public anger and did little to demonstrate what it is Lynne stands for or what types of programs and policies it is she would support to improve the city. I doubt anyone ran on the “do a poor job clearing snow” or “let’s attract more 40Bs” platform. Still, I’m glad to see another entry in the race and I’m looking forward to hearing more concrete proposals during her campaign.
Good lord, you guys are picky. Now you’re tired of 13 villages? Better tell the city webmaster. From the About Newton page: “Settled in 1630, Newton, Massachusetts is a vibrant community comprised of 13 distinctive villages.” Although as I read it, I think there’s debate among grammarians over “comprised of.”
What’s next, no buttons and we can’t brag about our village’s attractions to the Tour de Newton riders?
Probably time to change the name of the blog, too. At least the 14th village truly is “distinct.”
So now when a real alternative to the status quo joins the fray, she is considered “divisive”!
Do you want a contest or not ?
What might you be afraid of ? Too many voters that you might not agree with ?
Jane,
There are insiders. Dinosaur Capital is an insider.
If you don’t agree, please explain the rationale for choosing them to develop Austin St.
Lynne’s entry into the Ward 2 arena is very welcome. She is very capable and has already served Newton very well through her efforts in the schools.
I think that we all know there are problems and it is always refreshing to see that a new person is stepping up to add energy and new perspectives to the search for solutions.
New ideas always illuminate new common ground and I am sure that is what Lynne will bring to the table. She is a a proven team player.
Acknowledging that there are problems is not divisive. It’s simple being open and transparent which are key Newton values which have being promoted a great deal from top to bottom of the city.
Julia, thank you for sharing this announcement. Lynne, thank you for deciding to run for office. I look forward to a positive conversation going forward. Hopefully people will decide to debate both sides of the issues affecting our city rather than issuing supercilious personal attacks.
Share your view about avoiding “supercilious personal attacks” but hopefully people will recognize that issues are often nuanced and have multiple sides.
How many signatures does it take to run for alderman (Councilor) in Ward 2? And do they all have to be Ward 2 residents or just Newton residents.
To run for an at-large seat you must collect 150 signatures from registered voters anywhere in Newton. To run for a ward seat you must collect 50 signatures from registered voters within that ward. For more details contact the Newton Elections Department.
@Tim, 150 registered voters from anywhere in Newton to run At Large. 50 from the ward you live in if you want to run for Ward Alderman/Councilor.
I see Emily posted while I was typing!
@Julia: good thing we agreed with each other!
Good news, thanks Julia for the information. I would love to see Susan Albright replaced. She seldom votes on behalf of Newton voters. She is pure status quo and does exactly as told by the isolated leaders of Newton.
Newton Resident,
As you stated, there are 2 different types of Aldermen…at large and ward. Each ward consists of 3 Aldermen. Each ward contains 2 at-large aldermen and one ward aldermen. Lynne and Jake as of right now, are both running for at-large councilors.
At large councilors have to campaign citywide, while ward aldermen campaign ward wide.
As far as collecting signatures, I have a feeling people can do it right now, but not sure. You should call the election department for definitive dates.
I don’t believe signature sheets are available yet… all candidates, incumbents and challengers, must collect those signatures and usually City Clerk David Olson lets us know when they are available, and the deadlines, and I haven’t heard from his office yet. Anyone interested should call his office for more information.
Housekeeping note: Two comments were removed from this thread because the commentator appeared to be using two different pseudonyms. I attempted to email that person to confirm but their email address was not valid. Both are violations of our commenting rules. I hope that person will re post their comments in accordance with our rules. Thanks.
Paul – The term “insiders” has been used in Newton for a number of years to pigeonhole people who wind their way through the schools or various city projects, though typically it’s used to describe a number of people, not one developer. You’re very focused on what happens at Austin St., so you see “insiders” as one group, but other residents see the schools, environmental or infrastructure needs, etc. as the prime focus of attention and see a completely different set of people as “insiders”. One might call it Echo Chamber Syndrome – we all tend to seek out and listen to the voices that agree with with us.
Ultimately, the term “insider” is a pejorative and has no place in the language of an elected official who is supposed to represent all residents.
Whatever Jane. We can’t make progress if people like yourself have trouble calling things for what they are. Austin St has been flawed, and there ARE insiders that are benefitting from Warren’s dishonest and non-transparent action.
