This arrived via email this evening….
Dear Friends,
I am running for Newton City Council, Ward 3 At-Large. Join me at my KickOff event!
After the divisive presidential election, I was inspired to become more active locally. Ted Hess-Mahan is not seeking re-election; with his support I seek to fill his vacant seat.
For over 30 years I’ve been involved in Newton’s community.
* Peirce School PTO, past President
* Political Action Co-Chair of PTO Council
* League of Women Voters, past-President,
current Chair of Housing and Land Use Committee
* Newton’s first Open Space Coordinator
* Member of the city’s Design Review Committee 20+ years
* Founding member Newton Housing Partnership
Come and let’s talk about the wide range of issues that residents care about. I’m excited to run for office as a way to step up, have a voice, and a vote, on the variety of complex and often contentious proposals that come before the City Council.
Join me on Sunday April 30, campaign kick-off, 4-6 pm ….rsvp to [email protected]
Yours truly,
Andrea Kelley
Are you against the landscapers & contractors that work and live In This city by supporting the controversial backpack blower ban as does Ted along with the potential elimination of gas generators, lawnmowers etc. like Alison Leary & Emily Norton do? Are you a supporter of Newton Safe and Sound led by Karen Bray who fully supports a total ban?
I also heard over the weekend that Andrea Kelly is the organizer of vigilante group running around the city harrassing landscapers. It’s difficult enough trying to run a small business, does Andrea have anything to say about these allegations?
One of seven women lined up. If Hillary couldn’t do it, the women of the golden circle can. The men are dropping like lady bugs. Go Andrea!
If she’s elected, Andrea will have some big shoes to fill. In my opinion, Ted Hess Mahan has been one of the greatest Aldermen/City Councilor the City of Newton has seen in the last 50 years. I have incredible respect for Ted, and truly appreciate his service to our city.
Thank you Village 14 for spreading the word about my candidacy for City Council. To Ann and Mike Ciolino’s questions: I support the initial efforts to balance two conflicting sides of the leaf blower issue. That was one tough topic. I saw merit in trying to create health and safety guidelines as well as maintain the livelihood for landscapers, home and commercial owners that use leaf blowers. I’m not involved with Newton Safe and Sound though I learned a lot from Karen Bray about decibel levels and emissions! I hope the city continues to negotiate regulations that respect the conflicting goals. The recently passed leafblower regulations, which maintain Newton’s decibel limits at 65db and only ban gas powered leafblowers in summer when people can use compliant electric leafblowers, seems like the first step.
Key issues overall for me in Newton are, and will continue to be: improving and maintaining our streets, sidewalks, green strips and bikeways, be guided by comprehensive and master planning for the city as a whole, maintain vital municipal buildings such as schools, fire and police structures, create more diverse housing, enhance open space and livability.
Thanks Harry Sanders, and to Mike Striar- I hope to continue to benefit from the wealth of knowledge Ted Hess-Mahan has in his head, and I appreciate the chance to run for his vacant seat.
ps. it’s Kelley with an extra “e”
pps. I definitely have nothing to do with any vigilante group harassing landscapers! I work with and respect landscapers. If someone is doing this and/or organizing it, it’s not me, nor would I endorse anything like that.
Dear All,
I guess it needs to be said: There are NO “vigilantes” going around our city spying on landscapers or harassing landscapers. Absolutely not. Passing rumors is not a way to get what you want. Making informed statements and listening to the other side and finding common ground is the way to get some of what you want.
Newton Safe and Sound is a group of hard-working, community-building Newton residents working through the legal channels we have available to us to get new regulations on leaf blowers. I am shocked that some Newton residents feel the need to pass such unkind and unfounded rumors about their neighbors.
As advertised on your website, NSS’s recent Training Session for reporting violations sounds rather ominous to those of us who have not consumed whatever Cool Aid you all have been serving up these many years. The extent to which you and your merry band of law enforcers operate within the law remains to be seen, but the approach certainly smacks of vigilantism. Certainly, the notion that you seek common ground is laughable.
I fear that news of Andrea Kelly’s entrance into this contest is overshadowing the very significant news that Councilor Hess-Mahan is not seeking re-election.
This is BIG, BIG, BIG — deserving of our thanks, our respect and our roasting. If Passover wasn’t looming, I’d start a separate thread now, perhaps later.
If these acts of harassment are truly happening they should be reported to the Newton Police for criminal prosecution.
Wait, reporting a violation of the noise ordinance is harrassment?
Can someone actually detail what “harrassment” is occuring before folks jumpstart the outrage machine?
Andrea, welcome. I look forward to learning more about your positions.
Ted, huge loss for the city. I didn’t always agree with you, but you always impressed me with your knowledge, your dedication, and your sense of humor. You will be missed.
