Ward 1, Precinct 3, Bigelow: I was voter #37. Healthy # of sign carriers out front, noted Steele and Crossley signs in particular (did not walk directly by them), but am sure most or all contested races were represented.
I was voter 36 at 3/2 (Peirce School) at 7:45 this morning. I was there before the bake sale was going. Poor planning on my part! I generally don’t vote in uncontested races — whether it’s a single candidate or two candidates in a “vote for no more than two” race. So despite the two-sided ballot I didn’t have too many filled-in ovals.
Mark Marderosian
on November 5, 2013 at 9:42 am
9 AM – 3/3 #68.
Brought $10 but no bake sale. Left disappointed and hungry. Doing civic duty was small solace.
Jerry Reilly
on November 5, 2013 at 9:54 am
Emerson Community Center, Upper Falls (5/1) 9AM, voter #86. No baked goods
Jerry Reilly
on November 5, 2013 at 9:55 am
Way too many different uncontested races.
Julia Malakiephoto
on November 5, 2013 at 10:17 am
Number 87 at 3/3 at 10am. No bake sale here either. No sign holders. About four voters ahead of me to sign in. Good sign, I guess.
Apparently, a Newton police officer informed the sign holders outside of the Hyde Center in the Highlands that they were too close to the polling place and had to move.
The interesting thing is that sign holders have been standing in the former location for as long as I can recall. It did detract from the usual hobnobbing outside the Hyde this morning, but I suppose the rules are the rules.
Steven Feinstein
on November 5, 2013 at 11:07 am
Greg, you voted at 6/3. They changed the map a little since 2012.
@Gail: If I’m not mistaken you live on one of the streets that was just added to the Highlands Area Council footprint, but unfortunately for you and your neighbors, you’ll need to go to the Hyde Center to vote for Bob. It’s a separate line and a separate ballot box.
I do not know why it is done that way.
BTW, I wrote in Bill Brandel for one of the open seats. If we get two or three other folks to do the same, that might be enough.
JenAK
on November 5, 2013 at 12:56 pm
I was voter 142 at Emerson (5/1) at about 11:30, with about five or six more coming in right behind me. No signs when I arrived, but by the time the kids and I left the playground around 12:30, there were signs being held for Margaret Albright, Brian Yates, and Maxine Bridger (UF Area Council).
Hoss
on November 5, 2013 at 1:09 pm
Most precincts have about 1500 registered voters so Emerson and Countryside have about 10% turnout according to those last two pre-lunch counts
Steven Feinstein
on November 5, 2013 at 1:52 pm
I couldn’t vote for Emily Norton, but I did get to hold a sign for her and in so doing got to have a lovely chat with Ted Hess-Mahan’s son for about an hour. Very pleasant and knowledgeable young man. Earlier I voted at the Hyde where I met Greg live and in person, also Brian Yates, and I spilled coffee all over the Highlands Area Council table. Plus, there were two LWV petitioners who were unaware of each other’s presence. Could have signed twice!
BOB BURKE
on November 5, 2013 at 2:29 pm
@Greg and Gail. With supporters like you, I don’t think I can lose my Area Council race. The fact that only 7 are running for 9 positions also helps. Gail. I’m pretty certain you live in the expanded Area Council area. Unfortunately, there was some kind of a glitch and the new streets weren’t included in the list of voters for the Area Council that they had at Hyde. I would love to see Bill Brandel, but my write in vote went to Bruce Henderson.
Patrick
on November 5, 2013 at 2:36 pm
I have been a tax-paying home owner in Waban for 34 years, and now I am told I do not qualify to be represented by the new Waban Area Council. Looking at the WAC boundary map, I find it odd that it will represent people who live outside Waban while not representing people living in Waban.
We talk about a small group of political insiders running Newton. It appears that group is spreading its influence to include the area councils.
The first order of business for the new council should be to fix its boundaries.
