The League of Women Voters Newton is looking for questions YOU would like to ask candidates for mayor, Ward 2 At-Large City Council and Ward 3 School Committee. We can’t guarantee they will be used verbatim, but we will try to address as many topics and questions as possible. We especially appreciate questions that are direct and about 1-2 sentences long–these tend to mean more direct and focused answers. Please send them to [email protected].
We are taping these forums on Monday, October 2, starting at 5 pm. Please feel free to join us at NewTV Studios and watch a live feed in the NewTV conference room–light refreshments will be served.
The SEPAC (Special Education Parent Advisory Council) is having a moderated forum on October 19th with the 4 contested Ward races for School Committee, and the Ward 7 new to School Committee uncontested candidate at the Barry Price Center. That includes Ward 1, Ward 2, Ward 3, and Ward 8. Answers to a written questionnaire will be posted no later than October 17th. Answers will also be posted from our two Mayoral candidates. Stay tuned.
In Newton, there are approaching 2,000 NPS students who live in poverty to such a degree that they qualify for free or reduced price lunch during the school year. During the summer months, however, nothing has been done by current leadership to combat the food insecurity that these kids face. As such, the question I would like asked of all elected officials is: What three specific actions will you take, if elected, to ensure that these nearly 2,000 NPS students have access to consistent and nutritious lunches during the summer months.
Let’s hear what they’re going to do for the less well-off residents of Newton. Free meals for kids in the summer, a solution to the winter parking ban, safer sidewalks for people getting around without cars (the sidewalks in my neighborhood are in very bad shape), and full-day kindergarten and after school programs (the current school schedule is difficult for working parents with the weird kindergarten schedule, intermittent early dismissals). I haven’t seen many steps to improve any of those things in my decade in Newton and in fact, the sidewalks have gotten worse and the winter parking ban has gotten more expensive.
For the mayoral candidates…
Do you acknowledge that sleep deprivation caused by early high school start times has far ranging health implications on teenage students including depression, and will you commit to changing start times by the September start of the 2018 school year?
– What is your vision for the former dump site on Pine Street?
– How do you think the city can reduce traffic on small residential streets?
– Do you think the 311 system is working well and how would you improve it?
Thanks, everyone, for the questions. Keep them coming! You can also send them to me directly at [email protected]. We don’t attribute the questions, so you can stay anonymous that way if you want.
To city council candidates:
Should ‘NO’ prevail will you ascribe to the council’s alternate downsize plan as fulfilling the voter’s referendum questions?
@ Newtoner- The Dump area that is closed off on Pine Street is from what I have heard contaminated. I wouldn’t be encouraging ANYONE to develop that area. And before you do that – do a survey of all the residents on Pine Street and surrounding area and find how many of them or their family members have or have died of Cancer. From what others have told me years ago Raytheon would dump chemicals on that land. And who knows what the city dumped there too.
@Joanne – If that is the case then I would definitely like to hear what the mayoral candidates have to say about it.