@Greg. Tend to agree with you there. That to me was very eyelid opening.
On at least two different situations I watched Ted put his time and money where his mouth was to help others. Considering I don’t get out much and happened to see both instances says a lot about how many times this must have been happening. Didn’t always agree with him (there is NO parking in West Newton, dammit!) but never doubted his commitment. And always a VERY good sport about my depictions of him in a few of the editorial cartoons. My thanks to him for serving the ward I live in.
Dear Karen Bray,
‘Passing rumors’ implies dishonest intent. Please be clear there is nothing that I want aside from being informed.
Last night I happen to read separate accounts of alleged harassment of landscapers by vigilantes (not my words) from two entirely separate sources referencing Newton Safe and Sound and the names Karen Bray and Andrea Kelley. Immediately followed by the Village 14 announcement of Andrea Kelley’s campaign.
I simply asked Andrea to comment on what I had just read. So, in the interest of being informed can someone please tell us exactly what transpired?
Mike
I wonder if Ted’s not running for city council needed it’s own thread. I was surprised to see his post on Facebook supporting Andrea for his seat. His 14 years on the BOA and City Council were quite impressive, productive and progressive and he’s capping it off with finally getting changes to the regulations on accessory apartments. I will miss his being “The Explainer!” But maybe he will continue in that role. I agree with him most of the time but have definitely been a recipient of his snark – deserved or not. Newton is better off for his contributions.
Welcome and good luck Andrea.
@Mike Ciolino – First off I have no dog in the leafblower fight. The amount of energy expended on this issue by both sides continues to amaze me.
In your post, you’ve repeatedly mentioned that you “heard” from “multiple accounts” that a specifically named person is “is the organizer of vigilante group running around the city harrassing landscapers.”. You haven’t said where you heard these allegations. You haven’t printed what they said. You haven’t said who said them. If that’s not rumor-mongering I don’t what is.
Let me try … “I heard from two different people that Mike Ciolino threw rocks through windows of two people who spoke out in favor of leaf blower regulations”. Now go ahead and try to disprove that I didn’t.
(For the record: Mike Ciolino did no such thing)
Mirriam-Webster Definition of rumor
1. talk or opinion widely disseminated with no discernible source
2. a statement or report current without known authority for its truth
@JerryReilly
Fair point. Most of the information comes from this public conversation:
https://www.facebook.com/jjsterman/posts/10154602461640735?comment_id=10154609117835735¬if_t=feed_comment_reply¬if_id=1491701971556318
Which was corroborated by a landscaper who emailed me this morning looking for more information and claiming to be one of the targets of the harassment.
Yes Elmo – This is a Vigilante Group harassing Landscapers and Burdening Newton Police who are responding to Leaf Blower Calls rather than more important Police Business. Unfortunately Karen Bray and her group Newton Safe and Sound have posted and published essentially what they are doing which is clearly the definition of a Vigilante Group. Maybe the definition will help her realize what she and her group are doing.
Vigilantism- law enforcement undertaken without legal authority by a self-appointed group of people.
You be the Judge – Read below – If someone posts on their website that they are going to have Precinct Captains in the city and teach others to report violations about Leaf Blowers at a party at her house this weekend over 2 days – essentially a “party” to promote “vigilantism”.
And for the record – Both Councilor Leary and Hess-Mahan are members of Newton Safe and Sound since 2014. Also clearly stated on Newton Safe and Sounds Website.
From Karen Brays Letter to the Newton Tab dated 4/5/2017 and I quote because it is NOT yet up on the internet. ” Police cannot enforce our laws unless a violation is brought to their attention, and there’s a legitimate place, and a respect for laws when those who observe violations report them.”
Sounds like Vigilantism to me and she was nice enough to put it in a letter to the editor for everyone to read .
FROM HER WEBSITE NEWTON SAFE AND SOUND
Training to Report Violations/Envelope Stuffing/ Party!
2 days ago · 3:00 PM
Home of Karen Lane Bray
TRAINING ON HOW TO REPORT LEAF BLOWER VIOLATIONS,
and STUFF ENVELOPES:
A PARTY!!
Home of Karen Bray
38 Stearns Street NC
Saturday and Sunday, April 8th and 9th, 2017
3:00pm-6:00pm
[masked]
Come learn about reporting (phone or app). Volunteer to be a “Precinct Captain”!
We have approximately 800 signers of our petition, but, in many cases, have only their snail mail addresses. We need to inform all our supporters of the new ordinance, instruct them as how to report violations effectively, and get their email addresses! Come stuff envelopes!
PLEASE COME TO THE PARTY(S)! Stay for an hour or the entire time!
Please, call with questions or ideas. Please, rsvp for the party!
Many thanks!
