Last night’s Charter Commission meeting took up the topic of Area Councils in the city’s charter. From what I hear, there were both passionate supporters and opponents of Area Councils speaking out in the public comment section of that meeting.
Area Councils take up all sorts of neighborhood matters, some major, some minor. That’s true both here in Upper Falls and the other three villages that have Councils. I do believe though that the Upper Falls Area Council has a wonderful style on some issues that is completely unique.
Tonight’s Upper Falls Area Council meeting had a relatively full agenda of both major and minor issues on their plate. For my money though, the highlight of the meeting was this:
A man named Jack Fidler came to the meeting to say that he’d like to build a Little Free Library on the Upper Falls Greenway.
Carol Stapleton from the Parks and Recreation Dept was in attendance. She told Jack that the Greenway was under the jurisdiction of the Parks & Rec Dept. If he wanted to do that, it might be possible. He’d have to get permission from the Dept and she gave him the name of the person to contact. She said “what about instead putting it outside The Depot Coffee Shop. That’s alongside the main entrance to the Greenway and it’s private property.”
Area Councillor Jack Neville said that he’s the president of the Upper Falls CDC, who owns that property and that they would love to have the tiny library there. Better than that, Mr. Neville said if Jack could build it, the CDC would be happy to pay for the materials.
Area Councillor Jeff Riklin jumped in and said that he’s a contractor and would be happy to build it for Jack.
Area Councillor Julie Irish told Jack that she knows the neighbor that installed the Little Free Library up on Cottage St and she’ll put them in touch with each other because she’s sure he’d have some useful advice about running one of these libraries.
The Area Council voted its unanimous support of the idea and Jack left the meeting brimming with enthusiasm and our neighborhood will soon have its third Little Free Library and some neighbors who’ve never met each other before will work together to get it done.
There are all sorts of reasons that Area Councils are a good idea, but for me this story encapsulates why I most value our quirky Upper Falls Area Council. Good job Councillors!
That man, Jack Fidler, is my husband, and he is known as “the man who walks and reads” by many people in the village and around the city. Andy Levin, who wrote about bicycling on the Upper Falls Greenway mentioned seeing a man reading while walking there. It sounds like Jack is getting his 15 minutes of fame. This is a dream come true for Jack. He is an avid reader, and after 25 years of working in the field of banking, he left and got his Master’s in Teaching in middle school humanities. He is now in his 9th year of teaching middle school English, History, and Drama. I attended the Connections Coming of Age Fair at the YMCA. One of the themes of the event was intergenerational connections. The Little Free Library is a great model of that, as it will be a fun exchange for toddlers to teens to adults to mature folks. I agree with Jerry that the Upper Falls area council is a positive and unique addition to local government. Let’s hear it for keeping area councils. Let’s hear it for guiding other villages who want to establish an area council.
I’ve been in awe of Jack’s walking-while-reading skills for years. If I were to attempt what he does every day, I’m certain I’d end up in the emergency room within minutes.
In our house he’s been known for years as simply “the reader”.
@Jerry. You have put a real human face on what area councils can do that was missing from my recent post. One of the most delicate challenges is trying to get across to people just how powerful and inclusive the area council arrangement can be without appearing to demean the unique and indispensable tasks that traditional neighborhood perform in many villages and sections of Newton. I know the work that neighborhood groups perform in Nonantum, Chestnut Hill, and Newton Lower Falls because I know people who are members of all these associations. They do a lot of things as well or as better than we ever could because they can set their own agendas and priorities and focus all their efforts on them.
We can’t just set our own priorities and agendas because we have to be open to what any resident of Newton Highlands wants to discuss or advance. This is both the source of our influence and a positive check on it. The fact that area council members are elected by the people they serve and the legal constraints of accountability, transparency and open meeting laws enhance the capacity of area councils to bring people together from within the village and outside of it as well. More specifically, this arrangement provides a two way street for reaching out to other area councils and other groups within the City to exchange critical information and learn things they are doing that we might emulate.
I now know literally hundreds of people in Newton Highlands and the rest of Newton that I never would have known if I wasn’t a member of the Newton Highlands Area Council. I haven’t had a bad word with any of them and I consider many of them my friends.
As someone who was 75 when first elected to the area council 5 years ago, it’s a real blessing having this many new friends and the stimulus of some pretty substantive area council work along with other things. And quite a few of these new friends live in Upper Falls.
FYI: We have a design committee from the Waban Improvement Society and the Waban Area Council working with Parks and Rec on plans for Waban Common, the new open space across from Angier. We have been talking with the Waban Library Center about including a Little Free Library on this new island! Wouldn’t it be lovely to see them proliferate across Newton? Another Area Council at work…
By the way, I have coffee in Upper Falls weekday mornings at the Depot and many times had spied the “man who runs with his shirt off even when it’s 20 below zero!” We referred to him as the Naked Runner, until he became one of the regulars at the Depot. Now we call him John!!! The Reader, the Runner, and Jerry…Upper Falls seems to produce the most interesting characters!
Love these stories. I was not at the meeting last night, what was the temperature?
There’s no question that the good people on Area Councils do terrific work. I’m appreciative of the amazing job my VAC does in communicating issues relevant to our village.
