We asked the same question about the City Council last week, now let’s discuss how Ruthanne Fuller has done as she completes her first year as mayor. (TAB story here.)
How would you rate Ruthanne Fuller’s first year as mayor?
by village14 | Dec 26, 2018 | Newton | 29 comments
For me the biggest factor in rating her tenure is how NPS does under her watch, and it would be unfair to judge her one way or the other just a year into her term. I’m still a bit skeptical, but for what it’s worth, I do think her handling of the Newton North nonsense has been superb.
Out of touch with the people of Newtonville / nonantum. She’s in a Chestnut Hill bubble.
Exceeded my expectations. Substantial changes for the better (e.g., full day kindergarten) introduced without fanfare. Didn’t vote for her before, expect to vote for her next chance.
I guess I’m in a Newton Highlands bubble?
RuthAnne is a very hard working and diligent mayor. She wants
Newton to be a successful city.
My concerns about Newton’s future is its substantial debt.
RuthAnne can not solve the city’s financial problems by raising property taxes significantly each year. She must control her spending. She is unwilling to do this. Her taxation policy is hurting deeply elders and young families who can not afford the dramatic annual tax increases. This is her first main failure.
The second big mistake is zoning reform. Her attempt to significantly increase dense housing development along
Washington St. is a faulty endeavor. Residents north and immediately south of the Pike are her prime target for exploitation. Few people will vote for her next time.
I would give her an A for being visible and engaged. She’s clearly committed to making Newton what she thinks is a better place.
I would give her an F for the way she maneuvered to rig the marijuana ballot questions to get her preferred outcome of 8+ stores. Making Newton the pot capital of the Western suburbs will be her longest lasting legacy. I’d feel better about that if the outcome came from a fair ballot process rather than the flawed ballot questions we had.
I’d give her an incomplete on all the planned developments and zoning reforms. These changes seem to be at the behest of developers rather than organically coming from the needs and desires of citizens. I hope she’ll dial those way back.
I’d give her a C on financial transparency. I want to know what the financial implications of all her planned changes are, and there is little analysis and discussion of that.
…and there’s also the “Colleen Minaker bubble.”
And @Sarah! Thanks for the great idea!
I’m still sort of lukewarm on Mayor Fuller. I frequently like she’s inauthentic and not really transparent. She shows up at events, but I think it’s all for show. She loves her photo ops, like that time she was at an event with children and I saw her pretend to talk to a child while someone snapped a bunch of photos. I think Hello Washington Street is sort of patronizing, unrealistic, and I don’t think Fuller and the developers are taking our input seriously. I also disliked her handling of of the marijuana issue, but for the opposite reasons that Sarah states.
I think she’s had a great first year. Her presence everywhere and her genuine enthusiasm for the job seems to be infectious. She seems to have given city staff a shot in the arm. I’ve definitely seen a shift in outlook and there seems to be much more of a can-do attitude among much of the city staff that I’ve dealt with.
There have been a few good new initiatives that suddenly sprung up (full day kindergarten. the opening of Aquinas Hall for public events).
Her clear voice in support of Newton Schools and teachers in the face of the endless unfounded accusations of anti-Semitsm was much needed and appreciated.
Its too early to tell how she’ll do on some of the bigger, longer term issues – debt, development, etc but from what I’ve seen so far I’m optimistic.
Closer to home here in Upper Falls I couldn’t be happier – the city was a great partner in putting together a wonderful outdoor art exhibition on the Upper Falls Greenway and helping the neighbors build a new bocce court.
…. but really, all politics is local, really local. In my house that means tiny Spring St. The biggest news in these parts is that for the first time in the 10 years since we’ve lived here, our street was plowed every single snow storm since Mayor Fuller took office. Nothing the city can do makes a bigger impression in our house than that.
I agree with MMQC’s assessments, but I am not even lukewarm on her. She is a master at self promotion. Every edition of the From the Mayor’s Office in the Tab includes a photo of her. I really didn’t like the stunt with trying to do a land swap with the police headquarters or her no bid contracts or the whole Hello Washington farce.
I’m not sure why Sarah thinks Fuller was trying to help defeat the ban. I got the opposite impression. But since she never came out and stated a position, its hard to say. But failing to state a position was lame.
I do give her credit for handling the attack on the Newton Teachers but that in itself does change my assessment
I’ve been impressed by the Mayor’s first year. She has been clear about her goals and seems genuinely intent on meeting them. She’s also been very visible and a great communicator – love the email updates from the Mayor’s office.
Some of the highlights for me include her leadership in the schools (full day K, supporting teachers, janitors got a new contract), trying to put the city in the drivers seat on planning and development (zoning reform, Hello Washington Street, proposed increase in inclusionary zoning), and being a strong voice for equality and civility in a world that clearly needs more of both.
Love it. Where can I get one, Greg?
Fuller lied about her position on cannabis right up to her 2017 election. Anyone who believes she supported marijuana legalization has grossly misinterpreted the facts. She was a key player in the failed attempt to block implementation of the voter approved law. It’s been my observation that most politicians do lie on occasion. But not many have the audacity to stab their constituents in the back the way Fuller did.
@Greg – That was my favorite stocking stuffer this year. I bought a case of them and gave them to all my western suburb friends and family in Dedham, Needham, Weston, Wayland and Waltham.
The glassy eyed mobs will soon be descending.
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Mike,
Fuller probably has eyes on the senate, shes not going to risk that by making her stand clear on uncertain liberal issues …
Look how the homeless housing flipflop tanked setti warrens bid for higher office. No one could trust him after that
@Greg, LOVE the t-shirt design! I expect Ruthanne will be wearing it to events soon. Since we’ve decided to be the Pot Capitol of the Western Suburbs, she might as well proudly advertise it. Think of the tax revenues!