BOB BURKE
on November 5, 2013 at 2:39 pm
I’m always amazed by two facets of election day. The basic decency and friendliness of people who turn up to hold signs for the various candidates. There’s a kind of bond that forms from shared experiences among most people who are engaged in political work of this type in Newton. Everyone has some tale of a past campaign or a specific candidate from long ago. The thing I don’t like is how many people are totally unengaged in any kind of civic action and how little interest or curiosity they have in finding out even the most basic facts about the City’s government structure and its leadership. It’s like the poll that was taken a few years back that revealed that less than 10 percent of the population could name even 2 Supreme Court Justices, but a large majority knew the names of the judges on American Idol.
Jerry Reilly
on November 5, 2013 at 2:43 pm
I can’t speak to the details of the Waban Area Council boundaries. In general though, all the village boundaries are pretty squishy. In Upper Falls there’s different boundaries for the post office, the ward/precinct, the Area Council, the Historic District and accepted wisdom.
My guess is something much more benign was at work in setting the Waban Area Council boundaries rather than political Jerrymandering.
Patrick
on November 5, 2013 at 2:53 pm
Jerry, thank you for your comment. If there is no political jerrymandering in action, then the simple answer to the WAC’s boundaries should be the zip code “02468” since the city can not define the boundaries adequately. The USPS preferred name for 02468 is Waban. There is no other zip code that falls into that same category.
Terry Malloy
on November 5, 2013 at 3:19 pm
I voted by absentee ballot a couple of weeks ago and was surprised that I couldn’t vote for area council early.
By popular acclaim, or executive proclamation, the entire city of Newton should vote Bob Burke Ambassador of Newton Highlands.
Patrick: Defining village boundaries in Newton is more complicated than it seems. They have shifted like glaciers over the years. The post office defined zip codes for ease of delivery and will tell you that they don’t delineate boundaries of any kind. For a project a few years ago I did research to define the Waban borders and it was an interesting and involved process. In the end, to make it as inclusive as possible (because there really isn’t an accurate answer) I combined the Angier school zone with the 02468 zip and obvious geographical marks. There is no right answer when making Newton village borders.
Good luck with the election Newton! Glacier hiking in New Zealand today!
Nate Beaudoin
on November 5, 2013 at 3:19 pm
I was voter #192 around 1:45 at the Burr School in Auburndale. I was surprised to see samosas at the PTO bake sale, but I couldn’t resist. They were $2 and delicious.
Tricia
on November 5, 2013 at 3:51 pm
I was voter #173 at NCSC (3/3) around 1:45pm – no sign holders, no bake sales. Burr, on the other hand, has both an excellent bake sale and quite a few sign holders (at least before work and at lunch time.) Candidates Albright, Steele, Steenstrup, Warren and Yates were all represented.
Patrick
on November 5, 2013 at 4:01 pm
Terry, thank you for your comment. As we have seen, school districts and and the city’s political voting boundaries change over time. Newton prides itself on the village concept. The most identifying and unchanging activity in a village is the post office. I and my neighbors have been going to the Waban post office through all the other boundary changes. Children in my neighborhood have gone to the Zervas School even when the Hyde School was open. We are now being told we are not a part of Waban.
Defining village boundaries does not need to be difficult. Using zip codes will define boundaries for most of the villages. Even you included all of 02468 in your project.
If the WAC does not have the ability to fix the boundary issue, then they should move the “entering Waban” sign on Beacon Street to the intersecting of Beacon and Beethoven, a point they seem interested in representing..
TheWholeTruth
on November 5, 2013 at 6:20 pm
#278 at 4:45 pm at 3/3
Kim
on November 5, 2013 at 7:56 pm
#559 at 7:09 PM at Zervas.
Maureen Reilly Meagher
on November 6, 2013 at 8:40 am
Patrick,
As a fellow Wabanite and one of the nine newly elected councilors,to the Waban Area Council,I would encourage you to
come to the November 14th meeting at the Waban library and introduce yourself.
There is a process for enlarging the catchment area,I believe the Highlands just did this.
As Mr.Malloy stated,the boundary story is an interesting one.