But please help me understand why this work has to be done within a structure formalized in the Charter. I’m still underwhelmed by the argument that VAC’s are better than neighborhood associations. Communication, village improvement projects, and village day -Does the city need another layer of government when a neighborhood group can serve the same purpose? Is there anything critical that a VAC does that could not be done by neighborhood association?
How vital is this form (VAC)? It’s revealing that for decades only one village felt the need for an Area Council until the Mayor decided to push hard for them. And even then, only three more were formed out of thirteen villages. Not a coincidence that three of the four Area Councils are in Ward Five, home to the Mayor’s VAC evangelist, Councilor John Rice. It appears that Newton is not sold on VACs.
The vast majority of VAC elections don’t have enough candidates to fill the seats or create competition. Why should the city be involved in the election charade? Essentially, VAC members are self-appointed volunteers, so why bother with the official election? We don’t need more voter confusion. Is there some reason that volunteers will step up to work for a VAC but wouldn’t do the same for a neighborhood association? Does the “official” designation encourage more involvement?
Would creation by ordinance be as effective as organization within the charter? Why do Village Area Councils have to be enshrined in the Charter?
@Terry: Apples and oranges. In a time of distrust in government that has led to the rise of Bernie and Donald, we should realize the value of open and transparent communication between municipal gov’t and grass roots representation. Neighborhood groups do not represent anyone officially and do not operate under the strictures of oml or the state’s ethics laws! They are also desired by at least 20% of the registered voters in their areas. Not a bad vote of confidence and appreciation
Sloppy writing…”they” refers to area councils in second to last sentence above. Sorry.
Not so sure about apples and oranges Sally. Maybe oranges and tangerines.
Following the Open Meeting Law and being transparent are required practices, but are they by themselves reasons to exist (vs a neighborhood association)?
Would a VAC that is created through Board Ordinance instead of the Charter have more flexibility down the road? I guess I’d like to know what advantages, other than the aforementioned transparency, chartered VACs have versus otherwise created (ordinance) VACs .
Sorry if this was discussed at the meeting last night.
Is there any reason that an ordinance creating Area Councils couldn’t also mandate that they have to follow open meeting laws and be transparent?
I do think that following open meeting laws is a reason to prefer ACs over neighborhood associations. I don’t want a group that doesn’t have to let people know what’s happening at its meetings (and maybe not when the meetings are) claiming it represents me.
@Terry. On Wednesday evening, I was perplexed when two of the Charter Commission members also complained that the problem with area councils is that they add another layer to government. Perhaps I’m questioning the context rather than the fact. Usually when people complain about too many layers of government, they are talking about huge, complex and impenetrable layers of bureaucracy that frustrate a wary public trying to address a public issue or resolve a personal problem involving government.
Area councils are the exact opposite. Our monthly meetings (first Thursday of the month) are well publicized and anyone within our “service area” can come to the Brigham House and raise an issue that we will seriously consider. And unlike the centralized layers of bureaucracy, we can’t hold anything up. We only have an advisory role in Newton’s Government. The Mayor and City Council can accept or not accept what we recommend. But the one two punch of our membership and the two ward councilors (John Rice and Dick Blazer) as “ex-officio” members means that a pretty credible recommendation on most important matters is likely to result.
1. Among Mayor Warren’s many accomplishments is the 311 phone line to City Hall. Some have argued that it’s not perfect, but it’s a vast improvement over what was (or wasn’t) there before and I’ve always found the people on the other end to be knowledgeable, friendly, professional and patient. Handling complaints from often irate citizens is no easy task and they do it well. Both area councils and 311 add to the public’s capacity to have input to government and resolve personal and public problems. Why have one and not the other as well.
2. MGWA is absolutely correct about the benefits and responsibilities of keeping area councils as distinct entities and subject to the open meeting laws, but I’ve already made my position clear on this item.
Interesting that certain neighborhood associations have the flexibility of exclusivity (discriminating taste) in membership https://chanewton.org/category/membership/ and sometimes those leaders become elected officials or appointed members of boards & commissions. Would one want those apparently biased groups cemented in the formal language of the charter?
The independent post audit review sub-committee revealed that certain affiliated components of Newton government do not regularly submit audited statements: farm commission, Newton Pride, NAC’s, etc. Federal governmental standards (GASB) require municipal governments’ independent yearly audit. Auditor comments suggest a more rigorous standardization in the break-away definition of integral v. affiliated components.
What’s at stake is the clear accountability to the taxpayer of the future.
I don’t agree with the argument that VAC’s add another layer of government. Another layer of government would be to force people to go to VAC’s before they can go to the councilors for help. Thats not what happens, they give people an extra option. No one forces anyone to go to VACs. The fact that they are more open and transparent make them a much better option then neighborhood associations, etc.
The fact that there are only 4 VAC’s in the city is more of a reflection of the administrations lack of effort in educating the public about VAC’s and the good that they do. If you ask the average person what a VAC is or what they do most won’t know unless they have a friend thats on one…that is lack of education. People can’t make a choice if they don’t know it’s out there. Therefore, the argument that there’s only 4 VAC’s out there shows people don’t want them is problematic..