This Tweet today from Newton Mayor’s Setti Warren’s personal account.
Many in #NewtonMA are scared by actions taken by new @potus. Don't be. We are #OneNewton. You are safe here. We resist divisiveness.
— Setti Warren (@settiwarren) January 25, 2017
Crazy Divers: Men be like...
drivers man be like
“You are safe here.”
Setti’s personalization with the word “you” leads one to ask who is he addressing?
“Many in #NewtonMA are scared”
A phrase not to be taken lightly. How many scared people has he encountered before typing this? What is the extent and depth of this fear? What steps is he taking to alleviate these fears beyond tweeting?
@Mark: He’s pretty clearly addressing immigrants in our community. I can say from first hand experience that I have encountered quite a few in my own day to day life as well as through my advocacy on this issue who live or work in Newton and are scared of what new immigration policies might mean for them.
He is working on ordinances with our city council to provide sufficient protections to immigrants in Newton.
@Bryan. Thank you for the information but I remain slightly confused.
Why would an immigrant such as my Uncle be concerned or scared? He came here seven years ago and has not expressed any such concerns to me.
You are safe here immigrants–just don’t be caught with an undocumented leaf blower!
Ding. Ding. David wins the comment of the day award.
I’m having a hard time reconciling his “we resist divisiveness” line, with the fact that the Administration is actively engaged in a cover-up of anti Semitic incidents.
@Mark:
Are you saying that your uncle who is here illegally is not scared?
@Mike: Agreed. The hypocrisy of some of our elected officials is reprehensible. Personally, I’m disappointed (to say the least) by politicians who shout loudest where their platform is designed to have the least influence but remain silent where it could make a real difference. The dichotomy that we’re seeing play out here in Newton highlights to me the need for new leadership.
You guys don’t honestly see the mayor maneuvering for his own political career on a constant basis? That’s scary… aspiring to have a career ever higher and more powerful in politics, never happy with who you are serving or what you are doing, because there is more power to be had.
Unbelievable. About two hours ago, I helped save the life of a high school kid who overdosed on what appeared to be heroine. I was at the Newton Free Library doing some work, when all of a sudden I heard a loud gasp for air followed by a thump. The noise was the likes of something I’ve never heard in my entire life, so I looked around to see what was going on. To my surprise, there he was, a young kid convulsing in his chair and making the noises that precede death. Immediately upon seeing this kid in distress – but having no idea what the cause was – I rushed across the room, where there was a group already standing around him. At this point, I figured the kid was having some form of a seizure as he was slouched in a bizarre position at his desk, with his head smacking into the wall.
As it looked like he was on the verge of snapping his neck, and since no one else was doing anything about the situation, I quickly moved him from his chair to the ground. Despite the convulsions and the fact that this was a big guy, I was able to get him to the ground safely. At this point, I checked to see if he was breathing by both taking his pulse and looking to see if his chest was moving. I also loudly shouted to the gathered crowed, “somebody call 911.” No one reacted, so I yelled it again. I also asked if there was a doctor in the building. Eventually, someone called 911. As I was preparing to preform CPR, I felt his heart beating at an alarmingly fast rate. I’m not a doctor, but it appeared to be sudden cardiac arrest. Thankfully, he was still alive.
I’ll never forget this kids face and the noises that he made during this event. Not only was he purple, but he would go between phases of not breathing and then violently and reflexively gasping for air, all the while being unconscious. Although it seemed like an eternity, the cops and paramedics promptly arrived on scene. Almost immediately after arriving, the cops yelled out “narcan,” and injected him with this vital drug to combat overdoses. From my view, he didn’t respond. I’ve seen some pretty terrible things related to drugs and alcohol growing up, but this was intense. Thankfully, however, this kid made it as he came to.
Here’s why I’m posting this: In the City of Newton, Massachusetts, we’ve got high school kids overdosing on heroine in the public library. I know this as I just helped save one of their lives. If the first responders didn’t have Narcan, which they only recently got equipped with despite years of other other Newton residents overdosing, I don’t see how this kid would have survived. My point is – what is our current leadership doing to address this specific problem? What initiatives have our Mayor, City Council and School Committee put forward to proactively address the fact that there are kids literally on the verge of death in our public library because of drugs? I’m not talking about “community meetings,” I’m talking about evidence based programs that are effective at turning this problem around. Given what I just went through, I demand that our officials not only do more to combat this problem, but to be transparent in regard to what is being done. I’ve asked Setti Warren more than once, and I’ve never gotten an answer in regard to how his team is identifying and proactively going about the opioid epidemic in our community. I find this unacceptable, and I hope you do too.