Karen (617)[masked]
Time to get this thread back on track…as this an announcement of Andrea Kelley’s candidacy for the City Council. Congratulations to Andrea on her deicision and willingness to serve on the City Council. I believe that Andrea’s community experience will enable her to bring a multi-faceted view of problems and opportunities facing the City. Also she has an ability to facilitate problem solving situations and sometimes contentious conversations resulting in creative and practical solutions. Both of these capabilities will be a gift to the City and the City Council.
@ Greg
I look forward to a thread to thank Ted on his contributions.
@Joanne – No, read your definition of vigilantism again.
Reporting a violation of a law to the police is not vigilantism. If they were suggesting that people intervene themselves instead of calling police, that would be vigilantism.
Now you certainly can make the case that its not a particularly good use of police resources to spend lot of time responding to leaf blower complaints … but that’s something else.
Jerry -Sorry WHY do they need Precinct Captains ?? And why did they need an organized PARTY to teach people to report violations?? And yes they ( the self Appointed Group – Newton Safe and Sound Members ) are going around Newton trying to find Landscapers who are using Leaf Blowers and then calling the police on them. They are taking the law into their own hands by doing this. And in most cases the Landscapers were using the correct Blowers. You know who wasn’t using the correct Blower – THE CITY VENDOR. All in all a Great use of our Police Force.
Lets hope something really serious doesn’t happen while the Police are out chasing a Leaf Blower.
I’m a little weirded out by training sessions and precinct captains and want no part of it. I will say that one of the reasons used to fight the ordinance was that it was unenforceable. I guess they’re trying to solve that problem.
@Marcia Johnson – you’re right. As my mother-in-law used to say, this thread has “lost the thread of its narrative”. Welcome to the race Andrea, and thanks for stepping up. It’s a long way to November and I’m sure they’ll be plenty of time to talk about leafblowers between now and then.
I would certainly suggest a separate thread for the landscaping comments. As an FYI, still not sure how Andrea Kelley is part of this, did folks mix her up with Alison Leary?
As for the landscaping stuff, while I can’t work up the degree of caring necessary to become so involved, I’m still not finding any evidence of a vigilantism. If the landscaping crews are within the law, why is this even a big deal? A simple check for compliance. Seems like maybe the reaction in this thread is a bit out of proportion to the inconvenience of having the systems checked. The sky isn’t falling, it is just a neighbor making sure the landscaping crew has got the legal equipment. And if the folks checking are doing the correct thing and reporting it to the authorities and not taking matters into their own hands to force compliance, again, isn’t that what is supposed to happen? If the complaint is that the police have better things to do, that is correct, so isn’t the issue then that the city should assign several members of city staff to occasionally do regulatory checks of the landscaping equipment?
Or could it be that the landscaping crews don’t have the right equipment? Is the anger just because it is annoying to be constantly checked? The lack of trust? Really not understanding what the big deal is.
This thread appears to have entered the Twilight Zone. Thanks Jerry for creating a separate thread about Councilor Hess-Mahan.
I’ve always associated Kelly as an affordable housing/smart growth champion. Clearly, Newton Villages Alliance folks should be anxious but landscapers? Mike, I think you have been either misled or confused, which is not surprising given the author of the Facebook post you shared. (Then again, some of the comments about City Councilor Leary have been unfair too. Yes she advocated for leaf blowers, but she always took a measured approach in finding a passable compromise.)
This Ward 3 contest will likely develop into a bellweather on our city’s housing policies and growth, not leaf blowers. I imagine the NVA either has or will have a candidate (last year Village 14 blogger and NVA activist Julia Malakie ran and she says on her website she “may have to” again)
@greg @Andrea Kelley (@everyone )
I think you are correct – And given that the internet is my business I should know better.
I got hooked by a few posts I read just prior to Andrea’s announcement here on Village 14 – Going back to the original posts, it looks like they have been corrected/sanitized as Andrea’s name is no longer even associated.
I had no prior awareness of Andrea and her work in our community before writing my post. I asked her to respond to what I read and she did. Unfortunately, the timing, wording, and placement of my question was irresponsible and I owe Andrea an apology for influencing her thread. I need to be (and will be) more careful.
Mike
@Mike Ciolino – Nicely done. No worries, it happens to nearly everyone from time to time – getting caught up in some kind of internet maelstrom of mis-information
@Mike Ciolino- let’s meet sometime and get to know each other face to face. Thanks for clearing up the “false truth”!
Go Andrea!!
All I ever wanted was a time out on leaf blowers between 1:30-2:30 in the afternoon when I’m taking a nap. It should be part of what I term Newton Senior Enhancement Initiative or SEI to get it into the proper legal and administrative pipelines. And it all blossomed into this.