Monte J. Basbas was the City Clerk for 19 years. In 1966 he was elected as mayor and served for three terms until 1971. In 1972 he was appointed a District Court Judge and presided in Newton until retirement in 1990.
Mayor Basbas died last Saturday at the age of 92.
I’m sorry to hear this.
R.I.P. Monte Basbas. Will his remains be buried alongside the rubble and non-existent asbestos from Newton North #1? The wake is at Magni’s tomorrow from 5:00-9:00 pm. Wonder how busy it will be? (After all he was 92.)
It is too bad you did not know this man as he did so much for this city, the only people I know who dislike this man are the one who met him in Newton District Court as defendants and his door was always open if you needed to talk. He was a people person and one that my family will miss. My family missed him after he moved from Kirkstall Rd. RIP Monte.
A great Man and Mayor.
May he rest in peace.
Really, he was a “great mayor”? I’m not disagreeing. I just don’t know much about him. I understand he served three two-year terms so he was popular enough to get reelected twice. But I’d love to hear more for folks who remember his time at Newton City Hall.
This must have been in 1989 or ’90, if that’s when he retired as a judge. I remember once having to cover some sort of arraignment, probably, at Newton District Court when I was a photo stringer for AP. The court officer told me and the other one or two photographers that the judge wanted to see us, and I thought, oh-oh, what’s up with that? It turned out to be Monte Basbas (I remembered his name as mayor from my youth and hadn’t know what happened to him after), and he wanted to talk about — cameras! What did we like, etc. He was charming.
A while back I randomly came across this interview with Mayor Basbas from a 2009 Wayland High School History Project called “Growing Up During Hard Times” – where he talks about his experiences growing up during the Depression and in World War II – and a few interesting comments about Newton and his time as mayor here.
Great story Julia and great link Tricia – thanks
Tricia: Thank you.