I’d further point out that, at the very moment a kid was overdosing from what appeared to be heroine in our public library, literally right across the street, hundreds of Newton progressives and the Newton Democratic City Committee were “rallying” to turn Newton into a sanctuary city. Without getting into that debate, I ask: why is it that our local politicians are willing to lose millions of dollars and invest countless time and effort into turning Newton into a sanctuary city, yet none of these individuals (to my knowledge at least) are publicly leading the charge to solve Newton’s opioid epidemic?
Drug abuse, particularly drug abuse by high school kids, is a local problem that deserves the same or more effort that we’re witnessing many politicians put into turning Newton into a sanctuary city. This is a local problem that literally kills Newton residents. Consequently, I say clearly and unequivocally that our politicians are failing us, and we deserve better.
Last spring, the Mayor, Councilor John Rice, David Olsen, Quinn Etchie (Youth Services), Aaron Goldman, Dori Zaleznik, and I hope I’m not leaving anyone out, heard directly about the fears, concerns, and experiences of immigrant students from NNHS. They expressed fears that were a direct result of what they’d read in the news as well as their experiences in Newton. The meeting lasted an hour and students were incredibly articulate about their experiences despite a significant language barrier.
I’ve taken my students who fear and don’t trust government (with good reason) on this trip to City Hall for the last 7 years, and in none of the previous meetings did the students express the level of fear they now feel. This last visit had a much more significant impact on everyone. The students needed and received assurances that they are welcome and safe in Newton from everyone. Most importantly, to watch teenagers whose experience with government had been so negative have the courage to speak to the Mayor and say that all was not well was one of the most powerful experiences in my professional career.
In addition, the people who work in City Hall and the school department have been incredibly generous with their time and effort on behalf of the immigrant students and their families. They are to be commended. We work in partnership with the Newton Police as well and they are to be commended for their work with the most vulnerable in the community.
Just in case you want to know what fear looks like, imagine:
-students who can’t put their cell phones away because they think they have to have it with them in case something bad happens to their family.
-a student whose mother calls him when she hears a siren because she thinks her son might be harmed. I hear a siren and know something serious is going on, but I never assume my family is involved.
-students who check the newsfeed many times a day see if there has been terrorist attacks.
-students who are told in public places that they should speak English (yes, this is Newton).
The school system and city takes proactive action to assist immigrant students to move forward in the new community. In the schools, Transitioning Together is a program that helps students who are first in the family to attend college make plans for the future. The system has summer programs that provide language and experienctial learning for students who otherwise would have nothing to do in the summer. The city internship program provides jobs for students. The city has identified businesses that are interested in mentoring young people so the students are placed with adults who take an active interest in assisting their interns to adjust to a work envoronment. At this point, I have to give a shout-out to Jeff at Sandwich Works in Newton Centre who takes on interns every summer and makes a huge difference in their lives. If you’re in Newton Centre, stop by to thank him for his great work with student interns.
This is the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much going on in this city to helo vulnerable families that no one knows about. No one does it for accolades, but when I hear someone ask if anyone who works in the city has experience with immigrant families, I needed to respond. The answer is Yes.
Thank you Jane for laying out in clear terms what people in our own community are living with right now. It’s terrifying.
I am confused Jane – are these immigrant students/ families here legally or are they here Illegally? I am extremely confused because I know HUNDREDS of Immigrants who are here legally both from European Countries, South American Countries. Asian Countries and Muslim Countries Including Syria and they and their Children are NOT afraid.
The issue is if you have broken the law and are here illegally you have a right to be afraid – you have BROKEN The LAW. If you are here legally there should be NO issue.
Can you kindly clarify if these students are legal or Illegal – so we can try to better understand their fear?
Again if they are here legally and are fearful – than you should have them seek counseling because obviously there must be some other mental health issues going on. If they are here illegally than they broke the law and if they have fears it is because they did something wrong.
Tom – while I agree that the opioid epidemic is a serious issue that deserves attention, it sounds like you don’t know for certain whether the medical event you witnessed was actually a drug overdose, or whether it was actually a high school student. (First responders will use narcan if it seems like a possibility because it’s the only solution if it is an opioid overdose but won’t hurt if it’s not.) In any case, the victim of a public medical event probably doesn’t need people speculating about the cause in a public forum.
