I have always been deeply involved in my community, and currently serve as President of the Waban Area Council, where I have worked to respond to resident concerns and promote civic engagement. In my role on the Area Council, I have had the chance to work closely with retiring Councilor John Rice, who has been a great mentor and role model for how to get things done. As I embark on this campaign, I am thrilled and honored that John has offered me his full support. If elected, I will work hard to represent Ward 5. I will prioritize constituent services and community building. I will serve as a voice for the residents of Upper Falls, Waban, and Newton Highlands, while also keeping a citywide perspective and working for Newton as a whole. I have the skills to be an effective City Councilor. In my experience as a lawyer and as a volunteer in my community, I have excelled at working with people with different viewpoints. I am a pragmatic person who believes in respectful dialogue, finding points of consensus, and moving forward. Newton is a wonderful place to live, and our challenge is to maintain what works well while ensuring that the city continues to evolve and improve. Excellence in education, solid infrastructure, more varied housing options, improved transportation, sound fiscal management, environmental sustainability, vibrant village centers, and well-maintained parks and open spaces are all important priorities to keep moving Newton forward. I am looking forward to knocking on doors and hearing from the residents of Ward 5. I will work hard to earn your trust and support. If you’d like to reach out in the meantime, please email me at [email protected] or visit my website at kathywinters.org. |
I am excited to announce that I am running for Newton Ward 5 City Councilor. I am running because I believe I can be a strong representative of the ward. 
Given the other candidate’s quiet erratic Twitter behavior, I’m very glad other candidates are hoping into the race.
Kathy, Do you support reducing the size of the City Council? How will you work to make it happen?
I’m thrilled that Kathy has entered the race. I’ve always felt she’d make a terrific Counselor. In every interaction she is thoughtful, strategic, diplomatic, and always the adult in the room.
Ward 5ers are wicked fortunate to have Kathy follow in the inimitable John Rice’s footsteps.
Kathy was one of the first people I got to know when I was attempting to navigate City Hall in an effort to open a new business. She supplied not only the very helpful support of the Waban Area Council for the restoration of Waban Hardware but moral support to me as well. I know she will make a terrific Ward 5 Councilor.
Kathy Winters is one of the brightest most compassionate and level headed women I know. She would make an excellent City Councilor. I’m proud to support her.
Diplomatic, experienced and an excellent negotiator .. Newton is lucky to have her in the running.
Our community is so fortunate to have Kathy’s leadership. She is an articulate and brilliant person and we would be lucky to have her at our city councilor.
I am grateful that Kathy is running for Newton City Council. It is the natural next step for her after devoting her time and talents to local organizations for many years. Kathy is thoughtful, intelligent, and capable. Ward 5 will greatly benefit from her continued commitment to our community.
Thanks to everyone for the kind words. I am very excited to have launched the campaign. In the months ahead I will be working hard to connect with the residents of Ward 5. If you want to reach out directly, please email me at [email protected].
@Peter, I am supportive of reducing the size of the council. I am open to solutions as to how best to accomplish that.
As a life long resident of Newton, I believe it is essential that our City Councilors not only understand the needs of their Ward but also how to balance those needs for the betterment of the city. In Kathy Winters we will have a Councilor who will be strategic while being action-oriented, someone who is very smart and is confident in her point of view yet will listen to the viewpoints of others before making a decision. She is also entirely in tune with the needs of our Ward and that of the city. Ultimately Kathy is the perfect person to represent Ward 5.
@Kathy Winters– The person you’ve cited as your mentor, John Rice, is a marijuana prohibitionist, who not only used his position on the City Council to obstruct implementation of the voter’s 2016 law legalizing marijuana, but also attended a rally to block a MEDICAL marijuana dispensary. So I’m curious how you feel about this question… What do the words “regulate marijuana like alcohol” mean to you?
@Mike:
While I broadly support your stance on marijuana, I fear your single-issue obsession blinds you to all else. There are other things under the sun.
@Robert– Peruse Village 14. You’ll find me commenting on a variety of issues from the Northland proposal, to high school start times, to air rights over the Pike. I’ve lived here for 56 years, and I’m well versed in most things Newton. Cannabis reform remains an active issue in Newton. I think we can all recognize the need to ask where a candidate stands on this issue.
For anyone who’s still denying it, today the Spotlight team showed very clearly that the legalization of marijuana in this state was nothing but a giveaway to a select group of white male billionaires –
https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/special-reports/2019/03/21/seahunter/okkkbXkh38kTkH9HDiiFXL/story.html
It’s depressing how easily the people of this Commonwealth (and almost all of my fellow progressives in Newton) were once again played by the big money (in this case, Big Weed).
