Julia Malakie and Chris Pitts have entered the Ward 3 and Ward 5 aldermen at-large contests, respectively, the TAB Reports.
Wards 3 and 5 At Large contests will have competition
by Greg Reibman | Jul 30, 2015 | Newton | 11 comments
Crazy Divers: Men be like...
drivers man be like
I was beginning to think all the action would be centered on Ward 2 – glad to have new voices and new perspectives added to the mix!
I have lot of respect for Julia and Chris and consider them both to be friends. It’s great to seem them both willing to step up.
The timing of their announcement suggests some good strategic thinking as well. It means that their incumbent opponents did not have advance warning or a reason to fundraise or organize their campaigns over the summer. And it kept other possible opponents who might have seen an opportunity to divide the vote from jumping in too.
Great news to have two more contested races, it should make it a much more interesting election season and healthier overall for the democracy ecosystem (whatever that means). The At Large races in Newton have that sort of quirky aspect since multiple candidates will be running but not always ‘against’ each other in the usual sense since it’s for two seats. It means that for example if you wanted to target one particular alderman because of an issue or policy decision, you can’t easily do it since there’s a third person in the ring with you and your intended opponent. If you swing too hard or wildly and miss you could knock out someone you didn’t mean to hurt. Or, you can end up with some tag team tactics where folks gang up on a challenger. Then there is the somewhat obscure practice referred to as “bulleting” but Ted H-M will have to explain that one since I really don’t understand it. Who said it was going to be a quiet summer in the bucolic Garden City?
Welcome to the race!!!! Julia and Chris bring a lot of experience and value, with both being big supporters of open space and Newton quality of life.
Looks like I have an opponent as well! After all, uncontested elections are frankly boring.
http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/elections/
Both Julia and Chris know that listening to what is important to the majority of residents will help to inform their decisions on the City Council! Good luck to both!
Great news Julia, you would be a fabulous addition to the B of A. / Council. I will have to come to some of your meetings.
Great news! It’s beginning to shape up into a real election.
Thanks to Julia and Chris for throwing your hats in the ring.
Julia and Chris, welcome to Newton politics. And welcome back, Al.
HL Dewey, I am going to let Wikipedia answer your question about bullet voting. But it is one of the reasons I kind of like Cambridge’s proportional voting, which ensures minority representation as well as majority control of the city council.
@Ted. I’ve often thought that proportional voting would be a great spectator sport here in Newton. I’ve followed Irish elections for several years now and they have a fascinating PR system over there where it can take as many as 10 counts before the winners of some of the contests for parliament are determined. It requires attentive and sophisticated voters (something not always synonymous with the American electorate) and a lot of horsetrading and cross party bargaining. But it’s also a lot of fun and it allows a lot of minor party candidates to win seats in Parliament. . It also forces political candidates to really interact with voters. It’s a fluke of history that the Irish have this system, and the two major parties have tried to do away with PR for decades; but the voters will have none of it. This system provides too much fun to want to change it.
Bob Burke, I am not the least bit surprised that you a) follow Irish politics and b) get a buzz from proportional voting. For a number of years, I have been invited by Hon. Gordon Martin, to be a guest lecturer on voting rights in his Civil Rights Seminar at the New England School of Law. I have had the privilege of teaming with David Wylie, who is a Boston lawyer and a former School Committee member and City Councilor from Cambridge, MA, to talk about local voting rights including proportational voting and non-citizen viting rights. It is a fascinating process and, as you note, requires both an attentive and sophisticated electorate. My feeling is that if Cambridge can do it, Newton certainly could.