Political commentator and Newton resident Marjorie Arons-Barron  weighs in on the charter commission on her blog.

We  may be a city, but it’s the councilors’ connectivity to the wards that authenticates neighborhood responsiveness and highlights accountability.  A good ward councilor has in his or her DNA the pulse of the ward and the fiber of its neighborhoods. The responsiveness of a councilor elected citywide, even if he or she is designated “from” a ward, is bound to be diluted, with tens of thousands more constituents to answer to.