It’s tough to read too much into election results. But, yesterday Ward 6 voters did seem to send one message. The Ward 6 voters rejected the nasty smear campaign waged by Lisa Gordon, former Alderman Ken Parker, Newtonville Area Council member-aspirant Carolyn Gabbay and others, in which they tried to weaponize Councilor Brenda Noel’s position with a worthy local not-for-profit against her.
In addition to her civic responsibilities, Councilor Noel is the Executive Director of the Newton Weston Wellesley Committee for Livable Housing, a not-for-profit that provides permanent housing, support services, and advocacy to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. From the NWW website:
NWW’s mission is threefold: to offer a spectrum of local services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, to offer support services to their families, and to offer programs to increase community awareness and receptivity regarding persons with disabilities.
NWW adheres to specific guiding principles that are reflected in all agency services and supports:
- NWW respects the dignity of all individuals.
- NWW protects the rights of all individuals.
- NWW promotes community participation by providing as many opportunities as possible for individualized experiences in a wide range of community settings.
- NWW encourages relationships among families, friends, neighbors and co-workers.
- NWW supports the free expression of choice and decision-making and enables individuals and their families to develop their self-advocacy skills.
Clearly, Gordon, Parker and Gabbay’s smear campaign — suggesting that it was somehow unethical that developer Robert Korff is among the numerous churches, foundations, government agencies, businesses, foundations and individuals supporting housing and services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities — didn’t work. Councilor Noel defended her seat with nearly 60% of the vote in Ward 6: 1,269 to 912. I like to think that it’s even worse for Gordon, Parker and Gabbay. I imagine that the voters rejected Gordon so soundly, because she and her supporters thought it was a good idea to attack someone for having a day job dedicated to helping others less fortunate than all of us that relies on community donations. Or, maybe voters just couldn’t stomach the irony of an anti-housing candidate questioning her opponent’s integrity in regard to her work providing affordable housing to those who need it most.
Read the mission statement again. Imagine thinking that working for NWW should be a liability. Imagine thinking that a City Council seat was worth trying to make working for NWW a liability. Frankly, It would be more controversial if Korff (who donates to many local not-for-profits) didn’t give to an organization that is doing such good work.
On the bright side, Gordon, Parker and Gabbay have highlighted that there are, in our community, people who require assistance. And, Gordon, Parker and Gabbay have highlighted the good work — the essential work — that Councilor Noel and NNW do for these folks and, by extension, our community.
In recognition of the bright side, I’m going to make I have made a $150 contribution to NWW in recognition of Gordon, Parker and Gabbay. I encourage everyone else to contribute, too. If you do, please leave a comment. You don’t have to say how much you gave. Just give.
Let’s make this a thing. It’s easy. NWW has a page.
If Lisa Gordon, Ken Parker and Carolyn Gabbay have an ounce of shame among them, they’ll donate, too.
Sean- thank you so much for highlighting a little known organization in Newton that serves our most vulnerable residents.
What was most heartbreaking for me, when it came to light that respected members of our community were engaging in a coordinated effort to smear me, through the use of sock puppets and keeping a false and damning narrative alive on this very site, is the impact it would have on the 40 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities that I work for and that rely on the generosity of the Newton community for basic services.
It was a dark point of the campaign, and frankly a very disheartening moment for our community. I prevailed last night and have received many kind and encouraging words in the last 24 hours. I am grateful to the voters of Ward 6 and look forward to serving the entire Ward and my city. I am an eternal optimist and firmly believe if you give folks an opportunity to be their best selves, they will take that opportunity.
May we all learn some valuable lessons from this past election cycle, and when we know better, we need to be better.
Looking forward to building bridges and getting to work.
Warmly,
Brenda
Donated!
Among others, Julia Malakie and Alicia Bowman victories are inspiring templates for winning the race in Newton: Deep, positive community engagement and caring about the voices and issues of all our constituents. You can’t make everyone happy but showing up, listening to everybody, and trying to find common ground goes a long way.
Congratulations Councilor Noel on your well deserved re-election.
Dulles,
I agree. Julia’s path used to be more worn, if I remember correctly. Lose a couple of races, get yourself known. Ultimately win. Certainly, Margaret Albright had a few elections under her belt before she won.
“Smear”? What smear ? I know I live under a rock but this is the first I’ve heard about a cabal to take down Ms Brenda. No question she works for a good and proper charity.
The question I have is the motive(s), in Korph’s giving. Why not to goodwill industries, or the American Cancer Society. To give to a charity that has the political connections that Ms Noel enjoys can only raise naturally questions, that the biased V 14 allows to be headlined “Smears “.
I received Ken Parker’s email and also was quite disappointed in the tone and nature of his accusations, especially given the importance of the non-profit’s mission. Ward 6 voters did not fall for the ruse.
I’ll gladly donate (though the site seems to be down at the moment, hopefully from v14 traffic).
@Sean. Julia is more than just trees. Julia finally won simply because, after a few face to face campaigns, voters came to realize just how unique and gifted she is as a person and community leader. She and I worked closely on her last at-large campaign. I’ve reached the stage of life where I feel very comfortable being around people who are a lot smarter and tuned in than I am. This is no forced humility on my part. It’s simply a fact of appreciating who I am and who she is.
Bob,
You’ll never hear/read me say/write Julia is all about the trees. Read my write-up of the Ward 3 ward councilor debate. She’s a very smart person with a lot of thoughtful positions. She also happens to be the most visible person in the city on trees. I would expect that Julia will be a very active, thoughtful contributor to lots of Council discussions. I also expect that she’ll use her new platform to advocate for action on the tree front. And, she’ll have folks on her side.
I think of Julia as trees and a whole lot more.
Also, she’s on the wrong side on density.
Can someone post some background on this and Ken Parker’s email as well (if it’s not private)? I have some idea but it’s still vague.
Election is done now and it’s time to move forward. At the same time, actions have consequences.
This is from an endorsement email Parker distributed to his contacts…
Problem is, Brenda Noel was not on the city council when it approved the Washington Place special permit and there have been no “special permit
applications” votes before the council for other Korf projects this term. She did approve an amendment to the Washington Place special permit that would allow a small bank to be part of that project in exchange for a much larger space being dedicated to a mom and pop type businesses in perpetuity. But Parker was wrong to accuse Noel of having voted for “special permit applications”
The Korf aspect aside, my question is if Noel has indeed indicated a preference or desire to eliminate single family zoning. Is there a reference somewhere?
@Claire- nope, never said it. I am going to jump off this thread as although I appreciate Greg trying to be responsive to the request to post Mr. Parker’s email, it seems to me we simply gave him more air time to spread misinformation and make inflammatory statements about my character- we are feeding the beast. We are better than this.
Thanks for clarifying Brenda. Personally, I don’t think Greg should have posted it at all but we know he loves to stir the pot
I don’t like the spread of disinformation either. However I couldn’t find the Parker email, and it’s helpful to know certain agendas or biases at play when evaluating statements.
Politics are nasty business, and it’s unfortunate that folks resort to these accusations.
I would normally comment that local politics are so vicious because the stakes are so small, but this is not the case. After working to see 28 Austin street come to fruition, I was dismayed when the lie that all the parking spaces were being eliminated. And it was repeated. And the lies about certain candidates wanting to create concrete canyons from Newton Corner to west newton. It is the aspiration of, some people are saying. Yes, the people of Newton should be better than this.
@Sean. Thanks
It seems to me that another lesson is for Councillors to AWAYS disclose a potential conflict of interest while discussing items, as some Councillors do routinely.
I would be curious to know the date of Korpf ‘s donation.