UPDATE: Here’s the full list of committee assignments
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- I just lifted this list of the new City Council and School Committee committee asignments from Amy Sangiolo’s always informative weekly newsletter.
- Land Use:
- Chair and Vice President of the Council: Rick Lipof
- Vice Chair: Andrea Kelley
- Programs and Services:
- Chair: Josh Krintzman
- Vice Chair: Brenda Noel
- Zoning and Planning Committee:
- Chair: Deb Crossley
- Vice Chair: Vicki Danberg
- Finance Committee:
- Chair: Becky Grossman
- Vice Chair: David Kalis
- Public Safety and Transportation:
- Chair: Jake Auchincloss
- Vice Chair: Andreae Downs
- Public Facilities:
- Chair: Alison Leary
- Vice Chair: Emily Norton
- Real Property Reuse Committee:
- Chair: Vicki Danberg
- Vice Chair: Chris Markiewicz
- Land Use:
School Committee:
- Chair: Ruth Goldman
- Vice Chair: Bridget Ray-Canada
Public Facilities:
- I just lifted this list of the new City Council and School Committee committee asignments from Amy Sangiolo’s always informative weekly newsletter.
This is a very unusual selection of chairmen.
Several important city councilors with both experience and expertise have been omitted from key positions.
What does this mean for residents of Newton, a very dire omen.
When Councilors Auchincloss and Grossman announced runs for Congress, it would be easy to imagine that they’d both step back from their roles as city councilors. Quite the contrary it seems as they’re both taking on interesting leadership roles.
Seems Marc Laredo is being punished. Very disappointing
Looks like institutional knowledge and experience are not valued.
Also, there are some pretty strong candidates for Congress that don’t live in Newton.
I thought Marc Laredo and Lenny Gentile would get Committee Chairs. Still an able group of Chairs.
I don’t see this as a loss of experience, but a chance for new leadership to rise. The experienced councilors are still there in their seats, their knowledge hasn’t gone away, we’re just allowing different people to take on leadership roles. To me, this is not a “dire omen” but a hopeful sign for the future of our city.
I don’t see how candidates for Congress in this spread out district can have the time and attention span to chair committees.
It seems like having new blood and a fresh perspective are always good. Solid choices.
Most of these committee names are self-explanatory but a few of them sound a bit confusing to an outsider like me. Here are my questions.
“Land Use” and “Zoning and Planning” sound very similar, what’s the difference?
What kind of stuff does “Real Property Reuse” do? It sounds like dealing with re-purposing buildings though I’m surprised there’s enough of that going on to have a dedicated committee.
OK, who will step up and help with Jerry’s civic education?
Zoning and Planning creates the vision and the rules and Land Use evaluates requests to deviate from those rules( aka Special Permits). They depend upon the Planning Department to provide guidance on the vision and rules. Land Use makes recommendation to the City Council who then votes
You got Real Property Reuse right
What about Jay Ciccone, Lenny Gentile, Amy Sangiolo I dont seem their names listed as chairs and or vice chairs of any committees
Andrew, Amy S isn’t on CC anymore. But hopefully will be again! The more glaring omission is the current CC President Marc Laredo
Councilor Laredo was reportedly offered the chance to return as Land Use chair but declined.
Claire – good job describing the committees but I would modify it this way. The Zoning Code describes what can be done by right (just go ahead and get a building permit), and what can be done by special permit (needs a review and approval by the Land Use Committee). Along with saying what can be done by special permit the code sets criteria that the Land Use uses to judge whether or not the the project can/should be done. In many places the code is vague – does the project serve the public good , to summarize. In the last several years the Zoning and Planning Committee has declared far more specific criteria for the Land Use Committee to use. If you want a fuller description of what the committees do please refer to the Council Rules – Section 3. http://www.newtonma.gov/civicax/filebank/documents/86872
I am surprised, but pleased, by the appointments of Jake, Becky and Allison as chairs of committees since they running for higher office. But I see able Vice Chairs of those committees so, if necessary, they can slide right into being chair.
Colleen, you’re scaring me with your prediction of a “dire omen.” We’ll, not really, but for some reason you feel threatened in some way by these appointments. Can you please elaborate? Surely the City Council/BOA went through changes, adding new faces, during the years you have lived here. Were they dire omens too?
