Whatever your view on the desirability of referenda to settle matters of great complexity, our recent Northland vote provides an opportunity to test a claim: that ward councilors are uniquely capable of divining and representing the wishes of their constituents. It’s not often that our elected officials vote and we get to vote on exactly the same item.
Here are the ward councilor votes on the special permit and the vote percentages by ward from Tuesday. Note, these are the councilors from the last term, when the council voted on the special permit.
| Ward | Councilor | Vote | % Y/N |
| 1 | Scibelli Greenberg | Y | 57.4/42.6 |
| 2 | Norton | N | 60.2/39.8 |
| 3 | Brousal‐Glaser | Y | 57.2/42.8 |
| 4 | Markiewicz | N | 53.0/47.0 |
| 5 | Rice | Y | 58.7/41.3 |
| 6 | Noel | Y | 64.8/35.2 |
| 7 | Baker | N | 64.5/35.5 |
| 8 | Lappin | Y | 47.5/52.5 |
How well did your ward councilor represent?
/following
#notmycouncilor
It is interesting that voters in Wards 2, 4 and 7 all voted for Northland while their ward councilors voted against it. So much for the idea that ward councilors have some sort of magical pulse on their constituents.
I found the Ward 2 numbers particularly interesting given that we’ve been hearing for years that the ward is ground zero for the growth-skeptical. Not only is that Councilor Norton’s home turf but it’s the home ward for the two co-chairs from the No campaign.
Greg,
It could also mean ppl are more willing to support development when its in someone elses neighborhood
Yep. But shouldn’t our ward councilors represent those people? I mean, that’s the whole theory behind why we benefit from ward councilors, right?
That’s not the *whole* theory. We also have ward councilors so that we can make the city council accessible to everyone, b/c the ward seats are cheaper and easier to run for.
Or as Emily Norton put it in a Vote No flier, ward seats are for “those not part of powerful political networks “, because “it is significantly more costly to run a citywide campaign, compared to a ward campaign.”
Except when it’s not…like in the last election cycle when Emily raised $39,000, blowing away the campaign fundraising of anyone who has ever run at-large on the council other than Jake Auchincloss who was obviously fundraising for a bigger stage.
It seems like anyone who can raise $39,000 for a city council seat is by definition part of a powerful political network.
#notmycouncillor (Ward 1 voter)
I live the n Ward 2. I interpret the 60% yes vote in support of Northland as a reflection that the development in Newtonville wasn’t all that bad, western civilization did not come to an end, and people adjusted.
I believe that this represents an important lesson so that our councilors don’t confuse the noisy minority view with the broader majority view. Significant energy and costs were incurred to come to the results that our councilors already determined. There will be more of these issues in the future and I hope that we learn from this experience
Can the graph be updated?
Brousal-Glaser, Rice and Lappin aren’t on the council anymore. The names don’t impact the results, but the inaccuracy is a bit alarming, especially because I have a lot of respect for Village 14!
Rebecca: Its true that Brousal-Glaser, Rice and Lappin aren’t in office now but they were in December when the council approved Nothland.
Wasn’t the move to eliminate ward councilors a referendum? Hmmm
Rick,
Did the council and the voters have exactly the same question? If so, I guess it’s not so rare. Still interesting.
Rebecca,
Sorry for the confusion. I updated the post to clarify.
If popular vote were enough to ensure the vitality of a democracy we would all be Greeks in tunics.
I, for one, do not require my Ward representative to be no more than a mouthpiece for the masses in my ward. Sometime we are more wrong than we believe; others vice versa. The referendum gambit can rebalance, in the latter case. But who or by what device limits or corrects the tyrrany in the former?
Then again, I am a strong believer in maintaing the role, independence and power afforded the Electoral College.
Mary,
I don’t think anybody’s arguing for referenda on every controversial position. Rather, it’s at least interesting that some of the most vocal proponents for ward representation on the basis that a ward representative has the unique ability to channel the ward’s feelings on a particular issue. It’s not just that two of the most vocal were on different sides from their constituents. Their constituents voted yes at two of the three highest rates in the city.