Rodney Barker and Aaron Goldman at the dedication of Rodney Barker Square June 10, 2012 Photo by Alexi Reibman
Community activist Rodney Barker was honored Sunday for his years of dedication to Newton by having the plaza in front of Bread and Chocolate in Newton Highlands named in his honor.
Barker was a member of the first Newton Highlands Area Council, president of the Hyde School PTO, spend eight years as a member of the School Committee and 12 years on the Board of Alderman. And he is currently a member of the Newton Highlands Area Council.
Rodney Barker Square — at the corner of Lincoln and Hartford Streets — was dedicated during the Newton Highlands’ Village Day.
Getting to know Rodney Barker has been the single biggest joy of being a new member of the Newton Highlands Area Council. He is another example of all that is good about this town.
It was a well deserved honor and a very moving dedication. Not only that — and those who know him will appreciate this — Rodney was left pretty much speechless! A rare moment indeed!
Here’s the text of the resolution from Mayor Warren’s office:
Rodney’s wonderful. I am upset I missed the ceremony.
A well deserved honor! Congratulations, Rodney.
I too am sorry that I missed this tribute to my illustrious predecessor as Chair of the Zoning and Planning Committee. Rodney is one of the great defenders of the villages ranging back to the days of fighting to preserve village schools. I’m sure Rodney finds it “absurd!” that we need more than 30 modulars classrooms and at least one swing space school twenty years after we closed schools in village centers that most kids could walk to without busing. The minor operating costs we saved by closing Emerson, Hyde, Hamilton, etc. are dwarfed by the money we’ll have to spend to replace the lost space at much more ill-suited locations.
Rodney has weighed in on the proposed construction of monster homes on illegal, substandard lots. Let’s hope he’s listened to this time.
Rodney’s presence on the Highlands Area Council shows the strength of this vital institution that so many villages are trying to replicate now. Let’s hope that they can be a successful as the Highlands and acquire active Councillors like the Highlands and Upper Falls have done. It’s a pleasure to know that somebody with Rodney’s wealth of knowledge about the city is still out there fighting the good fight.
Alderman Brian Yate