I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to those of you who don’t know me. I grew up in New Jersey but have lived in Newton for over 20 years and consider Newton my true home. I’ve been a homeowner in West Newton since 2008. I have spent many years volunteering on both the local and school levels but am looking at this run for City Council as a way to make a difference to my fellow residents in the biggest way I can.
My husband, Braden Houston (who ran for this same seat in 2017), and I are raising two wonderful and active girls with a sense of civic duty and political knowledge. Beckett, age 12, attends the 6th Grade at Day Middle School while Blake, age 6, attends Pierce Elementary. I am very active in the Pierce PTO as a 2-year Board member of the Social Action Committee, developing and running many charity drives with the Peirce students. In addition, this year I began volunteering with the Day PTO.
I currently work in Boston as the Director of Marketing for a small architectural firm. My first passion, however, is historic preservation. In 2001, I earned a graduate degree in historic preservation at the University of Pennsylvania, and in 2018 was appointed to a three-year term on the Newton Historic Commission, where I frequently vote to preserve historically significant buildings and maintain our City’s architectural culture.
I am running for City Council because I feel that our City government is on the wrong path. And as I have spoken to neighbors, friends, and residents across the City, I feel that a significant number of voices are going unheard by our current body of Councilors, especially in regard to the many large developments, like Riverside, Needham Street, and several Washington Street projects, that are being fast-tracked through City Council with little consideration for the concerns of neighborhood residents who will be impacted the most by them.
I am running to encourage right-sized development instead of oversized developments that will overwhelm our schools, roads, public safety, and public works systems. I believe that every development proposal that comes in front of the Council for approval should foster the City’s economic development to build our tax base, diversify our housing stock, while also considering the needs of residents who already live here.
I also want to use my influence on the Council to persuade the Planning Department to create a zoning redesign plan that makes it undesirable to knock down naturally affordable houses, and preservers the unique feel and sense of place of our villages. I want to advocate for enriching the quality of life for seniors wishing to remain in Newton, doing more to foster affordable, properly-sized, and accessible development that can meet the rising demand of senior residents wishing to downsize. In addition, enriching opportunities and programs for this section of our community would be a priority for me.
I want to continue the progress that the current City Council has made in expanding environmentally-friendly services, energy programs, and transportation options, and take it to the next level. I would also like to see the City emphasize the creation and/or conservation of more green space in the City.
And, of course, I pledge to help my constituents navigate City Hall when needed, respond to requests large and small that relate to their quality of life in Newton, and serve all of my constituents, from young to old, the best way I can.
If I am elected, I intend to fully represent the voices of the people that will have entrusted me to speak up for them. I will strive to bring back the transparency and accountability people feel are missing in today’s City Council. I hope you will support me in this effort and spread the word about me to your friends and neighbors. I hope you will take the time to read more about me on my campaign website (www.jenniferbentley.org) and feel that I am worthy of your support.
On November 5, 2019, I hope I will be able to count on your vote and look forward to meeting many of you over the coming months.
Thank you for your support.
Jennifer Bentley
Great to hear that you are running, and terrific we have some good alternatives from Ward 2.
@Jennifer Bentley– I know that spouses sometimes have very different perspectives. You mentioned your husband, Braden Houston, who ran for this same council seat in 2017. As a candidate, Mr Houston proposed banning cannabis in Newton after the 2016 vote legalized adult use. Do your views differ in any way? I ask because this remains a relevant issue with an ongoing approval process.
I look forward to hearing more from Jennifer and all of the candidates this year.
But for now, can we get a shout-out to Ward 2, which consistently fields candidates for all contests. And couldn’t some of you move to Ward 7, which consistently doesn’t?
Jennifer, you are correct that many voices are going unheard by our current body of Councilors, especially in regard to the many large developments, like Riverside, Needham Street, and several Washington Street projects. There does seem to be little consideration for the concerns of neighborhood residents in these areas. I love your idea of right-sized development instead of oversized developments that will overwhelm Newton’s schools and roads. I am glad that you are running!
Very refreshing change to see someone put out their top concerns instead of ‘vague and ambiguous’ positions. Being a nice person is simply not good enough as a reason to run.
Finally someone who is willing to listen to what affected residents have to say…
What is your position on reducing the size of the City Council? How would you work to make it happen?
I voted for Amy Sangilio in the mayoral primary because she had a similar stance, coupled with the harsh truth that taking that stance meant passing overrides.
(The naturally affordable house purchased by family with 2.1 kids and a dog is pretty likely to be adding kids to the schools – and as an owner of one of the last of the ‘naturally affordable’ homes I can tell you that my taxes cover 2/3 of one average student)
So what is your stance on overrides? When will we need one and how much, or would we move to smaller amounts every-other-year like Arlington?
Note: I am in general pro-development and pro-urbanification – if we could have afforded Brookline we would have stayed – but I am even more supportive of realistic plans for our city’s future.
[This post is my personal opinion and does not reflect the opinion or policy of the MBTA]
Another Newton NIMBY. Yawn.
“naturally affordable” is code for “run down” or in other words, “ripe for redevelopment”, no?
Haven’t we been through this before? Is Jennifer just the reincarnation of “Blueprint” Bill Roesner?
The candidate initiated this thread one week ago, announcing a run for City Council. She has a couple of anonymous commenters post nice things about her and then disappears. Three people [using their real names] asked her specific questions that she has thus far failed to even respond too, despite her posting her own comments on other threads. Why would anyone vote for a candidate who uses Village 14 to announce their candidacy, and then refuses to answer questions?
@Mike Striar,
Although I often don’t see eye to eye with your perspectives, in this case, you are spot on.
Mike,
Its annoying but she is not the only one. Many councillors create posts here and never comment. For example: a sitting councilor created a post about prioritizing newton for social justice reasons… huge number of comments but not a single response from the councilor…
I guess they are smart enough to not have anything specific in writing.