The newly formed Waban Area Council will have it’s first election this November with 13 candidates running for the 9 council positions.Waban will be the forth Area Council in the city joining Newtonville, Newton Upper Falls and Newton Highlands. Residents can view biographies of the 13 candidates on the Candidate’s page on the WAC website.
The Service Area for the WAC will have most residents voting during the Municipal Election at the Zervas School. There will be a separate table with WAC ballots. Waban voters who usually vote at the Hyde Community Center will need to vote in the Municipal Election at the Hyde Community Center and either go to Zervas to cast their votes for the Council Members or they may take advantage of early voting at Newton City Hall. Early voting for the Waban Area Council is available at the City Clerk’s Office at Newton City Hall, from 8:30am to 5:00pm on Thurs., Oct. 31, Fri., Nov. 1, and Mon., Nov. 4, 2013.
We invite comments from the candidates and their supporters as well as look for a big turnout on election day.
I would run for this but I don’t feel like getting zero votes.
@Kim, I would hope you would get your own vote. I would have voted for you but live in the Highlands.
Hi Kim: You just might be surprised. Some tired warriors had told us we wouldn’t have a contested election…that we would be lucky to get nine people who would want to serve as volunteers, unable to legislate or raise funds. But, here we are…13 people who want to serve and only 9 positions to do it in officially! You bet I’m running…and so are at least 4 or 5 other people who started the Council and have worked on it actively for over a year on an ad hoc council of concerned citizens. We have had monthly meetings bringing info on Add-A-Lane and its probable deleterious effects on Waban to the residents’ ears, caused the City to hold its only WELL ATTENDED public meeting on the issue at City Hall with State Rep Balser facilitating and attending and State Sen. Creem sending an emissary. We have reported info on Waban infrastructure problems, including storm water on our western border running into people’s basements with no where to send it. We have educated people here about the possible effects on Waban from the Riverside Project. We are watching the possible re-use of St. Philip Neri Church by a developer. We are cautioning the necessary people about the triangle of transportation nightmares we will be living through with the confluence of construction on Add-A-Lane, Riverside and the Angier School Rebuilding. We will keep an eye on the Zervas Project and report back. We will interact with City Hall on introducing Community Participation in the development of Affordable Housing so that Waban residents as well as other villages do not have to live again through the sadly divisive episode that Engine 6 presented to us.
With 13 people running, we might just surprise you with our vote totals. Besides, the four who will lose the election will be encouraged to become active participants in our VERY open and advertised meetings. We have not actually had the need to vote on anything in the last year and a half. We have asked for participants’ opinions and have discussed issues broadly with all who attend our meetings. If the ad hoc Waban Area Council were running the government in D.C., there never would have been a shut-down. We respect each other and work for the common good. Mirabile dictu!!!!!!!
I forgot to add that the process isn’t easy to allow people to vote for Council members. The Area Council Ballot is separate from the Municipal Ballot which is generated from the State database. Voters must ask for the Area Council Ballot separately from the Municipal Election Ballot. Further, the precinct and area Council boundaries are not necessarily coincident. Village boundaries are “self determined” while precincts are drawn to evenly accommodate similar numbers of voters. Most Waban Area Council voters vote at Zervas; however, a substantial number of Waban Area Council voters vote at Hyde. They need to go to Hyde for voting in the Municipal Election and then go to Zervas and ask for the Area Council Ballot. The only alternative to this double polling place visit is to vote early on the three business days before the Nov 5 election at City Hall Elections Department from 8:30-5pm.