We have invited all candidates running for contested seats in the upcoming Newton election to submit a guest post to Village 14. The format and content of the post is entirely up to them.
City Council candidate Susan Albright, who is running for the Ward 2 at-large seat, has submitted the following post.
We’ve come to the end of an active campaign. I started canvassing in July and I thank all the people who offered me a glass of water as I stood dripping at the door asking for their vote. Over this time we discussed roads, traffic, teacher contracts, climate change, NewCal, parks, and often development.
Finally, I commiserated with people who worried their kids can’t afford to move back to Newton, and with the many seniors still in big houses with no place to go and stay with friends in Newton. My most moving meetings were with families with adult disabled children who are looking for a home. If reelected this is something I want to pay special attention to.
I thank all the city employees to whom I took problems I accumulated on the campaign trail –Marc Welsh about trees, Bob DeRubeis about parks, Jim McGonagle and company regarding roads, and Jason Sobel and Isaac Prizant about cars speeding through neighborhoods “thanks” to Waze.
I met hundreds of people at ‘meet and greets’ with various combinations of my colleagues – Deb, Andrea, Andreae, Vicki – occasionally Brenda and Maria. What an amazing talented bunch of women – each bringing a unique set of skills to the table. Every now and again I’d cross paths with newbies Bryan, Bill, Carolina and Alicia depending on the Ward we were in – and often meeting up with Tamika, Emily and Ruth running for School Committee. I’ve talked with Greg about how difficult this campaign has been. Then there were the late night or early morning conversations with Jake talking over our campaigns – I look forward to serving with him again. My friends, we can be proud that these smart caring people are willing to take a chance to get elected to move Newton forward.
I thank all of you for engaging with me these past four months – no matter which side of an issue you were on. I loved leading all sides of every argument in song at the Nomad Story Slam last night. We’ve had good conversations and hard work. With your vote, I look forward to serving you again and renewing the adventure on Jan1 2020.
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Councilor-at-Large Ward 2
I’ll be voting for Susan. We don’t always agree, but she never hesitates to talk, is open to arguing her positions, and she shows up and doesn’t hide from constituents. She’s a great representative for Ward 2 and the entire city.
I will not be voting for Susan. She forgot to mention how much she likes pot shops and confusing ballot questions.
Thank you for orchestrating the 8 pot shops coming to town! I love the smell of skunkweed in the morning. That dank sweet smell. Smells like victory.
Cannabis prohibitionists crack me up. Councilor Albright actually voted to ban recreational cannabis in Newton, yet the prohibitionists don’t like her. She authored a proposal that would have cut the number of cannabis shops in half, but prohibitionists don’t like her for that either. In my opinion Susan Albright tried like hell to do the right thing. Unfortunately her compromise proposal to limit the number of cannabis shops angered both sides.
Actually Mike, Bruce seems to be upset about something called morning skunkweed, not cannabis. I have no idea what that is but it sounds vile. Bruce have you tried showering?
Thank you to our Councilor Susan Albright for many years of service.
However, maybe it’s time for a change.
Her argument against the Opt-Out ballot during the few months repeated over and over
again saying that’s only a 50 people petition raised a red flag about her judgment and her altitude about residents raising concerns.
As we appreciate her knowledge and experience on handling some previous petitions raised by a very small group of individuals from years and years ago that she mentioned in the council meeting,
I wonder the kind of judgment call she has by comparing the context on those old petitions to controversial issues in national level initially raised by 50 people.
She also mentioned in a meeting suggested that other councilors should have done
something earlier about Opt Out and sorry it’s too late. This is another red flag to me.
Having watched my colleague Susan Albright in action on a weekly basis as Chair of ZAP and fellow member of Program and Services committee, I can attest to the fact that our City is so fortunate to have her leadership and representation.