Do you recognize these three Newton residents? Do you know their names and what they have in common? Have you seen them lately?
Pop quiz: What do these three Newton residents have in common?
by Greg Reibman | Oct 22, 2017 | Newton people | 21 comments
easy, they’re all walk-ons..
How about a tougher one, like which were previously married, and how many times?
To expand on Harry’s observation, these three are also hard-working citizens who are 100% committed to the City of Newton. They have each made sacrifices to run for office, skipping family dinners and bedtime stories, in order to prepare for the job they are about to take on. These three Newton residents are smart, ethical and will make great additions to our city’s group of elected officials.
@Matthew: To no fault of their own, all three candidates are running without an opponent. That’s no reflection on how hard working, committed or ethical they are. But I beleive elected officials become better equipt to serve when they had an opponent. They get a chance to develop and articulate their positions in debates and build critical relationships with the public before they are in office.
That’s why I believe it was a good thing that Gail Spector stepped up to run in Ward 8 after Amy Masters needed to drop out for personal reasons and I hope you do too.
Well, I know for a fact that meeting and talking with me is not the commonality since I’ve only recently had occasion to speak to just two out of the three.
They were pleasant and informative chats and I appreciated their time.
Harry, how about “walk-in’s?”
Matt, agree. Much better.
These three candidates are:
Kathy Shields – running unopposed for Ward 7 School Committee
Becky Grossman – running unopposed for Ward 8 Councilor-at-large – along with Marc Laredo
Josh Krintzman- running unopposed for Ward 5 Councilor-at-large – along with Lenny Gentile
I think the Councilor-at-large races highlight how much more competitive these races would be if there were only 1 per ward. Both would have an opponent. But would the newcomers challenge an incumbent?
Josh Krintzman is running in Ward 4, not in Ward 5.
Ward 5 is Brian Yates and Deb Crossley, both incumbents, with Andrea Downs newcomer.
Agreed with Matt that these 3 will be dedicated and thoughtful public servants. I feel that they’ve gone out and run a campaign as though they had a competitor, which is a testament to their characters.
Greg, you did leave out the other race where there’s only one candidate on the ballot: The ward 4 ward race.
Lets address the elephant in the room: Our current system doesn’t encourage competition. For a variety of reasons, from the large size of the council, to the residency restrictions for all 32 elected offices (4 per ward), to the lack of term limits on city council, we can and should have a system that does better.
@Bryan: It’s true that Chris Markiewicz is the only name on the ballot for Ward 4, a result of the still never adequately explained timing of the decision by Jay Harney to not seek reelection. But Allison Sharma has stepped up and is debating Markiewicz and is campaigning harder than many candidates.
There’s no democracy without choice. That’s one of the reasons I support the new Charter. But even that is not enough to assure competitive races. I believe EVERY ballot should include a printed option to vote for “none of the above.” In fact, I’ll be writing in those words for a few races this November.
Correction @Marti –
Becky Grossman is running unopposed as Ward 7 City Councilor, (not Ward 8) and has been everywhere campaigning and meeting voters despite the “walk-in” .
Gloria is right. Becky Grossman has been everywhere. She’s been out there talking and listening to everyone.
Well, I sure made a mess of typing ward numbers and then failed to proof read.
Thanks for the corrections.
By my count, working from the City’s “Elections” page, there are four ward-at-large races where both candidates are unopposed and six ward-elected races in which the candidate is unopposed. That means that 14 of 24 city councilors are unopposed, and thus effectively unaccountable to the voters.
Is my count incorrect? Or are these other candidates running write-in campaigns?
@ Greg: Thanks for the recognition. Running a write-in campaign against an opponent who is on the ballot is no small feat. I am working incredibly hard to overcome that disadvantage, and glad to know that at least one person has noticed!
Becky Grossman was the only one I recognized by name. I met her a couple of times last week (at a Mayoral forum and I think the School Committee one) and I remember her because she talked to me both times. Kathy I recognized by face only, because I saw her at the School Committee forum last week. I have no idea who the gentleman is.
Only chiming in to add to the “who knows the players” discussion from the perspective of someone who takes an interest in a local election cycle for the first time. I don’t think I will be voting for the unopposed candidates. What would be the point? Plus, I don’t know them really. I am having a hard enough time to find the time to educate myself about the candidates of the contested races.
Patricia:
That’s why I’m voting for the new charter. The new structure will make it much more likely that voters will, 1) Be able to understand the ballot and know the candidates, and 2) Have a real choice in contested races.
Many voters are willing to swallow the delivery of the ‘unclean hands’ charter pill encapsulated in the all or nothing schizm. Have we, as a city, become comfortably numb in believing in the dogma projected in an effort to covet progressivism?
Jonathan, not sure how the proposed new charter simplifies things other than providing head-to-head races for 8 of the at-large councilors, which I agree is a good thing. But you will still have to keep track of up to 9 contested City Council races just as you do now. You will be voting to fill a total of 20 CC and SC spots, as opposed to the 25 CC and SC spots you vote on now, and one of those races will have you checking four boxes from among as many as eight candidates.
For me, the clarity provided by the head-to-head races for the ward residency spots is canceled out by the confusion of having two different classes of at-large councilors (a system familiar only to the voters of Everett). Both our current system and this proposal present average voters with a mystifying array of candidates.
I get that some people want to be able to vote for every single seat. Not me. Just give me a few races to focus on.
Sigh, another post that quickly turns into a pro- versus anti-charter discussion…
I understand, the charter question is of critical importance and has rightly commanded a huge level of interest and debate this year. But as a candidate for city council, I worry that the city council races aren’t receiving the attention they deserve. After all, the 24 folks elected to city council on November 7 will be making key decisions for the city for the next two years, regardless of how the charter question fares.
Anyone else have this concern?
I do not disagree with Allison. As important the charter question is to Newton, electing talented councilors and school committee members is as important. So may we please stay focused on the topic at hand. Candidates have a short time left to get out their messages.
Allison you have a strong vision for Newton and you have my total support!
The amount of unopposed candidates has given me something to think about. I live in Barbara Brousal-Glaser’s ward. She’s running unopposed and hasn’t made an effort to connect with constituents. Even her Facebook page has been inactive since January and her website still says alderman and hasn’t been updated since 2014. Maybe our city council is too big if this is happening. I didn’t want to lose the type of ward representation we have currently, but I don’t feel good about the amount of uncontested spots, especially if they’re going to remain filled by someone who isn’t trying to connect with voters.