Note: This thread has been moved up from last week. Reminder: Please post positive comments only. One week from today On Tuesday, Newton voters will head to the polls to vote. Use this thread to tell us which candidates you’re supporting and why. Or if you’re running tell us why we should vote for you.
And let’s try an experiment: Please do not use this thread to say anything negative about any candidates you don’t like. Any negative comments will be removed without warning or discussion.
I’ve been incredibly impressed with Tamika Olszewski and Emily Prenner, candidates for School Committee. You cannot listen to them without concluding they have a deep concern for the full range of students in the public schools, bolstered by a deep knowledge of curriculum and pedagogical issues.
We have a number of terrific people running for city council. I’ll mention three of the several that share my hope to improve our transit, housing shortage, walkability, and village-based economy:
1. Brenda Noel, my ward 6 councilor, has done a great job of reaching out to constituents. She plays well with others, as evidenced by her long list of endorsements from other councilors.
2. Jake Auchincloss is transparent and an extraordinarily clear thinker. His newsletter is a must-read.
3. Alicia Bowman, a challenger for the at-large seat in my ward, has run an excellent, information-rich, and positive campaign. She is an expert at using social media for the good.
Politics, I think we can agree, has become unbearably contentious. Disagreeing on an issues doesn’t have to be personal. The strongest leaders are able to befriend their opponents (who are not their enemies, just their opponents), listen, collaborate based on honesty, facts, and abiding by the rules, and find common ground that serves the community.
I think Andrea Kelley personifies this – she is a great listener, deft in asking questions and learning why and individual believes what they do. She works to discuss ideas, share knowledge – and, yes, even learn. From there, she works to persuade and negotiate civilly and respectfully.
I agree with her on issues – but even more importantly, I respect how she works to move conversations forward. I think we need a lot more of that in government at every level.
I support Tamika Olszewski , Emily Prenner & Bryan Barash. I think they would be assets to our local government.
You can judge a candidate for office on three things: character, experience and their stance on the issues.
That’s why our household is backing Deb Crossley for Ward 5 at-large, Kathy Winters for Ward 5, and Emily Prenner for School Committee.
Deb and Kathy have proven track records through their tenures on the City Council and Waban Area Council. Emily has been PTO president at Angier and Newton South, and has been deeply involved in the city’s elementary school rebuilding projects.
We support Deb and Kathy’s stances on development issues and the economic wellbeing of our village centers. Emily will continue to be a champion of both the fabric of the school buildings, and of the strength of the curriculum.
Finally, we’ve been able to count on Deb when we’ve had matters before the City, and with Kathy when interacting with the Waban Area Council. We know Emily and can vouch for her commitment to the quality of our children’s education.
I will be voting for Emily Prenner, Tamika Olszewski, and Ruth Goldman in the contested SC races. They have put in the time volunteering for NPS in various capacities, and understand the issues facing the schools well. Their commitment is long-standing and unwavering.
I also like Jake for the city council. I don’t agree with him on everything, but he comes off as thoughtful and transparent.
A reminder: This is a positive comments only thread. Any negative comments about a candidate, even vague ones that don’t name names will be (and have been) deleted.
Come on Village 14, I know you can do this!
OK, Greg, third time is a charm. I don’t think anything I said was negative in my previous two comments, but whatever.
Emily Prenner is extraordinarily knowledgeable and has a passion for public schools and Tamika’s commitment to diversity and social-emotional learning is unparalleled.
For my local ward councilor, I’m going to be enthusiastically casting my vote for Carolina. She’s committed to public transit and the schools, two things that I am really fired up about right now.
I’m currently undecided on most of the at-large candidates.
I’m undecided on most of the at-large councilors at the time. However, with the teachers having no contract right now, I’ll be taking the NTA endorsements quite seriously.
I am writing to express my enthusiastic support for Pam Wright for Councilor-at-Large for Ward 3. I have known Pam for 30 years and she is the kind of person whom others seek for advice about almost anything. She is really well informed, detail-oriented and thorough. Pam gets to the root of the problem and then gets things done!
She decided to run for city council after attending many zoning meetings and realizing that no one was voicing concern about the impact of all the new development projects on the schools and traffic. With her can-do attitude and engineer’s problem solving mindset, Pam would be a great asset to the City Council. I hope you join me in voting for her.
There are some real good candidates all over the city in this election. I think Emily Prenner would be an excellent school committee member for Ward 5.
She has a tremendous amount of experience advocating for our schools,
and I think she will be ready on day 1 to put some of
that experience and knowledge to work.
John Rice will be a tough person to replace, but I’m going to support his candidate Kathy Winters
who I feel will do the best job representing all of Ward 5.
Good luck to all!
