Here’s the NewTV/Newton League of Women Voters debate between among incumbents Victoria Danberg and Greg Schwartz and challenger Alicia Bowman, who are running for the two Ward 6 City Council at-large seats.
Decision 2019: Ward Six Councilor at Large from NewTV Government on Vimeo.
Sounds like it was recorded before the mayor’s announcement on Webster Woods. That’s too bad, because I would have liked to know what candidates think about an eminent domain acquisition, now that it’s a reality.
Just reminding voters, it was Greg Schwartz who chaired the secret commission that was created by Setti Warren to block implementation of the ballot initiative legalizing cannabis. That Commision held meetings behind closed doors with no members of the press or public allowed to attend. They have never released their minutes or notes for public scrutiny. If you think it’s appropriate for a local government to act in secret and then cover it up, Schwartz is your guy.
I wish I had 57 minutes of my life back. They all three said pretty much the same thing.
Alicia was a little different but basically BLAH, BLAH BLAH.
In regards to NEWCal at least Alicia was challenging the premise that we need something more than a new Senior Center. saying we should do more research about the need.Vicki had a complete word salad regarding placing it placing it on parkland but while she didn’t say it out right what I heard was she was okay placing it at Albemarle. If she reads this blob and wants to correct that takeaway if it is wrong, that would be great.
Let’s simplify: Question to Alicia, Vicki, Greg, Would you support building NEWCal in Albemarle Park?
Having participated in one of these debates as a candidate many years ago, I can say that for even the most qualified candidates, and there are 3 here, it is a daunting experience.
It’s intimidating, unnatural, and unless you have a knack for it or a lot of experience at it, the live to tape debate is perhaps the most difficult part of a campaign for office. I take my hat off to all the candidates that have to go through this hell, as it is an unnerving experience.
That having been said, all pretty much said the same thing, but at least they all seem to have a good grip on the issues.
@Paul, I didn’t mean to denigrate any of these three well-prepared candidates in my previous remark. They were all three intelligent, articulate and thoughtful. The problem is they all three said pretty much the same things. I think they would no doubt be very different city councilors, but it is impossible to ferret that out from this debate. In particular, it’s not clear to me why Alicia Bowman is running, since she seems to have the same ideas and priorities as the two incumbents.
Laurie, I parsed out a few differences. Alicia seems to want to see a more of a prescribed mix of development at Northland and Riverside i.e. more of a mix of rentals and owners.
As a resident of Ward 6 I am inclined to shake things up by voting for Gordon and Bowman. Still undecided though
@ Laurie-
I did not mean to imply that you were denigrating these candidates. Sorry if you got that impression. I agree that they pretty much all said the same thing.
I have to say, I agree with most of the statements here.
@PaulGreen had it right: these debates are awkward not because debating is hard but because of the way they are formatted. You are under very bright lights, staring into a camera, with the moderator off to the side. The questions are answered by each person and only the moderator deciding if there should be rebuttals. In a standard debate there is more back and forth.
As for us sounding similar, I recognized this during the debate and tried to differentiate myself only to have Greg and Vicki agree with me in a way I don’t think they necessarily would have if we were in a City Council meeting working on that issue. We are different candidates with very different experiences and different leadership abilities. I have had boots on the ground and leadership roles in organizations across the city for 15 years. I have been a passionate advocate and have worked hard to become very knowledgeable about what I was advocating for.
What convinced me to run was both Vicki and Greg seemed to have no sense of urgency regarding the housing crisis, transportation and climate change. They are not alone per Councilor Norton https://village14.com/2019/10/01/norton-city-council-is-not-doing-enough-to-combat-climate-change-pressure-us-to-do-more/#axzz61UzX4YtN I was dissatisfied with their answers to my direct questions and what I heard them saying in public meetings. My frustration reached peak level and I had two choices: Step away from it all or do the really hard thing and run for City Council. I have a lot of experience working hard.
If you want to know more about me, I invite you to go to my website http://www.aliciabowman.org There you will find information on upcoming community meetings and events. I have already had 18 community meetings with people across Newton and I have at least 5 more scheduled plus a few events like Harvest Fest and the LWVN Candi-dating that I will be attending. I look forward to meeting some of you in person.
I don’t recall any of these candidates making strong public statements back in August and September about the Mayor’s proposed use of parkland for NewCAL, generally or with regard to the then possibility of Weeks Park (in the middle of Ward 6.). Why so timid back then? Perhaps they could elaborate here on this issue, as @Claire suggests.