Mayor Fuller has shown herself to be interested and involved in many aspects of Newton. She puts herself out there for all to see and hear.
Ruthanne started out the year with a few blunders that I hope can just be chalked up to wanting to come out of the corner swinging.
I’m surprised that the city council went along with the mayor’s request for a no bid contract for Principal Group but it had a lot of newbies too. My reasoning here has to do with being able to see what is being looked for in the RFI rather than the lack of bids. An RFI provides more transparency.
I was alarmed with Ruthanne’s offering an RFI with a 3 week limit to swap the current police station’s gorgeous building for whatever land was offered in exchange to build a new state of the art police headquarters. It was obvious Mark Dev would be the only bidder – and he was with the swapped land offered way too small. The particularly alarming parts were she was a new mayor, offering up city property without any discussion, without commissioning anyone to study what a new police headquarters needed inside and out or where its best location would be and then inserting it in the Washington Street vision.
I was surprised twice by Ruthanne’s overstepping her mayoral bounds by announcing the outcome she wanted before the city council had deliberated or voted on an issue. Early in the year, she published her “Let’s Vote” newsletter calling for a vote on the 50+ signature petition requesting a vote to ban marijuana retail stores.
Later when she had apparently changed her mind on the same issue, she gave the city council 3 questions she wanted on the ballot – including one that just restated what had already been voted on.
These two times the city council made their own decisions.
Only in extreme circumstances, none of which I can think of, should a strong mayor essentially tell the city council what outcome the mayor expects. It muddies deliberations. The council needs to be able to come to legislative and other decisions, including special permits for large developments, without the mayor trying to make the decisions for them.
I’m very pleased that she involved herself enough, $1 million, in the school committee to finally have full day kindergarten coming to Newton.
I’m very displeased that Ruthanne signed on to build a concrete number of units of housing without including updating or building new educational facilities in any way. Education is never mentioned.
Obviously that’s enough. I’m optimistic that Mayor Fuller will learn from her first year, evaluate how she thinks she’s doing as mayor and move forward from there.
As a side note, I hope the mayor will read the Newtonville Area Council ‘s report on. Washington Street Development
http://www.newtonma.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?t=57710.68&BlobID=92144
For me, I put aside anything about photo ops and public appearances. All politicians do that and I think there are situations in which she does that very well and others in which I feel she can use improvement.
But what’s impressed me is in how she approaches meetings. I’ve been in several in which she follows a solid process: sets the tone, asks a lot of probing questions, writes down notes, and then has a discussion in which she repeats back what she heard. I know it sounds basic, but many executives and politicians do not do it this way. She is an active listener and offers careful responses. She is also realistic in terms of timelines and in what the government itself can feasibly accomplish.
It helps give me confidence that her decisions are carefully considered. You can disagree with those decisions, but if you’re going to convince her to change her mind you’ll need to do it in a very careful and thoughtful manner.
I’m not sure you can ask for more from a Mayor.
We had a lot of changes in the three branches of municipal government this year – more than any year in my memory. A new mayor, about a third of the city council including a new council president, and half the school committee. IMO, the city did just fine and I look forward to a productive year two.
I think Chuck’s assessment is spot on.
One more BIG reason I think she’s doing a good job: going bold on including 60% renewable energy for Newton Power Choice!
My takeaway from the comments so far is that those who didn’t support Fuller remain unimpressed or at least lukewarm.
Those who supported Fuller are still fans.
The outlier is Marti Bowen who seemed to me to be a strong Fuller supported prior to the election, but to her credit is being thoughtful and balanced in her assessment
I am happy with how Mayor Fuller is doing so far.
Following up on Bryan’s comment: I hope we hear more from her on the proposed Styrofoam ban and other issues related to our society’s pathological and destructive addiction to plastic. Newton can and should be a leader on this.
I voted for Mayor Fuller, and I don’t follow local politics as much as I would like so it’s hard for me to judge her first year as mayor.
That said, I’m glad to receive the mayor’s e-mail updates and news of full-day kindergarten. I am also encouraged by the commitment to clean energy and the Newton high school teachers. I read the Newton Tab sometimes but I read the Mayor’s e-mails always.
From the discussion here and reading between the lines, I’m disheartened by the Mayor’s lack of support and perhaps working against “recreational” marijuana (a needless distinction and stigmatization of marijuana use – we don’t drink “recreational” wine do we?).
@Newtoner: The City Council is the lead on restricting plastic. A ban on polystyrene and straws has been docketed by myself, Alison Leary, Vicki Danberg, Susan Albright, Deb Crossley and David Kalis. It is expected to be discussed by the Programs & Services Committee in January.
@Emily Norton: Yes, I’m aware of the proposal at the council and support it 100%. Thank you for taking the lead on this.
I didn’t vote for RAF in 2017. But I can see why she won; her willingness to campaign anywhere and everywhere, and willingness to listen to everyone. I think that’s how she won. Unlike Ruth Balser in 2009, she campaigned in and made house visits in my neighborhood (which went heavily for Warren in 2009 and Lennon in 2017). She didn’t win, she probably couldn’t have won. But she showed up anyway. That kind of stuff matters, folks. I liked Lennon and voted for him, but I think he kind of took his support on the north side for granted. Mayor Fuller has shown that same spirit of outreach as mayor as she did during her campaign. Thus, with a few exceptions, I am pleased at how she has performed up to this point.
It’s too early to judge Ruthanne Fuller, Newton’s first female elected mayor. If I judged former and longest serving Newton Mayor Theodore Mann (1972-1994) after his first year in office, I would have concluded he was a complete failure.