I live in Ward 4 so there isn’t anything exciting going on in the Ward and Ward At-large races but Tamika Olszewski has my full support. I haven’t made up my mind in the other races but I really like Bryan Barash and Bill Humphery (though I can’t vote for them). While there is division between the two PAC slates, there are candidates from both slates who I like and will consider voting for.
I will gladly and gratefully cast my vote for Emily Norton, for re-election as Ward 2 councilor. Gladly because she has been a strong leader on issues that matter in my ward and across the city, and grateful to have such an intelligent, articulate and passionate leader and listener representing me.
I was very impressed by Tamika Olszewski and Emily Prenner when I met them recently. They have deep experience with NPS both as parents and as volunteers, and I’m excited to see what they will bring to the table with our School Committee. I’m also voting for Ruth Goldman to continue her difficult work as SC Chair.
Go Emily Norton, Julia Malakie, and Greg Schwartz! All strong and independent voices who will represent their constituents!!! And wicked smaaart!!!
Another big thumbs up here for Julia Malakie. No matter what the outcome, future generations in Newton will benefit from her philanthropic participation in re-greening the Garden City through the Newton Tree Conservancy. Julia has been a reliable presence at larger and smaller public meetings regarding some of our city’s most pressing current issues.
I don’t know Carolina Ventura but from everything I’ve seen, praise her stepping up to run. In Julia vs. Carolina no matter who wins, it’s a win for Ward 3.
I greatly respect Greg Schwartz and Jake Auchincloss as independent voices not afraid to stake out a principled position. We need more of that, and thank you for your service to our city.
I’ve been a big supporter of Alicia Bowman from the start. For me it’s about her advocacy work on the part of pedestrian and bike safety, as well as her commitment to acting locally in the fight against climate change. These are huge issues and we need people on city council committed to helping push for change.
Carolina Ventura’s thoughtful, yet direct nature impressed me in times I’ve seen her and spoken with her. I also like her collaborative approach to development
I am lucky to be serving on the City Council with such dedicated, smart, and passionate people. Two that I’d like to highlight and ask you to vote for would be Emily Norton and Greg Schwartz.
Emily is a savvy, intelligent, strong woman who passionately advocates for her constituents in Ward 2. She does her research and looks at all sides of each issue, and then draws her own conclusions. I respect her work ethic, her independence, and her ability to get things done for Ward 2 and the entire City.
Greg is one of the smartest people I know. He cares deeply about the future of Newton and applies a critical and analytical eye to each and every issue, asking thoughtful questions and working collaboratively to be welcoming, inclusive, and effective. His independent voice and thoughtful approach is a valuable asset to the City.
I live in Ward 3 and I enthusiastically support Carolina Ventura for our Ward Councilor. Development is a very important issue all over Newton, and I like how thoughtfully Carolina considers the issues, the pros and cons for each potential project. And there are pros, folks- we need more affordable housing, and particularly affordable, accessible housing for our disabled residents. The best way to create new accessible housing is in new construction, so very carefully managed development gives Newton a great opportunity to be more inclusive. Carolina considers all of the issues that come with development carefully, and I really like that she thinks that we should not rely solely on developers- there are multiple ways to address affordable housing. She’s open-minded, intelligent and will be a great advocate for Ward 3.
A comment was removed because it was not in keeping with this thread, which is for positive endorsements only. Please reread the original post.
I’m voting to reelect Emily Norton as my Ward 2 City Councilor. She’s an effective leader and representative who has worked with her colleagues to achieve a number of outcomes for Newton:
After Emily was elected in 2013, she convinced her colleagues to change their titles from AlderMAN to City Councilor. Now over 32 Massachusetts communities have followed our lead. Coincidentally, Newton’s city council now has 50% more women than in 2015. The alderman title is nearly extinct.
Emily led on banning plastic bags in Newton. Again, communities across the state have followed our lead with plastic bans and bag fees.
Emily pushed relentlessly to get Narcan into the hands of our first responders to save lives.
Emily led the successful effort to retain ward-elected representation in Newton. Now Lowell too is moving to local representation, and Everett is considering it. Local representation is essential for democracy.
Emily brought the concept of renewable municipal electricity aggregation to Newton. Today Newton Power Choice leads the state on this front.
Emily led the effort to make Newton a Welcoming City, gaining the support of our police chief and nearly our entire City Council. Essential leadership for Newton in the current political era.
Emily supported placing Garden Remedies in Newtonville, even though it is just a few hundred yards from her home, but also supported giving residents a simple up or down referendum on Opting Out of retail cannabis stores.