We live on line at wabanareacouncil.com
BOB BURKE
on November 6, 2013 at 9:02 am
The borders have always been squishy. I’ve probably told this story before, but when I was a kid there was a large silver sign that said “Entering Waban” on Woodward Street between Beethoven and Allen Avenue. One day that sign disappeared and shortly thereafter a new green “Entering Waban” sign appeared on Woodward between Hinckley and Carver roads. It seems that homeowners living on Beethoven, Winslow and Hinckley had petitioned the City to have their streets moved from the Highlands to Waban. Waban was a far more prestigious address in those days. Still is, but the gap has narrowed a lot.
@Patrick,
We did try to stay to 02468 as much as we could, but the Highlands Area Council’s history got in our way a little. We found that several of the streets that get mail addressed to Waban already were part of the service area covered by the Newton Highlands area council and therefore could not be included in the new one.
I suspect that over time the boundaries may adjust to what the residents of those streets feel is most appropriate.
BOB BURKE
on November 6, 2013 at 11:19 am
@Terry. Thanks for the honor, but I’m already the Highlands official “Ambassador to Upper Falls and the Court of Hemlock Gorge” where Empress Karen rules with a kind and benevolent hand”. All that has earned me an invite to the Feast of the Falls spectacular, a lot of other goodies that the Falls specializes in, and loads of friends across the political spectrum.
PS. Your guy ran a magnificent race. I would have been solidly in his corner if it had been anyone else but Brian.
Sallee Lipshutz
on November 6, 2013 at 11:40 am
Got to put in my thoughts here. Maureen Reilly-Meagher, Chris Pitts, Rena Getz and I are newly elected members to the Waban Area Council who have been working on the Waban Area Council for a long time (well over a year) to make its existence a reality. We are totally inclusionary, with no attempt at being exclusive. Nothing sinister at all. I am confident that the five other new members of the Council will agree that any residents near our boundaries who wish to join, will be welcomed. I personally, as a newly elected member, will help you to get the signatures you need and inform about the legal process of Board of Aldermen approval that would be required. The Council has as its purpose facilitating communication with City Hall . We will be meeting on the second Thursday of November at the Waban Library Center at 7:30 pm. Please join us by visiting our website and leaving your e-mail address. We have no funding…so e-mail is our principal means of reaching our residents. website is http://www.wabanareacouncil.com
Adam
on November 6, 2013 at 11:55 am
Area Councils make a lot of sense in some parts of the city, but I think it’s wrong to apply them everywhere. Bragging rights and real estate arguments aside, some areas strongly identify with a business district or have institutions or natural boundaries that tie them together, others never will, unless the city imposes borders. For many areas of Newton, it’s more about proximity to one or more village centers than membership in a particular village. For a large section south of Route 9, village identity makes little sense outside of Oak Hill Park. For the tiny hamlet of Thompsonville, expanding it to be on par with Newton Centre is artificial and unfair to voters who have more at stake in Newton Centre. Maybe there are even cases village identities overlap? Area Councils should be about bringing communities together, not dividing them.
Patrick
on November 6, 2013 at 12:09 pm
Maureen, thank you for the invitation.
Chris, thank you for your reply. While you did say you tried to stay to 02468 as much as you could, you did choose to go beyond the 02468 boundary in certain areas, areas not referred to as “Waban”. The Waban Improvement Society has no problem including my neighborhood in their membership.
Your explanation regarding the NH Area Council is weak since the WAC did not exist at the time of their boundary setting so as to have a meaningful discussion about the proper boundary. You seem content to wait for the boundary to maybe adjust over time. I would say your first responsibility as an area council is to get correct the area you represent. You are the “Waban Area Council”, not the “Most of Waban Area Council”. I would say the WAC is off to a less than satisfactory start.
Adam
on November 6, 2013 at 1:33 pm
Patrick, they had to start somewhere. The NHNAC expanded over time also, probably to include the outlying areas you mention. Collect the required number of signatures from your neighborhood and take it to the WAC.