Joanne – can you consider the possibility that even legally documented immigrants who come from places where they were persecuted by their government might still fear what “government” might do? Or that children who were born in this country, and have never known any other life, might fear that a parent or relative who is undocumented might be arrested at any moment and deported? (p.s. people aren’t “illegal” )
@Tricia: If this high school kid didn’t have a needle in his arm and upward to a dozen other narcotics on him, you could be right. I’m aware many would like to sweep this type of incident under the rug, but I’m not one of those people and I never will be. Our children and community deserve better.
Tom and Tricia,
All schools in Massachusetts are required to teach about drugs in school. All schools in Massachusetts starting in September will be required to screen students using the SBIRT protocol – an evidence-based practice for the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration of HHS. All school nurses have been trained by the Mass Dept. of Public Health in the use of Narcan and have Narcan on hand at school. They have been trained in the SBIRT screening and other protocols to fight addiction.
That said, Tricia is right that this individual has a right to privacy both under FERPA laws protecting students and HIPAA.
What Tricia said to Joanne, doubly.
As to her question to me: I have no idea. It’s not my place as a teacher to ask about a student’s personal life. I’ve never in my career inquired about family structure, a family’s means of income, religion, sexual orientation of a student or parent, documentation, immigration status, etc. I’m given a student’s name, address, the name of the parent or guardian, contact information to the home, and an emergency contact. The department has an assessment tool that provides an approximate level of English proficiency. A student walks into my classroom and I teach him/her to best of my ability.
As we know, immigrants move to the U.S. for many reasons, perhaps the most common is that their country of origin is not safe. One side of my family came here because they were being starved to death. It was no longer safe to stay. Other families came here to escape oppressive regimes. We all have stories to tell.
Tom – I think Tricia’s point is that you told someone else’s private story in a public forum.
It’s so easy to say; “well, they broke the law, and so they deserve….” Such thinking doesn’t align with life’s many complexities.
What about….
Young children who were brought into the US by their parents fleeing violence or famine. Or sent here by their parents who stayed behind. Those children had no control over their immigration choices. Did they “break the law?”
Adults come here without documentation because they have no choices as well, because of crime, famine or poverty in their home countries. Tragic situations. They are here now, working hard, paying taxes and not receiving benefits. Are they “criminals?”
What about a family where some members have documentation and others do not? Do we as a society endorse tearing parents from children to enforce immigration law?
At the hearing at City Hall on January 18, a brave woman, who was once undocumented, spoke eloquently about her daily fear as a high school student in Massachusetts that her parents would disappear one day, or that she would be taken away from her family. Who are we as citizens to question these fears. They are valid. Such things happen all the time.
With Trump in his dark tower impugning the most vulnerable people – talking of listing and promoting crimes by immigrants to stir up more hate – it is reasonable to be afraid.
The City should go above and beyond at this time to ensure safety for all, and codify those protections in the books of law.
On a final note, I wouldn’t want my comments on this subject to be construed as support for an ordinance that does not include the police chief. The strongest ordinance includes the backing of the people who will carry out the actions.
Our police department deserves to be commended for the way they have carried out the city’s policy up to this point. One ordinance and I’m totally on board.
@Margaret Albright– As you are well aware, sleep deprivation in teens has been definitively linked to depression and drug use. Instead of touting ineffective measures that have proven not to work, why don’t you and the other SC members step up to your responsibility as elected officials, and change early morning start times in our high schools? I’ve heard you talk about this issue for years, and watched you accomplish nothing.
You can live in a community like Newton for years and have no idea of the fear that many around us experience about deportation and family separation on a daily basis.
I’m certain Tom Davis is describing what actually happened and what he did to help this kid because it’s pretty clear from everything else I know about him that he is a self starter and take charge kind of guy. Whether it was drugs or some other condition that caused this is almost immaterial. The fact is that Tom was ready to help when others held back. That said, I think the City is doing more to address this than Tom gives it credit for and Margaret Albright outlined several of these. It’s not easy and there are no quick fixes for what in essence is a deadly disease. This is so much more difficult to contend with than alcohol because people are often dead from overdoses before family or co-workers know there is a problem.
Over the past 4 or 5 years, I’ve been to way too many wakes and funerals of young and not so young people who overdosed on heroine, prescription drugs or other deadly substances. It often comes as a complete shock to family members along with almost universal feelings of grief, guilt and helplessness.
