Tags: 
Newton voters go to the polls on Tuesday Nov. 3, just two weeks from today.
Here’s your opportunity to discuss anything election related. Are there issues — or contests — that you believe are being neglected? Topics you’d like to see discussed here on Village 14? Or you can make a pitch for you favorite candidates. And, of course, if you are a candidate, you can never ask for voters to elect you too often.
Here’s the latest Newton Newsmakers program with a roundtable of 5 candidates with differing opinions comfortably discussing the Charter Review Commission. If the embed code does not work, it can be seen at http://www.newtv.org/video/newtonnewsmakers/ (slow download, please be patient)
Looking forward to meeting as many of you as I can before Election Day and (hopefully) over the following eighteen months as one of your Charter Commissioners.
I’m going to predict an upset in Ward 2. One of the incumbent Alderman will not be re-elected.
I posted the following Charter Commission recommendations on my *personal* Facebook page this morning. Like most of you who are known among friends to follow local politics, friends ask me for recommendations, usually Election Day. Since there are so many great people to consider for Charter Commission, I put together my list of the top 9 for people who don’t have the time or inclination to follow this stuff and would be asking me anyway for advice.
The Facebook post generated some interest and based on a suggestion I am pasting it here for wider consumption in the hopes that it will get some discussion going. These picks were based mostly on meeting candidates and attending the Oct 4 Tri-Council Candidates Showcase (video of which should be online very soon.) I tried to make it a quick cheat sheet, not heavy on details, so with that, here are my picks (with sincere respect to the other 13 terrific, commendable candidates):
Original FB Post:
——————–
Newton voters, on Tuesday Nov 3, vote YES to review the City Charter, and then vote for my ideal charter review commission (vote for 9 of 22 candidates):
1. Peter Harrington – a wise elder, attorney, knows the city government inside and out, was on the last charter commission, 1971. Invaluable knowledge and historical perspective.
2. George Mansfield – another wise elder, long time alderman, area council member, and school committee member; also was on the last charter commission, 1971. Again, knowledge and historical perspective.
3. Groot Gregory – my fellow Highlands area council member, very engaged in Newton, smart, research science background, fair-minded, open-minded. The guy in the room that thinks of issues nobody knew of or remembered. You want Groot in the room. Disclaimer: I am the treasurer of his campaign.
4. Rhanna Kidwell for Charter Commission – She has to be there, folks! Rhanna spearheaded this whole multi-year drive, collecting thousands of signatures to put this on the ballot for the League of Women Voters. She is very knowledgeable on review process, a good team manager – in fact, she should probably chair the commission. http://rhannakidwell.com/
5. Joshua Krintzman – his job is to review city charters for the state! No brainer that Josh needs to be there. http://newton.wickedlocal.com/ar…/20151016/OPINION/151016882
6. Chris Steele – expertise in financial analysis, planning, zoning, and community engagement; very active in Newton across many areas and understands the city well. http://www.steele4newton.org
7. Charlie Shapiro – Former alderman, producer and host of local political TV show, knows the city government well, is open-minded, will push for transparency and is very pro-open, Democratic process. Will protect Ward aldermen in the event the board is reduced in size, thereby improving neighborhood representation on the board.
8. Ken Parker – attorney, former 18-year boy wonder alderman, super-knowledgeable about Newton city goverment, host of NewTV Common Ground (disclaimer, I’ve been a guest), former mayoral candidate, seems to be right about everything, should have been mayor.
9. Kathy Winters – Attorney, member of Waban Area Council. Has shown herself to be adept at leading councils on contentious issues, e.g. the Waban area response to the proposed 40B housing development at St Phillip Neri site. Good listener and good consensus builder. Not a government insider and will approach charter reform with a people’s perspective.
There are 22 candidates running for 9 seats, I like all of them! However, in my opinion these 9 are particularly well-suited to be on this review board and would have my trust in this very delicate task of recommending changes to our municipal government. They are open-minded but bring important experience directly relevant to the task at hand. They all have my sincere endorsement.
I also thank the other 13 candidates for being willing to dedicate their time and energy. They also would bring many positives, but we have to pick 9!
Don’t forget to vote!
[end of FB post]
I agree with half of your picks especially Peter Harrington and Charlie Shapiro. There are others I like as well. However, Chris Steele is not someone I could support.
I like so many of the candidates for Charter Commission. Lots of great people. But would there even be a Charter Commission if not for Tom Sheff? It seems to me there are two candidates who made this happen, Tom Sheff and Rhanna Kidwell. In my opinion, they both deserve to be on the Commission.
I want to add, Tom Sheff has worked tirelessly for this cause and on behalf of many causes in Newton. He grew up here, spent his life here, and really knows Newton as well as anyone. He spent countless hours raising signatures for Charter reform. He’s earned a seat on the Commission, and I hope thoughtful voters will acknowledge that.
Steven:
Great list, and thank you for posting it. I’m not sure I agree with everyone you picked, but always good to hear an informed persons perspective and I learned something about each of your candidates I didn’t know.
One person I’d add is Bryan Barbash. I’ve spoken to him and came away very impressed.