Under the Newton City Charter, neighborhood area councils have been approved as citizen-instigated elected grass-roots advisory organizations for several decades. But, for many years, only one neighborhood took advantage of this most local of all loci of our city’s government.
Out of the death knell of the Woolworth’s store on Lincoln Street rose the Newton Highlands Neighborhood Area Council, a group of nine elected Councilor volunteers who have worked diligently on behalf of their Village (particularly to keep the Hyde School open and to create the Hyde Center) by informing their neighbors about these and other city matters directly affecting them and by bringing that neighborhood’s concerns directly to City Hall with a bit more weight than an individual could.
Newton Upper Falls was second. In January 2012 their nine member council was sworn in and they have been operating since then to address their community’s needs.
Newton Centre tried to develop an Area Council, but withdrew its petition after some discussions about the legitimacy of the district they had outlined for representation. L
Newtonville was the third to gather their requisite signatures and were accepted by the Board of Aldermen as the third Village Council. They will be electing their Councilors at an election next September at their Village Day and during the week after that at City Hall.
And now Waban has successfully gathered 904 certified signatures (where only 817 were required) to enable the creation of the Council to be docketed as an item for the Board of Aldermen to refer to their Programs and Services Committee. Then, if approved by the Committee, the item will be sent back to the Board to be voted on by the full Board in order for the Waban Area Council to become the fourth recognized Village Neighborhood Area Council. Then, after the Board’s approval, nine Waban registered voters will be eligible to be elected by voters within the Waban Area Council Service Area as Councilors of the first ever Waban Area Council.
I would also like to point out that Ward 5 will be the first Ward in Newton to have a Neighborhood Area Council in each of its villages (Newton Highlands, Upper Falls and Waban)!
How many billion signatures are required to docket the creation of the Village 14 Area Council?
@Steve: At least 14 billion virtual signatures! Perhaps the chickens of another thread could sit at 100,000 keyboards…and get 14 billion peeps. I think that David Olson might not enjoy certifying the signatures…would Perdue or Empire be acceptable according to the City Charter? By the way, is there a chicken tax in Newton? I certainly hope that if there is one, it is a poultry sum!
Ouch ! – quick, someone take that keyboard away from Sallee 😉
Good for ward 5!!! It will never happen in Oak Hill. What exactly happened in Newton Centre?
@Tom: Never say never, Tom. I was among those who were extremely skeptical about the concept of an Area Council in Waban…After all, with 24 Aldermen we already had enough representation to keep the tea out of the harbor! I skipped the first two meetings posted in the Tab. By the time I saw the third meeting notice, I decided to find out what these “organizers” were up to. Was this Chicago in the 60’s with Saul Alinsky in the trenches? Ready to smack down what I believed would be their interfering, invasive, annoying, actions, I attended their third meeting at the Waban Library Center. Don’t tell anyone, but I was wrong…The “evil” organizers were really intelligent, well-meaning, informed and involved and genuinely wanted to help my community to be better than it already was. Dagnabbit, I was hooked when they said no pay and no benefits for the Councilors. But, this time, THEY were wrong…there are benefits aplenty! Among them: I now recognize most of our Aldermen and, conversely, when I introduced myself to one recently, he shuddered and said, “Oh, I know who YOU are!” (Even though he doesn’t think Area Councils are endowed with any power, his response to me was mighty empowering!). So, I got a voice. But much more important in that benefit list is that Waban got a voice. Don’t underestimate your Oak Hill neighbors. If you narrate the tale well, they will clamor aboard and you’ll be number 5 in the Area Council Saga. There are many of us who can guide and counsel you with your efforts (including your own Aldermen)! It’s one of those activities that is hard work, but lots of fun!
BTW: The scuttlebutt is that Newton Centre tried to define its service area in some bizarre, non-inclusive gerrymandered way that was not reflective of all or most of its citizens’ opinions. The BOA was going to turn them down, so they withdrew their petition. My hope is that they they try again and that this time they expand their service area to at least 1/2 of the area of 02459 and entreat the BOA to allow at least 2 Councils for Newton Centre whose area is 1/2 the area of the entire City!!!
Sallee, Thanks.
My efforts for this city is withdrawing. I am no longer interested in volunteering my time.
I do, however, know that I find it incredibly difficult to believe that someone will go door to door to get the necessary sigs, etc. There is no real village center in OH. I’m not even quite sure I’m in the Oak Hill area, I’m border Newton Centre and Oak Hill. Regardless, I find it hard to believe it will get done. I’m not putting the blame on the elected officials, in this case, it’s the community. No one out here except the Lipof’s and I’m not sure if thats enough.