Feeling boxed in here and looking for clarification.
“In any case, the victim of a public medical event probably doesn’t need people speculating about the cause in a public forum.”
It happened in a public venue. Tangentially, it happened in a public venue supported by the city’s tax dollars, by which I mean, the abuse/medical issue is something we need to address for the benefit of this individual and others, even more.
Can we not discuss it? Are we not allowed to discuss anything that happens in public? I know nothing about this person beyond the sex of the individual, nor is it important for me to know the identity or specific family/home circumstances but this doesn’t relieve me of my responsibilities to, at the very least, discuss this with the goal of solution in mind. Can we not discuss this in general, overall terms?
Tom, I am not looking to sweep anything under the rug, and I am with you on how unbelievable bad this problem is in Newton and across the state and country. But this was a medical incident that happened in a public place with many witnesses, potentially involving a minor if your suspicions are correct. I think your heart is in the right place, but including all those potentially identifying details isn’t right.
The golden rule, Mark. Do unto others… If this was a member of my family, I would not want the incident described in detail on a blog.
The growing opioid problem deserves to be covered responsibly by news organizations. Covering the crisis and relating a personal story without the permission of the individual involved are separate issues.
@Tricia
You must have missed when Tom said he had a needle in his arm and was found to have other narcotics on him. It was a “medical incident” certainly but a self injected one.
I agree with what Mark Marderosian said. You give up some of your right to privacy when you decide to shoot up in a public library.
Tom and everyone else can talk about the incident at the library all they want….there is no name associated with the patient so privacy is not an issue.
Here’s a video from last night’s vigil outside of City Hall shot by Steve Feinstein.
Again, whether this medical incident was self-inflicted or not doesn’t matter. The NPD tries very hard to handle these situations sensitively with individuals and families. There are people and programs in place who try to get people help at these critical points, when it’s most likely to be effective. I know Tom’s intention is to draw more attention to the seriousness of the problem, but he may be hurting someone in the process.
Of course immigrants are afraid of what the head of our government says he will do to them and they fear that the MA state police or NPD might pick them up on trumped up charges. If they are not worried, they should be.
Remember the voting story he told in which 2 people were behind someone in line to vote who didn’t look like they should be able to vote. Any immigrants whether documented or not who don’t look a certain way can be held if they cannot produce citizenship papers. I don’t carry with me any proof of citizenship, do you? I won’t have any problems, but not every citizen, immigrant or not can say the same.
Trump’s also said he’s cancelling visas from certain countries. That would create many more people here illegally who are now working or going to school. Newton has to do more to make our community feel safe – not just tweeting to not be afraid.
Below is a follow up post from last week. Let’s focus on what we can control, starting with holding both the Mayor and City Council accountable for who is appointed to important committees/councils.
—
One week ago, I helped save the life of what appeared to be a high school kid overdosing on the likes of heroin in our library. As you likely know, I publicly called out our local politicians for not doing enough to combat the life or death issue of drugs in our community. And guess what? The lack of leadership on this issue is much worse than I ever could have imagined. Unconscionably bad. Here’s one reason why.
In Newton, we have a Health Advisory Council. The point of this Council is to serve as a support and advice group for the Commissioner of Health and Human Services, who in turn is supposed to inform the Mayor about issues such as public health, school health, social services, and youth services. In other words, this Council has the enormous responsibility of 1) understanding the drug epidemic as it exists in Newton and 2) how to go about proactively identifying and treating it. At face value, it’s great that we have this Council, right?
If we had the best people on it, that’d be correct. So I took the time to delve into our untransparent city website to look up past meeting minutes of both our City Council and this special Council to see who Mayor Warren is appointing and our City Council confirming. Please keep reading as I am beyond disturbed by the lack of balance on this Council.
We’ve got a few solid individuals on it, such as a nurse, hematologist, pediatrician and minister. Here’s where it gets bad. Rather than appoint people from Newton who have a real life understanding of the drug epidemic, as one of a few examples, Setti Warren appointed the following:
“Note: Mr. Stafford stated that he was not a member of the medical community and has no medical training. He is currently working on his Master’s Degree in Public Health at Boston University. He is very curious to learn how local governments deal with health crises and day to day issues.”