Emily has dedicated her life to environmental protection and leads by example on all fronts. She drives an electric car today and previously traveled exclusively by commuter rail to her downtown job as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Sierra Club. She’s currently Executive Director of the Charles River Watershed Association, working with Newton and neighboring communities.
Emily was raised in Newton and has three children in our public schools. She fights for both fiscal responsibility and educational excellence. Her leadership has an impact in Newton and beyond. Please join me in returning Emily to the City Council in January.
Another comment was removed from here. Remember the rule on thi s thread is to only say positive things about a candidate. Negative references about their opponents or supporters not allowed here.
I’ve written above for Emily Norton and previous written to recommend Tarik Lucas.
https://village14.com/2019/10/30/city-council-campaign-column-tarik-lucas/
The other sign on our lawn this election season is for Greg Schwartz.
Greg is a physician, a lawyer, a parent, and brings critical experience, expertise, and perspective to his role on the council. He chairs the Land Use committee which, with historically divisive special permits on the docket, is arguably one of the hardest jobs at City Hall.
A litmus test for me in this election cycle is how councilors voted on what to put on the 2016 ballot with regard to retail dispensaries. Greg proposed a simple and fair, “Vote Opt-Out up or down, if doesn’t pass, vote the 2-4 limitation up or down” solution. It was within the council’s power to keep it simple, but the majority of councilors voted to give voters a game-theory puzzle that bizarrely led the two sides of the issue to fight on the opposite side of their interest on the 2-4 question. That was not democracy.
Greg also took the difficult stand of rejecting the 2017 Charter Commission proposal and in December 2017 voted along with 16 other councilors for the 1st time in Newton history to give Newton voters the option to downsize the council to a simple 8-8 configuration. Unfortunately, this proposal was vetoed by the mayor and not advanced for state and resident approval.
Greg is a pro-development councilor. Full stop. But we need proposals in front of the City Council to be reviewed with a critical eye for approved projects to land with the right benefits and mitigations for the city, and Greg provides a key moderate voice on that front. Please vote to reelect Greg to the city council.
I wanted to come back to this thread and say that I’ve come around to Alicia Bowman. I initially wrote her off as being too aggressive about biking but I recently met her briefly and found her to be very kind. It prompted me to give her a second look and I’m glad I did.
I am going to go in a different direction. For the 3rd cycle in a row, we will have another competitive election for the 9 seats on the Newtonville Area Council. I am obviously not running for re-election for the NAC, but there are several new candidates running for a spot on the council. Please visit https://www.slateofeight.com to learn more about the candidates. And most importantly if you live within the area of the NAC, please ask for an Area Council Ballot.
http://www.newtonma.gov/documents/area_councils/newtonville/NewtonvilleStreetList.pdf
Good luck to everyone.
Tarik, I don’t know you personally, but I did want to complement you on your campaign for the ward 2 at-large spot. Positive campaign and I’ve had many folks recommend you to me. You’ve made it a tougher choice than I thought on the at-large side, and I like choices.
I’m glad you are posting about the NAC, I didn’t realize those were being contested, and I didn’t realize you needed another ballot. Appreciate the reminder.
I think the idea of starting a positive-only thread is great.
I have followed very closely Lisa Gordon and Greg Schwartz last year, and I strongly support them both. I find that their actions are driven more by a desire to improve our community than by profit making. Lisa was also involved in giving back to the Ward 6 community the Former Newton Centre Branch Library, which is very recent and and I think wonderful news.
Another big shout out here for Ward 3 Julia Malakie! She cares deeply about all Newton residents and listens intently to all sides. She’s at every meeting. She’s extremely bright and knowledgeable and has excellent negotiation skills. I especially like her calm demeanor and concern about traffic in West Newton Square.
Speaking of Newton Area Council – we are a group of 6 highly qualified, forward thinking candidates who would like to represent all voices in Newtonville. Our main goals for Newtonville are:
A Vibrant Village Center
Diverse and local retail
Safe Streets
Bikeable and Walkable
Engaging Community Events
Read more about us here:
https://www.facebook.com/sayyestonewtonville/
and Vote for all 6!!
While our differences are probably smaller than the election information would have us believe, I want to suggest that Brian Barash is the best choice for Ward 2 councilor. Brian has been a tireless advocate for housing and transportation infrastructure that will be critical not only to our village character, but the city and region as a whole. Brian’s work in state government provides the context we need to ensure the decisions we make in Newtonville, will benefit both our residents and the broader community in which we live. I believe he will be a positive voice for all of Ward 2, and all of Newton in which we live.
Niels, again, I appreciate the reminder about the Newtonville Area Council. I didn’t realize the Say Yes to Newtonville Slate was a thing! I’m losing my touch.
Feels like I align well with your group, even if I don’t know you folks. Thank you you all for running.