Thanks to Amy for the list.
Thanks to Susan for the explanation of these committees and how their rules have been made more specific. Vague language in rules or ordinances makes them easy to manipulate.
@ Susan, “In many places the code is vague – does the project serve the public good , to summarize. In the last several years the Zoning and Planning Committee has declared far more specific criteria for the Land Use Committee to use.”
I am aware of that criteria. But my observation over the last year is that the Planning Department, who weighs in on a assessment against that criteria, almost always assesses in favor of the developer, even when there is clearly no public benefit and sometime a public detriment. They come off as advocates for the developers not the public. It is a weak link in the process which hopefully will be addresses in the next term. I did observe Land Use Committee Members pushing back against the Planning Department assessments this past year so that is a start
Here’s a full list of President-elect Albright’s committee assignments.
I see no path out of this Land Use Committee for an RMD unless it has significant financial backing that allows the business to carry on through an endless process that no other applicant for a special permit needs to go through. This is a problem on several levels, not the least of which is the clear mandate from voters to allow 8 stores to open.
Marti,
This change in city council leadership means for me and many others a loss of balanced representation at city hall.
The new group wants to ramp up housing development and to
significantly change existing zoning laws. There will be minimal
political accountability. Any opposition will be muted quickly.
Without balanced leadership citizen groups must rally together and ask for referendum votes to ensure representative policy making.
Since Massachusetts cities and towns have a centuries old tradition of strong local rule, I do believe our new city council
violates this important tradition.
Colleen, thanks for responding.
I hope you are wrong that this city council leadership will not provide balanced representation or violate the tradition of strong local rule. Your reasoning seems flawed in the development category because it was not this new council that voted for Austin Street, Washington Place and Northland. They were all approved under prior leadership including the one that prompted the referendum.
I’m inclined to disagree with your assessment. But we still have political accountability through elections as we always have – and a majority of residents like you and me voted in these new councilors so more voters tended to agree with what the new councilors said than not.
Special permits for large developments require the councilors to listen but deliberate and make their own decisions based on facts – not as representatives. I would like the special permitting authority to reside with a non-elected body but any time that idea is brought up, it is met with hostility from many residents.
Marti,
I don’t understand the rationale for having a non-elected body decide special permits. Presumably, this board would be selected and appointed by elected officials, either the Mayor (which in my mind puts too much power in the hands of the Mayor), or nominated by the Mayor and then approved by the CC. But how is that better than what we have now as, at least to me, it pushed accountability further away from those who are elected to represent us.
I know that the argument has been made that having a non-elected body to decide smaller projects would speed up the process, but , to me, that assumes that the body would have defined criteria by which to make the decisions. But having watched quite a few Land Use Committee Meetings in 2019 for smaller projects that is just not the case. Time after time the Land Use Committee was looking for guidance from the Planning Department which was often all over the board and almost always skewed towards the developer. The criteria is clear as mud.
What do you perceive to be the benefits?
Colleen – All the City Councilors were elected by the citizens of Newton. I can’t imagine how having duly elected Councilors, elected by the citizens who have leadership elected by their peers could possibly be construed as violating anything. One of the things I said in my remarks today – is that it is really easy to say that we will build bridges but in fact, in this time, this may be the hardest thing we have to do. And we can only do this with information and people listening to each other with real understanding of their differences.
The first place to start is talking – to each other about issues – really talking and real understanding and real listening. Newton’s zoning code hasn’t been updated in 70 years. Times have changed, knowledge has increased. Nothing in this world is like it was in 1950. It just makes sense to bring Newton along into the next century. Work on the zoning code may propose changes to where multi-family housing can be built – true and no doubt there will be lots to talk about in that regard. But new zoning will do so much more and can make Newton an even better place to live.
I hope the new normal does not become referendum-city. That is no way to run a city. It will just keep us running around in circles.
Colleen, I grew up in Newton. I’ve lived here since I was 1 year old. I’m no young upstart that wants to overturn the applecart and change everything just for the sake of it. But things do need to be updated and we all need to really talk about this. We can agree on some of it and and some we won’t. Why would any city or town want to freeze itself in time when the whole world is moving on? You and I should get together for lunch and talk.
What Claire and Colleen said.