Sallee, I’m glad to hear you got involved through this, though. I O U an email, I’ve been putting off to talk about Rte 128 lane. I still have you’re email and maybe we’ll talk this weekend. Thanks again.
Just curious – how is it determined which streets are in a village?
Jane – I don’t think there’s a simple answer to that question. If you ask what tbe boundaries of Upper Falls is for example, you’ll get about five different answers depending on whether you ask the Post Office, the Election Commission, the Historic Commission, a resident, etc….. and now the Area Council.
When they drew the boundaries for the UF Area Council for example, part of that boundary was defined by the outer boundary of the already existing Highlands Area Council.
I think that these sorts of questions were part of the problem with Newton Centres recent efforts to set up a Council.
@Jane: Fundamentally, the petitioners determine the boundaries in the context of the guidance given in the City Charter. The Charter does not impose those “Village” boundaries on the community or its area council’s petitioners, but allows the Board to address what it might consider morally or politically corrupt attempts to isolate islands of opinion within a community. Here’s what the City Charter says about Area Council Boundaries. Hope this helps:
Sec. 9-3. Creation by Petition.
(a) A petition may be submitted to the board of Aldermen requesting the establishment of a neighborhood service area to provide any service or services which the City is otherwise authorized by law to provide. Such petition must be signed by twenty per cent of the voters residing in such area. The petition shall describe the territorial boundaries of the proposed service area, shall specify the services to be provided, and shall indicate the size of the neighborhood area council.
(b) Upon receipt of the petition, the Board shall submit the petition for verification of signatures thereon, and within thirty days following verification, the Board of Aldermen shall hold a public hearing on the question of whether or not the requested neighborhood service area shall be established. The hearing may be adjourned from time to time but shall be completed within sixty days of its commencement.
(c) Within thirty days following the public hearing, the Board of Aldermen shall by resolution approve or disapprove the establishment of the requested neighborhood service area.
(d) A resolution approving the creation of the neighborhood service area may contain amendments or modifications of the area’s boundaries, functions, or the size of the neighborhood area council as set forth in the petition. (Referendum of 11-4-75)
Sec. 9-4. Boundary Changes of a Neighborhood Service Area.
The board of Aldermen may, pursuant to a request from a neighborhood area council accompanied by a petition signed by at least twenty per cent of the voters residing in the area to be added or deleted, enlarge, diminish, or otherwise alter the boundaries of any existing neighborhood service area following the procedures set forth in Section 9-3 (b), (c), and (d).
Sec. 9-5. Considerations in Setting Boundaries.
In establishing neighborhood service area boundaries and determining those services to be undertaken by a neighborhood area council, the Board of Aldermen shall study and take into consideration, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) The extent to which the area constitutes a neighborhood with common concerns and a capacity for local neighborhood initiative, leadership, and decision-making with respect to City government.
(2) City agency authority and resources which may appropriately be either transferred or shared with the neighborhood council.
(3) Population density, distribution, and growth within a neighborhood service area to assure that its boundaries reflect the most effective territory for local participation and control.
(4) Citizen access to, control of, and participation in neighborhood service area activities and functions.
I believe the closing of the Hyde School played a big part in the establishment of the Newton Highlands NAC along with the closing of Woolworth’s. In any event, congratulations to the Waban activists who completed the Herculean task of collecting more signatures than the previous councils with their slightly smaller boundaries. I look forward to working with the new Councillors as formal partners in government. I’m sure most of them will be familar faces from the variety of issues affecting Waban like the current traffic issues and how they may be aggravated by traffic diverted from Route 128 by the traffic lights at Route 9 proposed by Mass. DOT, the long campaign by John Rice to make the Waban Library Center a new accessible polling place, flooding issues along Quinobequin Road, overdevelopment of substandard lots, historic preservation, the replacement of the Angier School , the repairs to the Zervas School, etc. The success of the Waban Library Center shows the capacity of Wabanites to mobilize around community projects. (And I’m pleased to have been instrumental in allowing the branch library books to remain in place to be supplemented with excellent current selections.) I’m sure the Waban Improvement Society will work out a division of labor with the Council just as the Upper Falls and Highlands CDC’s have with their NAC’s.
And I’m certain Alderman John Rice will be thoroughly exhausted by his three Thursday night meetings now that he’s completed his quest to make Ward Five the first Ward to be totally served by Neighborhood Area Councils.
Alderman Brian Yates