N.B. – This article is “first in a series.”
This really ticks me off. The candidate posts a campaign announcement on Village 14 a week ago, and then has a handful of supporters post supportive messages. She danced around Peter Karg’s question about downsizing the City Council, and completely avoided my question about cannabis reform. I don’t want to judge Kathy Winters’ candidacy too quickly, but I have to wonder why she’s running if she can’t answer basic questions pertaining to the job.
For those who aren’t subscribers, the aforementioned
Globe Spotlight article tells the story of how two companies controlled by white male billionaires – Sea Hunter and Acreage Holdings – have
This was largely because the system was completely stacked in the favor of billionaire investors from the beginning, thanks to the corporate PR machinery (“well-paid lobbyists and lawyers”) that bought off the legislature and snookered the electorate.
It’s also interesting to note that:
I’m quite intrigued by this series and I suspect that subsequent installments will reveal some Newton connections as they deconstruct one of the biggest corporate cons since charter schools.
What the initial Globe article hasn’t yet explored is the impact of billionaire out-of-state corporations on other levels of the marijuana trade upstream from the retail business, and the move toward vertical integration – I hope that this topic will be covered in subsequent installments.
For example, local cannabis investor Four Daughters Compassionate Care, which was co-founded by a local family (Brian and Lynne Striar) was acquired in a major transaction last month by Chicago-based Verano Holdings. Then, no sooner had that transaction closed than Verano Holdings was purchased just last week for $850 million by an even bigger multinational corporation, Harvest Health and Recreation.
Beyond the obvious issues that this brings up of how the legalization process was gamed by billionaire investors, there’s another key issue in play here. I assume that local authorities in Sharon approved the Striar family’s cultivation and production facility under the belief that it would be operated by local investors with a commitment to the community.
Instead, the facility was gobbled up by a faceless out-of-state corporation which no more than six weeks later was gobbled up by another faceless out-of-state corporation that currently controls more than 200 facilities in 16 states.
How were we so easily conned by huge corporate interests?
@Mike I wasn’t dancing around Peter’s question, I meant what I said. I am very supportive of downsizing the council and would consider any solution that will get through the council and mayor and that has a chance of voter approval. I am opposed to eliminating the ward councilor role, but I am open to considering a smaller at-large council elected with ranked choice voting, because I believe RCV could effectively result in “local” representation, and it safeguards against a majority of voters controlling all of the seats. We will need to compromise to get this done.
As for your cannabis question about the meaning of “regulating like alcohol” — Q4 made clear that the law is intended to regulate and tax marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. It also made clear that just as with alcohol, municipalities could elect to go “dry.” Newton voters rejected that option, and as a councilor I would be focused on smooth and successful rollout of RMDs.
But you probably want to know more than that. I voted no on Q4. I am pro-medical marijuana and support de-criminalizing recreational use, but I am very wary of the commercialization of marijuana. I fully accept that I am in the minority in Massachusetts and in Newton on that issue, and I would not use the position of city councilor to impede successful implementation of the law. Now that legalization is here, I hope it works well. While I was a no on Q4, I did not vote to limit RMDs in Newton. As a practical matter there will already be RMDs in neighboring towns, and I believe dispensaries will be less disruptive to neighborhoods if they are more diffuse.
As a councilor I would focus on keeping the community engaged when an RMD is proposed in an area, on negotiating a smooth rollout, and on working with the business to address any hiccups along the way. There will undoubtedly be a learning curve.
Speaking of community engagement – the developer for a proposed RMD just outside of Ward 5 at 1158 Beacon St. (IQ Kitchen/Jaylin Cleaners site) will be presenting to the community at the next Waban Area Council meeting on April 11th at 7:30pm. Please join us if you are interested. Also, the initial public hearing for the proposed RMD at the Green Tea site is coming up on March 26.
@Kathy Winters. Thank you for your response. Fully transparent and crystal clear on both topics. I hope other Council candidates will take the same approach. Best of luck with your campaign.
Thank you @Mike Striar.
Sorry for hijacking this thread. But interesting facts above from Michael.
@Mike Striar – Do you or your family members stand to gain financially from your marijuana advocacy?
Not trying to insinuate anything, but want to clarify.
Thank you
@Mike Striar – Resposting this, since you may have missed over the weekend.
Pl. do responsd, otherwise we may be forced to conclude your tireless single-focused advocacy was just a means for your personal financial gain.
That conclusion will be rather unfortunate. So please please speak up and shed some light.