Gold Rush fever 2.0.
As they used to say: “There goes the neighborhood”.
Susan,
You and the people who elected you have a firm vision for
Newton. This housing policy and rezoning reform will dramatically reshape the residential and commercial zones of the
city. The changes are well underway without new zoning laws.
Reform will only speed up the process.
The sad thing is you and RuthAnne have no citywide mandate.
The pressure for change is coming from the State leaders. Their goal is to create more housing close to Boston. Business and commercial interests want to set up shop here but they demand
newer modern housing with close proximity to Logan airport and downtown amenities. These interests want those who live here to
move out of the way and relinquish our way of life.
Surely, you are not surprised by local resistance.
I grew up in Toronto. I watched as big development moved in and destroyed all local government. Toronto is now a mega city governed by a single centralized all powerful mayor who is directed by the provincial government.
Eventually, political change could happen here. All cities and towns could lose their mayors and town councils. Economic growth brings unexpected change. Your idea of zoning reform is exactly the sort of policy which allows developers to speed up the process and dramatically reshape our quality of life.
They will be the big winners. You and your followers are simply to naive to understand the implications of what you are doing.
Let’s back up a minute here. City Council has a series of boards and commissions designed to provide advice on different issues, whether that’s around planning, biosafety, economic development (I sit on this one), public parks, arts, etc. These groups also turn to outside expertise to answer questions around long-term planning. As an example, the city is currently working on a report about the arts.
The previous city council approved an economic development plan that includes the following line: ” A crucial recommendation … is to update the development review process and land use policies to ensure that they align with Newton’s goals and are streamlined and predictable.”
In other words: the idea of streamlining development approvals isn’t just something that has come up now, and isn’t just something that is part of the agenda of a few individuals, but something studied and considered over a longer period of time. So please, stop with the conspiracy theories. We elect representatives for a reason, we shouldn’t be trying to vote on every little thing with a pure up/ down vote. It’s not efficient and it doesn’t take into account the work that our city councilors do. Frankly, it’s insulting to the people we elect.
Voice your opinion, go to the ballot box, donate money, write, talk with friends, but let our elected officials do their jobs.
Here is a recent article about Toronto
https://globalnews.ca/news/1802235/toronto-ranked-as-best-place-to-live-in-the-world-by-the-economist/
Susan,
My point about Toronto is this. It is a fast growing city. Half the population lives in rental apartments. The other 50% live in homes. As Toronto grew it centralized its government which insured continued growth. Local city mayors and city councils
were abolished because they slowed housing and commercial
growth. In the 1960s when I attended college large scale highways were being built particularly along the northern city boundary.
The total width of that artery was 24 lanes, 12 going east and 12 west. If you have never visited Toronto you might want to plan a visit some time. It is a very exciting place.
However, I doubt you would want Boston to aspire to be like it.
In 1970, my aunt lived in an apartment building 70 stories tall, right in the heart of downtown at Bloor and Yonge Sts.
So Colleen: All your catastrophizing about Newton’s new council leadership is rooted in some deep held fear that they’ll turn us into a “very exciting place.” Will we get better health care too?
As far as I understand, Toronto is the fastest growing city on the continent and quickly emerging as one of the key drivers of economic activity in North America. It’s amazingly diverse in a way that New York can only aspire to become, and has some amazing food culture along with it.
I’m sure there are some downsides along with the growth (Google has had some pushback for its Sidewalk project on the waterfront), but overall the changes have been positive.
And, who doesn’t enjoy watching Kim’s Convenience?
The Boston metropolitan area will not retain it’s world class reputation without an extensive, efficient, and reliable transit system. Newton and the other suburbs will all pay the price, in many ways, for the failure of the state to deliver that service. It’s one thing (and good) to require local developers to offer some ancillary service in that regard, but their end-of-line add-ons will do little good without a strong backbone system throughout the metropolitan area (both radially and circumferentially.) I believe it’s the job of our elected municipal officials to be strong advocates with their state counterparts to approve the funding and to create the institutional infrastructure to undo the decades of deterioration we have seen at the T. I hope this is on the Mayor’s and Council’s agenda.
Second Paul’s comment. I actually think support for development would significantly increase if MBTA and MWRTA services are increased and expanded.