@Patrick – I did not say that we chose not to go adjust. I said that we tried to include as much of Waban and in extend into areas that were relevant to the neighborhood unless they were already covered by another area council.
In those cases, the option of including them was simply not available to us. It is however entirely possible (as Adam notes) for the residents of an area to petition to shift area councils if they desire to do so.
For these and the other reasons cited above, please understand that this was not any form of intentional gerrymandering, but only one of attempting to get a working area council in place. The form is flexible enough to adapt to the input and desires to grow and adapt over time, and I hope that you will take a leading role to get your neighborhood into the area where you think it will get the best representation. I’m happy to talk with you in person or on the phone about how to make that happen if you would like. Please count upon me as a resource.
BOB BURKE
on November 6, 2013 at 2:31 pm
@Patrick. Chris is absolutely correct and I think that he and the rest of the founders of the Waban Area Council should be commended for getting it off the ground in good order rather than criticized for as you term it “not being off to a satisfactory start”. I just don’t see how this supposed oversight can in any way be interpreted as making what they did “unsatisfactory” in any way. I’m a member of the Newton Highlands Area Council. Earlier this year, we helped a seven block area of the Highlands near the Countryside School petition to become part of our area council. This made a lot of sense because they wanted to join an area council and because there was no other village that this area could have attached itself to. Adam is right that not every part of Newton or even every village wants or needs an area council arrangement and no council should so jealously guard the area it covers when fragments of it should more logically be included in an adjacent Council’s area. I can think of fragments of our Council that more logically fit into the Upper Falls Council area, but I’m not going to divulge these until Jerry, Brian and Anil talk turkey about giving us part of the Greenway.
Sallee Lipshutz
on November 6, 2013 at 5:12 pm
@Patrick: Please relax! No one is keeping you out or wishing that you go away! Honestly, we would love to help you join the service area of the Council. And there’s even better news. Come to our next meeting to see what we are doing. We exist to help bring matters of concern to you to City Hall and to inform you about what is going on at City Hall that will affect your daily routines. We will do so now, if you wish, even if your address is a block or two outside our present bailiwick! To do that, we need you to attend our meetings and/or to give us your e-mail address. WAC is, in fact, off to a magnificent start! It exists and at last has its 9 members elected to serve. That wasn’t easy. It took well over a year to achieve. Adding your street is a minimal effort compared to giving birth to a new Council, and I and others will be happy to help you join in! Come inside and keep Waban warm.
Ward 1, Precinct 3, Bigelow: I was voter #37. Healthy # of sign carriers out front, noted Steele and Crossley signs in particular (did not walk directly by them), but am sure most or all contested races were represented.
(ETA: I votes at 7:35 am, and correcting typos)
What a great day. I was voter 72 at 5/2 and I was able to vote for Ted Hess-Mahan AND Setti Warren.
…oh and Bob Burke too!
I was voter 36 at 3/2 (Peirce School) at 7:45 this morning. I was there before the bake sale was going. Poor planning on my part! I generally don’t vote in uncontested races — whether it’s a single candidate or two candidates in a “vote for no more than two” race. So despite the two-sided ballot I didn’t have too many filled-in ovals.
9 AM – 3/3 #68.
Brought $10 but no bake sale. Left disappointed and hungry. Doing civic duty was small solace.
Emerson Community Center, Upper Falls (5/1) 9AM, voter #86. No baked goods
Way too many different uncontested races.
Number 87 at 3/3 at 10am. No bake sale here either. No sign holders. About four voters ahead of me to sign in. Good sign, I guess.
There was a bake sale at Bigelow but once again I left the poor folks hanging.
Apparently, a Newton police officer informed the sign holders outside of the Hyde Center in the Highlands that they were too close to the polling place and had to move.
The interesting thing is that sign holders have been standing in the former location for as long as I can recall. It did detract from the usual hobnobbing outside the Hyde this morning, but I suppose the rules are the rules.
Greg, you voted at 6/3. They changed the map a little since 2012.
If anyone is interested what the Warden table actually does, here’s a great account: http://benlog.com/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/
#132 at 4/4 at 11:15 am. They had a bake sale but I did not buy anything.