In other words, rather than appoint Newton residents who have lived through drug and/or alcohol abuse, Setti Warren appointed an individual who – in his own words – has no idea what he’s doing. He literally appointed, and the City Council confirmed, an individual who said in his confirmation hearing that he’d like to be appointed to this extraordinarily important Council so that he can learn. Are you kidding me?
This is inexcusable. It’s inexcusable because this is the Council that our local government relies on to combat the drug problem that is both taking lives in Newton and getting worse. It’s also inexcusable because we can do better. I know this as I’ve personally applied for such Councils, yet never heard back. And let me tell you, I understand the drug and addiction problem in our community better than Mr. Stafford.
I’d further point out that this Council has not updated their meeting minutes since 2013. You read that correctly. The group that we’re relying on to combat the drug epidemic in our community hasn’t even informed the public about what it’s doing in 4 years. Newton residents should not accept this lack of leadership.
Setti Warren is going to run for Governor. He’s going to tout our City’s approach to dealing with the opioid epidemic. I know this as it’s been reported to me that he’s already doing so. Thus, the point of my message is: step up now as you’re not doing a good enough job. Our community deserves much, much better.
And if you’re a Newton resident (or former resident) reading this, we need your help in holding these individuals accountable. Politicians almost always talk a big game, yet their actions hardly ever follow. Many will likely disagree with me, but I believe how our local government is going about dealing with the drug epidemic is a sad illustration of just that. My only goal is to save lives. My only goal is to make sure that no kid in Newton is going to bed hungry, witnessing violent domestic abuse on a consistent basis, or being subjected to the early causes of drug and alcohol abuse that slowly ruins individual lives and families. My only goal, in other words, is to make sure that we’re doing the best we can do to address these issues. But to do that, I need your help in holding our politicians accountable as leadership on these issues needs to begin from the top. For the sake of our community’s most vulnerable residents, moving forward, let’s make sure that Setti Warren is appointing better people to councils such as the Health Advisory Council as that’s an important first step to getting the job done.
Are there positions open on the Advisory Council now? If not it’s our mayoral candidates need to be questioned on what they will do about this council. Is it still meeting or is it defunct?
I do think that someone with a masters in public health would be an excellent choice.
Tom, you consistently say that you apply for committees or try to have meetings with officials, etc. and you never hear back. Why do think that is? It seems to happen a lot.
Not a criticism of Tom, but I’ve assumed he is running for office shortly. I’m guessing wouldn’t promote a potential rival to an advisory committee from which he could be criticized from a position of authority. Perhaps the next mayor (unless said next mayor is Tom, in which case the point is moot) will have more interest in working with Tom.
But I don’t fault the mayor in this particular case. Politics ain’t beanbag, as they say. Doesn’t mean he shouldn’t fill various commissions. But I give him wide discretion to do so as he sees fit.
Tom – Most boards and commissions are advisory only in Newton, and this specific one is clearly advisory, as noted in its name. You have completely overblown the responsibilities of this or any advisory board. The specific issue you refer to should never be dealt with by members of a board or commission. If you think that Newton isn’t concerned about the opioid crisis, then you are just plain misinformed.
The professional staff deals with issues at this level, as it should be. After you left the scene, you were no longer involved in the incident, and would not and should not receive any follow-up information about it.
I find it concerning that you’ve once again repeated the story of another person’s tragic incident in a public forum. This is a private matter and you should respect the privacy of this individual and his family. It is not about you.
If I heard that an individual who applied for a position on a board posted private information about an individual without their permission on a public blog, then I would not consider that person to be a good candidate for a board or a commission. The ability to maintain confidentiality is an essential quality to being in any volunteer or paid position in public life.
Does anybody know whether this council meets and if so, what the council’s recent actions have been?
On Facebook Councilor Kalis wrote that “Together they have the ability to extensively cover a variety of issues.” It may be true that the council members have an ability to cover the issues, but the fact remains that I have not yet heard any answers as to what they have actually done. Given that we have many residents suffering from addiction — as well as other issues that are under the Health Advisory Council’s purview — I would like to know what this council is doing to help address these issues. It’s a simple question that warrants a straightforward answer.
If the council has in fact not been meeting, which seems to be the case given there have not been meeting minutes posted since 2013 (http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/health/commissions/hhs.asp), our city’s leadership should immediately remedy this situation.
In addition, it may be possible to find this information over the phone or in person, but I have chosen to ask the question in multiple online venues in order to keep the discussion transparently in the open.