The four Newton Area Councils will be hosting a series of candidate debates on Oct 20 and Oct 27. For the Ward 5 debate, the organizing committee made the surprising decision to include Rena Getz, the losing candidate from September’s preliminary election in this city sponsored event because she has declared that she is running as a write-in candidate.
Fredrica Smith, a second, even longer shot write-in candidate was also hoping to join the debate but was turned down by the organizing committee. A very disappointed Ms. Smith forwarded her communication with the committee.
Dear City Council Debate Organizers,
I’d like to be included in the upcoming debate. I am organizing a write-in campaign as a candidate for the Ward 5, ward-only seat. As an Upper Falls resident who has been actively involved in the community recently, I’d like to throw my hat in the ring to try fill John Rice’s giant shoes.
I look forward to discussing Ward 5 issues and needs with the other candidates.
Thank You,
Fredrica Smith
Hello Fredrica,
Sorry for the delay in a response but we will not be including you our upcoming debate. We have used the same criteria for including write in candidates that the League of Woman voters established in 2017 when they decided to include Alison Sharma in their forums and voter guide.
- filed papers with the OCPF
- have a campaign website and/or Facebook page
- actively campaigning
Rena easily met this criteria so we included her in the post-preliminary debates.
Regards,
Area Councils Debate Administrators
Debate Administrators,
I find your response deeply disturbing and disingenuous for a host of reasons:
* The League of Women of Voters is not the host of this event. They are a private organization. Their decision on including a particular candidate in their debates in 2017 is not pertinent. Even if it were, the details of Alison Sharma candidacy in that race bears no direct relation to either of the write-in candidates for this election.
* None of the criteria you mention would seem to apply to my candidacy
1. Filed Papers With The OCPF – The OCPF filing deadline is 8 days before the election. I fully intend to comply with all applicable OCPF rules. For you to say that you would disqualify me from inclusion in the debate, because I haven’t filed my papers three weeks before the due date would appear to be a specious and arbitrary obstacle, that frankly is ridiculous.
2. Have a campaign website and/or Facebook page – Does my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/FredricaForCityCouncil) not meet some other arbitrary, unpublished standard your are maintaining. Are you aware that one of the candidates already on the ballot for a Ward 5 seat doesn’t have a web site or Facebook page?
3. Actively campaigning – Once again, do you have some arbitrary unpublished standard by which you determine if my campaigning so far qualifies as “active” enough. Do the hundreds of citizens I’ve spoken to and public events I’ve attended not meet your “active” standard. What exactly is that standard.
I began this campaign in a burst of optimism, your response to my reasonable request is a bullet through the heart of that optimism.
I personally admire the other write-in candidate (Rena Getz) for her commitment and tenacity in waging her write-in campaign in the face of losing the September preliminary election. Initially I applauded you for the rather unconventional decision to decide to include write-in candidates in the upcoming debates. However now that I learn that you are not in fact including write-in candidates, you are only including one specific write-in candidate of your choosing, and misapplying some unpublished arbitrary requirements to exclude all others. You do Ms Getz’s campaign no favors, nor mine, nor the citizens of Newton.
Shame on you.
Fredrica Smith
The four Newton Area Councils will be hosting a series of candidate debates on Oct 20 and Oct 27. For the Ward 5 debate, the organizing committee made the surprising decision to include Rena Getz, the losing candidate from September’s preliminary election in this city sponsored event because she has declared that she is running as a write-in candidate.
It does seem that the area council leaders backed themselves into a corner when they invited Rena Getz into the debate.
Then they dug a deeper hole outlining a somewhat arbitrary criteria that Smith seems to have met.
And please this scenario is nothing like the Ward 4 write in from two years ago.
Right on Fredrica Smith! You’re 100% right in challenging these ridiculous LWV rules that are being used as an excuse to allow area council VP Rena Getz to participate in the debate her organization is helping to organize. Getz lost the preliminary fair and square, thus the two top finishers should be the only candidates to advance to the final debate. That’s the way it’s always been. No reason to change now just because the preliminary results were close. Getz is a sore loser who should be banned from this debate. Otherwise, why not let Smith in, and for that matter anybody who wants to allege he/she is a write-in candidate as well? Et tu, Terry Malloy?!?!
The stated justification for excluding Fredrica Smith is an ill-placed fig leaf over the real justification, which is that she hasn’t got a prayer.
What’s the justification for including Rena Getz? I dunno. Maybe the debate organizers think she has an actual chance of winning, despite the fact that a write-in candidate is a long shot at best.
Let’s face it, Rena Getz is the Jill Stein of the Ward 5 councillor race. She will take the votes of the candidate who is closest to her positions, which is Kathy Winters. The more people push Rena’s candidacy, the more likely it is that Bill Humphrey will win, which is presumably a result that they do not want. At this point it’s just hubris that’s propelling her.
The gap between Rena and Bill thru the entire Ward was less than 50 votes (if memory serves). That’s 2 football teams.
And those who live closest to the Northland project – Precinct 1 (Upper Falls) – supported Rena resoundingly.
Rena is a valid candidate and if the rules allow for other write ins in the past, she should be allowed to debate and I look forward to seeing how she does.
That said, would have loved Rena gun for one the Ward 5 At Large seats. Councilor Crossley have done some good in her time on the Council but her inability to advocate for her constituents (or even make a gesture t0) in questioning Northland’s traffic demand management plan or how Newton Schools will handle the influx of enrollment that site will generate, makes that seat ripe for the taking.
Does Frederica have any interest in a write in campaign for an At Large seat? :-)
@Matt Lai – Fredrica has just announced that she is puling out of the Ward 5 election. With her charisma and kick-ass lawn signs I wouldn’t be surprised if she re-emerges on the national stage soon ;-)