Was vote #10 at Hyde 5/2.
I also voted for Newton Highlands area council.
There were a few sign holders at 10 AM.
There will be a bake sale at Hyde from the afterschool – once school gets out;
There will be NO bake sale at Newton Lower Falls due to the construction – the kitchen is not yet usable for the kids.
GO CHRIS STEEELE!
GO SETTI WARREN.
I couldn’t vote for EVE but vote for EVE TAPPER!
#157 at 8/3 (Countryside) at 12:05 p.m.
Why isn’t Newton Highlands south of Route 9 part of the Newton Highlands Area Council? I wanted to vote for Bob Burke.
@Gail: If I’m not mistaken you live on one of the streets that was just added to the Highlands Area Council footprint, but unfortunately for you and your neighbors, you’ll need to go to the Hyde Center to vote for Bob. It’s a separate line and a separate ballot box.
I do not know why it is done that way.
BTW, I wrote in Bill Brandel for one of the open seats. If we get two or three other folks to do the same, that might be enough.
I was voter 142 at Emerson (5/1) at about 11:30, with about five or six more coming in right behind me. No signs when I arrived, but by the time the kids and I left the playground around 12:30, there were signs being held for Margaret Albright, Brian Yates, and Maxine Bridger (UF Area Council).
Most precincts have about 1500 registered voters so Emerson and Countryside have about 10% turnout according to those last two pre-lunch counts
I couldn’t vote for Emily Norton, but I did get to hold a sign for her and in so doing got to have a lovely chat with Ted Hess-Mahan’s son for about an hour. Very pleasant and knowledgeable young man. Earlier I voted at the Hyde where I met Greg live and in person, also Brian Yates, and I spilled coffee all over the Highlands Area Council table. Plus, there were two LWV petitioners who were unaware of each other’s presence. Could have signed twice!
@Greg and Gail. With supporters like you, I don’t think I can lose my Area Council race. The fact that only 7 are running for 9 positions also helps. Gail. I’m pretty certain you live in the expanded Area Council area. Unfortunately, there was some kind of a glitch and the new streets weren’t included in the list of voters for the Area Council that they had at Hyde. I would love to see Bill Brandel, but my write in vote went to Bruce Henderson.
I have been a tax-paying home owner in Waban for 34 years, and now I am told I do not qualify to be represented by the new Waban Area Council. Looking at the WAC boundary map, I find it odd that it will represent people who live outside Waban while not representing people living in Waban.
We talk about a small group of political insiders running Newton. It appears that group is spreading its influence to include the area councils.
The first order of business for the new council should be to fix its boundaries.
I’m always amazed by two facets of election day. The basic decency and friendliness of people who turn up to hold signs for the various candidates. There’s a kind of bond that forms from shared experiences among most people who are engaged in political work of this type in Newton. Everyone has some tale of a past campaign or a specific candidate from long ago. The thing I don’t like is how many people are totally unengaged in any kind of civic action and how little interest or curiosity they have in finding out even the most basic facts about the City’s government structure and its leadership. It’s like the poll that was taken a few years back that revealed that less than 10 percent of the population could name even 2 Supreme Court Justices, but a large majority knew the names of the judges on American Idol.
I can’t speak to the details of the Waban Area Council boundaries. In general though, all the village boundaries are pretty squishy. In Upper Falls there’s different boundaries for the post office, the ward/precinct, the Area Council, the Historic District and accepted wisdom.
My guess is something much more benign was at work in setting the Waban Area Council boundaries rather than political Jerrymandering.
Jerry, thank you for your comment. If there is no political jerrymandering in action, then the simple answer to the WAC’s boundaries should be the zip code “02468” since the city can not define the boundaries adequately. The USPS preferred name for 02468 is Waban. There is no other zip code that falls into that same category.
I voted by absentee ballot a couple of weeks ago and was surprised that I couldn’t vote for area council early.
By popular acclaim, or executive proclamation, the entire city of Newton should vote Bob Burke Ambassador of Newton Highlands.