One thought. Maybe this is a result of the poor news coverage in town, but I have not heard anything about or from Greg Schwartz (who seems like a fine fellow) during his term of office. I’d love to hear from others about their interactions with him. In contrast, particularly during Setti’s term of office, Vickie often ended up acting as the liaison between City Hall and the neighborhood on a variety of issues. (In fact, I used to joke with her that she often ended up taking on functions of the executive branch!)
@Paul Levy “In contrast, particularly during Setti’s term of office, Vickie often ended up acting as the liaison between City Hall and the neighborhood on a variety of issues.”
Agreed. In that way I think Vicki functions reasonable successfully as a Ward Councilor. On city wide issues I feel as if she “goes along to get along” I don’t ever recall her challenging the status quo. Her answer to the NEWCal question was especially disappointing.
Agree, @Claire, that her answer and Greg’s were not satisfactory. You get the feeling that both would be content with siting at Albemarle. Alicia’s answer, in contrast, was right on target, about the need for the Mayor to act in such a manner as to build a consensus–rather than a dispute–about a senior center that everyone wants to improve.
@Paul Levy — I have found Vicki Danberg to be quite responsive to any questions, and she is very good at keeping Ward 6 residents informed via email. Greg Schwartz is utterly invisible and has not respond to my limited queries.
Alicia Bowman has run an energetic and positive campaign, focused on issues I care about, and I am delighted to support her.
I have found Greg Schwartz to be perhaps the most intelligent and thoughtful of the councilors in the city hall chamber. He often moves the conversation in a more rational direction when it gets stuck. He’s less available than others when it comes to responsiveness to constituents, given his full-time job as a physician. However, I think he more than makes up for that in his effectiveness in getting the right things done in the city council.
Thanks, @Laurie, that’s really helpful. It’s good to remember that different legislators can take different roles within the Council.
@Paul, to elaborate on the point about Greg Schwartz, I have often talked to other city councilors about some sticky issue, and they often say that they will talk to Greg about it because he’ll have good ideas on what to do. I think he’s well respected by the other councilors.
@Laurie, from what I have seen, Councilor Schwartz runs a good meeting and knows the rules of engagement. But I don’t believe a challenging day job excuses a lack of responsiveness. If you don’t have the time, don’t do the job. I also find it hard to understand why a person who has been on City Council for nearly 8 years has a website that is nearly free of concrete content. At the debate, his answers to the NewCAL and development questions seemed designed not to inform, but rather to be sure not to offend.
I agree that the debate did not bring out the meaningful differences among the candidates. I found comparing the candidates via the web and social media much more effective. I strongly disagree that there is no reason for Alicia Bowman to run. She takes a strong view of constituent service, supporting the teachers, diversifying the housing stock, village-based economic development, and helping us become less dependent on that bane of the western world, the single-occupant automobile. This is an easy vote for me.
@JohnWhite … Agree with you. I’m voting Alicia Bowman and the jury is still out on Vicky Danberg.
Greg doesn’t hold office hours. He doesn’t have a news letter or even a social media presence. I would love to understand how he gauges the pulse of the Ward and the City of Newton when he votes. He mentioned the Solar Panel vote that he spoke to his kids but beyond that he will need to fill in the details on the other votes. @Laurie you seem to know a way to connect with Greg.
Can you get Greg to post of V14 and tell us why he doesn’t hold office hours or engage with the constituents in a modern, meaningful way.
-jack
@Jack, actually I don’t really know Greg, and agree that he is not the most available of city councilors. I just think his effectiveness in getting other councilors to reach consensus and in the city council meetings I have seen him in, more than makes up for this. By the way, my experience is that about half of the councilors are similarly hard to reach.
Truth be told, I think the way the system is supposed to work is that Ward 6 constituents primarily reach out to their ward councilor to get their opinions heard, which is Brenda Noel, since it’s hard for citywide at-large councilors to keep in touch with tens of thousands of constituents. That’s why we have ward councilors. If Ward 6 residents don’t feel like their voices are heard, then they should really be reaching out to her.
I had two or three extended conversations with Councilor Schwartz during the course of our two year program to bring the option of a local historic district for consideration to potentially affected homeowners in Newton Highlands. He was extremely well informed and even handed about what our research and conclusions. He had several questions about certain concerns he had about the proposal, but he played everything straight. It was clear that he took the time to carefully read the major state and city required planning and research documents we had prepared and I appreciated this greatly. I’m not certain how many other councilors gave these products this level of due diligence.