Newton Highlands resident Suzanne Rourke Szescila says she is working with “a bunch of Newton residents” on organizing an opposition campaign to Mayor Setti Warren’s proposed tax overrides.
Szescila was elected to the Newton Republican City Committee in 2011 and according to her LinkIn page was a volunteer for Sean Bielat, the two-time GOP candidate for Congress. She is also a part-time instructor with Newton Community Education and a director with the Newton 9-11 Committee.
Szescila — who wrote a letter to the TAB in opposition to the override in December — announced the formation of the new group Sunday in this Village 14 blog comment. Here’s a excerpt…
Yes, there is opposition! The first citywide meeting of Moving Newton Forward, which urges three NO votes on the three override proposals, will occur Wednesday, February 6th, at 7 pm at the Post 440 at 295 California Street. Our goal is to demonstrate that Newton has plenty of money, while we protect Newton’s most common good—household income.
After posting her comment, I sent Szescila an email asking if she would tell me more about who is in the group or if they had website, Facebook page or press release. Here’s her reply…
Dear Greg,
We are just a bunch of Newton residents. Nothing special. We’re set for promotion right now, but thank you so much for your kind offer.
Suzanne
Prior to word of this group, there had been no known organized opposition to the three overrides, estimated at $11.4 million, which goes before voters on March 12. It’s not clear how serious this group’s efforts will be, although another Village 14 blog comment indicates that they also have “a research director”
I wish them luck. Setti Warren is just an old-fashioned pol. When the money gets tight, just tax more. Deval Patrick is doing that in the state, in spite of the added sales tax that was passed a while back. The Democrats in Congress and Obama want to do that. Don’t they ever think that it’s their friends and families who are getting hurt, or are they all on the government payroll and are the cause of the problems? Some states, headed by Republicans, are standing up to the excessive power of public service unions, which simply should never have existed. But in lovely ultra-Democratic Massachusetts, we will tax everyone into poverty, except for the politicians and their friends, who are on the take and many are in jail now because of it.
Barry,
You have to remember that other states could be paying an additional 5+% per year. To my knowledge, Massachusetts is unique in that they have prop 2.5 which limits our increases. I think most people would be upset here, too, if we were all paying 5-6% per year on additional taxes.
The answer is to get people with management skills in management positions. Clear and simple.