Patrick: Defining village boundaries in Newton is more complicated than it seems. They have shifted like glaciers over the years. The post office defined zip codes for ease of delivery and will tell you that they don’t delineate boundaries of any kind. For a project a few years ago I did research to define the Waban borders and it was an interesting and involved process. In the end, to make it as inclusive as possible (because there really isn’t an accurate answer) I combined the Angier school zone with the 02468 zip and obvious geographical marks. There is no right answer when making Newton village borders.
Good luck with the election Newton! Glacier hiking in New Zealand today!
I was voter #192 around 1:45 at the Burr School in Auburndale. I was surprised to see samosas at the PTO bake sale, but I couldn’t resist. They were $2 and delicious.
I was voter #173 at NCSC (3/3) around 1:45pm – no sign holders, no bake sales. Burr, on the other hand, has both an excellent bake sale and quite a few sign holders (at least before work and at lunch time.) Candidates Albright, Steele, Steenstrup, Warren and Yates were all represented.
Terry, thank you for your comment. As we have seen, school districts and and the city’s political voting boundaries change over time. Newton prides itself on the village concept. The most identifying and unchanging activity in a village is the post office. I and my neighbors have been going to the Waban post office through all the other boundary changes. Children in my neighborhood have gone to the Zervas School even when the Hyde School was open. We are now being told we are not a part of Waban.
Defining village boundaries does not need to be difficult. Using zip codes will define boundaries for most of the villages. Even you included all of 02468 in your project.
If the WAC does not have the ability to fix the boundary issue, then they should move the “entering Waban” sign on Beacon Street to the intersecting of Beacon and Beethoven, a point they seem interested in representing..
#278 at 4:45 pm at 3/3
#559 at 7:09 PM at Zervas.
Patrick,
As a fellow Wabanite and one of the nine newly elected councilors,to the Waban Area Council,I would encourage you to
come to the November 14th meeting at the Waban library and introduce yourself.
There is a process for enlarging the catchment area,I believe the Highlands just did this.
As Mr.Malloy stated,the boundary story is an interesting one.
We live on line at wabanareacouncil.com
The borders have always been squishy. I’ve probably told this story before, but when I was a kid there was a large silver sign that said “Entering Waban” on Woodward Street between Beethoven and Allen Avenue. One day that sign disappeared and shortly thereafter a new green “Entering Waban” sign appeared on Woodward between Hinckley and Carver roads. It seems that homeowners living on Beethoven, Winslow and Hinckley had petitioned the City to have their streets moved from the Highlands to Waban. Waban was a far more prestigious address in those days. Still is, but the gap has narrowed a lot.
@Patrick,
We did try to stay to 02468 as much as we could, but the Highlands Area Council’s history got in our way a little. We found that several of the streets that get mail addressed to Waban already were part of the service area covered by the Newton Highlands area council and therefore could not be included in the new one.
I suspect that over time the boundaries may adjust to what the residents of those streets feel is most appropriate.
@Terry. Thanks for the honor, but I’m already the Highlands official “Ambassador to Upper Falls and the Court of Hemlock Gorge” where Empress Karen rules with a kind and benevolent hand”. All that has earned me an invite to the Feast of the Falls spectacular, a lot of other goodies that the Falls specializes in, and loads of friends across the political spectrum.
PS. Your guy ran a magnificent race. I would have been solidly in his corner if it had been anyone else but Brian.