I agree Austin Street has been flawed. But how exactly has anyone benefited from Austin Street? The special permit hasn’t even be filed yet. Certainly all the developers have done is invested considerable money and time in a drawn out process that may not be approved, in which case they stand to get nothing.
i mean, honestly Jane. Look at the Waban firehouse process and Austin St and how the Mayor handled both. We can’t use the term insiders?
Please. Don’t start becoming the Joshua Norman of the other side. Acknowledge reality for what it is.
Greg,
No one yet, the process isn’t over. But the process thus far makes the criticism valid- irrespective of outcome. We shouldn’t be in this situation, and it’s primarily the Mayor’s fault.
@Paul: Emotions are high enough surrounding this to engage in exaggeration. You said “insiders … are benefitting.” That’s just not true. In fact the developers are really taking an enormous risk and could walk away with nothing. There’s plenty of facts that we can disagree over, let’s stick to disagreeing over those.
Good to see some competition this year. Anyone else want to declare? Calling Charlie Shapiro, Tom Sheff?
Good for you Lynne! Congrats on your announcement and I look forward to your candidacy and opportunity to hear your positions on the issues concerning Ward 2 and all of Newton. Now the big question – Do you go “all in” and print your lawn signs to say ” LeBlanc for Councilor at Large” ?
Greg,
I understand your general point, but Dinosaur is in the position to file a special permit, where its not even clear that they should have received that opportunity. There is time and risk for any developer to reach this point in the process, and the losing developers from our “competitive” process would surely wish it was them.
PS The “insiders” from the Waban case clearly received benefit, too. Let’s not overly focus on Austin St.
Hi Doug,
Thanks for asking. I probably am done with running for office. Too discouraging. But, if the Charter reform movement has problems getting 9 reformers to run for office, I may look at that. Again, thanks for asking.
Sincerely, Tom
Jane,
I don’t think that we need to provide elected officials, or anyone else for that matter, with a lexicon of approved words they can and cannot use.
In this case, the use of insider is as OK as any other term. In any city or town, some people operate closer to the seat of power than others. Call them what you want, but insider captures that quite well.
The real question is what negative effects result from that. Maybe the insiders are terrific, smart, well balanced folks with great judgement who use their influence to level the playing field and make sure that best practices are put into place for the greater benefit of all.
Maybe not.
When Waban gets parking meters like every other village, then one could say that the negative effects of insider influence might have eroded a bit.
But there are insiders and outsiders and we should keep on using those terms as long as we need to.
I’m disappointed that Jane Frantz, Paul and Julia were making negative comments about me on this thread.
As far as this race goes its March. I have not yet seen anything that differentiates the candidates from each other at this time. Maybe I will find it during the election cycle, or maybe they all agree on the issues.
As the Newton Taxpayers Association is a non-partisan, centrist, reformist organization devoted to fiscal stewardship of taxpayer assets, we will carefully analyze and evaluate all the candidates based on where they stand on the issues, and how they will represent the needs of the people instead of the clique of politically connected special interests.
I would like to hear from the four candidates how they plan to address Newton’s $1.12 Billion pile of debt and unfunded retirement benefit obligations, especially since merely servicing these liabilities costs taxpayers $52 Million annually.
Josh – It may come as a shock to you, but your name didn’t even cross my mind when I wrote that post. “Insiders” is a term that’s been used for many years in Newton.
Paul – I don’t even know what the other side is. I’ve thought that something should be done with an ugly, run down parking lot and have thought that for at least 20 years, and haven’t been involved in the issue in any way until very recently. It would be nice if we could disagree without name calling.
Jane, that’s exactly why you put my name in your post:
“To identify people as “insiders” sounds very much like Josh Norman which I find troubling.
Read more: Lynne LeBlanc running for Ward 2 Councilor at Large (or for now, Alderman at Large) | Village 14 City of Newton, Massachusetts http://village14.com/newton-ma/2015/03/lynne-leblanc-running-for-ward-2-councilor-at-large-or-for-now-alderman-at-large/#ixzz3VWqclmqc
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One thing that separates me from the rest of Newton’s voters is that I don’t give my votes to candidates, but rather give them the opportunity to earn my vote. All four candidates have the opportunity to earn it.