My name is Siobhan Cunningham and I’m asking for your vote for your local Ward 1 City Councillor.
I am a technical program manager at Novartis Institute of BioMedical Research with 15 years of diverse experience delivering results in complex situations with many constraints. I’m running for three key reasons.
First, it is critical to bring technical knowledge into local government. Software is changing our world at a rapid pace and we need to be able to engage thoughtfully and with confidence so that we can make technology work for us rather than be overrun by it.
Secondly I’m running to bring a strong voice for bike lanes, sidewalks and sustainable development to Newton Corner specifically and Newton in general. We need to enable more residents to be able to successfully live in Newton with either no or fewer cars per household.
Finally, I’m running to work for diverse housing in Newton so that people who build their lives in Newton can remain in Newton through all the phases of life. Newton is stronger when it can support people and families throughout all of life’s twists and turns.
I will work tirelessly to make Newton a great place to live for all of it’s residents.
Thank you for your time.
Siobhan
https://www.siobhancunningham.com/
Siobhan, I care deeply about these very same issues and would have voted for you had I lived in Ward 1 or had you run at-large. In my opinion, the first two issues don’t get enough attention in this race.
Siobhan, good luck with your race. I am a Ward 6 voter but like to see an emphasis on Side Walks. Sadly many folks involved in non-motor transportation talk only about bike lanes and forget those of us that want to keep our cars at home and walk around the city. I look forward to your contributions to the conversation on Newton priorities.
Are you running for the ward position or an at large position?? It seems that your 3 points are more geared toward running at large and not looking at the issues that are pertinent to Ward 1. If you are running for the ward position and not the At large Position than what are the issues that are pertinent to Ward 1 that you will be working on?
Welcome to the campaign, Siobhan! Look forward to meeting you!
@Joanne: Can you explain in what way bike lanes, sidewalks, and sustainable development aren’t critical issues for ward 1?
@Joanne Given that the “circle of death”, Washington Street, Galen Street are all parts of Ward 1, I consider making Ward 1 streets safer for all users seems very critical to local residents.
Thanks Siobhan for responding directly. I was starting to think that Bryan was your campaign spokesperson? As for making those streets safer – what is your specific plan to do that? That Circle of Death is really bad even for those of us who cannot use a bike but need to use a car. And how can you make those streets you mention safer for bikes? As for your other comment about cars – Are you planning to limit the amount of cars one can have in Newton?
And how specifically will you make housing diverse in Newton to allow us all to age in this beautiful city we have lived in for a lifetime?
It is great to have a wish list of what you would like to do but without specifics of how you will accomplish those things it is hard to understand how it will realistically be accomplished. So I would really appreciate more specifics.
@Joanne – I didn’t see anything in what Siobhan said suggesting she wants to limit the number of cars people can have in Newton. All she said was that she’d like it make it possible for people to live in Newton with one or no car.
I’ve known people who’ve lived near the D line and been very happy to get rid of the expense of a second car – it would be nice if more people could have that option, if nothing else in order to save the considerable costs of buying, maintaining, and insuring cars.
@Joanne To be clear, I believe in building towns in a way to support better decisions rather than dictating outcomes. As for specifics, the Warren Commission is starting to address the myriad of issues in Ward 1 safety. See : http://newton.wickedlocal.com/news/20170722/newton-tries-to-bring-walkability-to-village-divided-decades-ago
It is my aim that via planning and land use committees and initiatives, I will be able to advocate bringing in real time data as well as finding from cities that have more aggressively addressed the walkability issues in their centers to approach the Ward 1 spaces effectively. For example: the build out of the Washington St corridor should include both a protected bike lane on both sides as well as sidewalks that are viable for wheel chairs, strollers and people on crutches. I also think we need to make crossings to the Charles River path safer and more frequent.
Siobhan,
Seems we have at least to Siobhans in town.. My daughter is also called Siobhan.
I would very much like to get your views on the recent Korf permit.
Groot,
I’ve been at the transportation advocacy thing for a few years in Newton. I defy you to identify a single bike advocate who isn’t also very, very concerned about sidewalks and other pedestrian accommodations, like crosswalks.
@Sean I’m not sure that was always the case. A decade or so ago when these advocacy efforts and groups started, I recall it being adversarial. Bike advocates bristled at traffic calming devices and ped advocates felt that every inch for bicycles was better used for sidewalks. Since then, with a better understanding of complete streets, I think most folks realize the two interests are complementary. Getting the message right continues to be a challenge. Better defined roadways and calmer traffic benefit everyone. Getting motorists to accept this is more difficult but I hope it will happen, especially where most Newtonians belong to at least 2 of the 3 groups.