Got to put in my thoughts here. Maureen Reilly-Meagher, Chris Pitts, Rena Getz and I are newly elected members to the Waban Area Council who have been working on the Waban Area Council for a long time (well over a year) to make its existence a reality. We are totally inclusionary, with no attempt at being exclusive. Nothing sinister at all. I am confident that the five other new members of the Council will agree that any residents near our boundaries who wish to join, will be welcomed. I personally, as a newly elected member, will help you to get the signatures you need and inform about the legal process of Board of Aldermen approval that would be required. The Council has as its purpose facilitating communication with City Hall . We will be meeting on the second Thursday of November at the Waban Library Center at 7:30 pm. Please join us by visiting our website and leaving your e-mail address. We have no funding…so e-mail is our principal means of reaching our residents. website is http://www.wabanareacouncil.com
Area Councils make a lot of sense in some parts of the city, but I think it’s wrong to apply them everywhere. Bragging rights and real estate arguments aside, some areas strongly identify with a business district or have institutions or natural boundaries that tie them together, others never will, unless the city imposes borders. For many areas of Newton, it’s more about proximity to one or more village centers than membership in a particular village. For a large section south of Route 9, village identity makes little sense outside of Oak Hill Park. For the tiny hamlet of Thompsonville, expanding it to be on par with Newton Centre is artificial and unfair to voters who have more at stake in Newton Centre. Maybe there are even cases village identities overlap? Area Councils should be about bringing communities together, not dividing them.
Maureen, thank you for the invitation.
Chris, thank you for your reply. While you did say you tried to stay to 02468 as much as you could, you did choose to go beyond the 02468 boundary in certain areas, areas not referred to as “Waban”. The Waban Improvement Society has no problem including my neighborhood in their membership.
Your explanation regarding the NH Area Council is weak since the WAC did not exist at the time of their boundary setting so as to have a meaningful discussion about the proper boundary. You seem content to wait for the boundary to maybe adjust over time. I would say your first responsibility as an area council is to get correct the area you represent. You are the “Waban Area Council”, not the “Most of Waban Area Council”. I would say the WAC is off to a less than satisfactory start.
Patrick, they had to start somewhere. The NHNAC expanded over time also, probably to include the outlying areas you mention. Collect the required number of signatures from your neighborhood and take it to the WAC.
@Patrick – I did not say that we chose not to go adjust. I said that we tried to include as much of Waban and in extend into areas that were relevant to the neighborhood unless they were already covered by another area council.
In those cases, the option of including them was simply not available to us. It is however entirely possible (as Adam notes) for the residents of an area to petition to shift area councils if they desire to do so.
For these and the other reasons cited above, please understand that this was not any form of intentional gerrymandering, but only one of attempting to get a working area council in place. The form is flexible enough to adapt to the input and desires to grow and adapt over time, and I hope that you will take a leading role to get your neighborhood into the area where you think it will get the best representation. I’m happy to talk with you in person or on the phone about how to make that happen if you would like. Please count upon me as a resource.
@Patrick. Chris is absolutely correct and I think that he and the rest of the founders of the Waban Area Council should be commended for getting it off the ground in good order rather than criticized for as you term it “not being off to a satisfactory start”. I just don’t see how this supposed oversight can in any way be interpreted as making what they did “unsatisfactory” in any way. I’m a member of the Newton Highlands Area Council. Earlier this year, we helped a seven block area of the Highlands near the Countryside School petition to become part of our area council. This made a lot of sense because they wanted to join an area council and because there was no other village that this area could have attached itself to. Adam is right that not every part of Newton or even every village wants or needs an area council arrangement and no council should so jealously guard the area it covers when fragments of it should more logically be included in an adjacent Council’s area. I can think of fragments of our Council that more logically fit into the Upper Falls Council area, but I’m not going to divulge these until Jerry, Brian and Anil talk turkey about giving us part of the Greenway.
@Patrick: Please relax! No one is keeping you out or wishing that you go away! Honestly, we would love to help you join the service area of the Council. And there’s even better news. Come to our next meeting to see what we are doing. We exist to help bring matters of concern to you to City Hall and to inform you about what is going on at City Hall that will affect your daily routines. We will do so now, if you wish, even if your address is a block or two outside our present bailiwick! To do that, we need you to attend our meetings and/or to give us your e-mail address. WAC is, in fact, off to a magnificent start! It exists and at last has its 9 members elected to serve. That wasn’t easy. It took well over a year to achieve. Adding your street is a minimal effort compared to giving birth to a new Council, and I and others will be happy to help you join in! Come inside and keep Waban warm.