There are currently two positions open on the Newton City Council and both of them are city-wide positions, meaning that all Newton voters can participate in the Special Election that will be held on March 16 to fill those seats. The Ward 1 At-Large seat was vacated by the unexpected demise of City Councilor Jay Ciccone and the Ward 2 seat was vacated by Jake Auchincloss who resigned as he was elected and sworn in recently as our District’s Representative to Congress.
Newton is fortunate to have willing participants in the race to fill these two seats. As of this morning the City Clerk’s Office confirmed that there are two candidates who returned signature papers that have been verified for the race for the Ward 1 At-Large seat: John Oliver and Madeline Ranalli. He also confirmed that there are three candidates with verified signatures for the Ward 2 At-Large seat: Bryan Barash, Tarik Lucas and David Micley. Unless someone objects to or withdraws nomination papers by 5pm on Thursday, February 11th, the March 16 Special Election Ballot will list all five candidates seeking your votes.
Perhaps you recognize some of the candidates, but would like to learn more about all of their positions on matters of interest to you, (e.g., in-person school reboot, zoning, development, parking, budgets, street conditions, open space, historic preservation, land trusts, affordable housing, diversity, issues regarding Police training or support, Covid-19 relief, etc.) then may I suggest that you please forward questions you would like to be asked to [email protected].
The Four Newton Area Councils will be conducting a Zoom Debate with the candidates, moderated by award-winning journalist, Marjorie Arons-Barron, on Sunday, February 21, 2-4pm. The link for the Zoom meeting will be forwarded closer to the date of the Debate, but please send your questions in now. The questions will be gathered by subject and condensed by the Area Council Committee of the Four Newton Area Councils and then provided to our moderator for her creative and probing approach to teasing out differences among the candidates so you can make an intelligent and informed choice on March 16th.
I hope David Micley feels welcome to participate on this blog.
Also, I remember reading in a Mayor’s Update that there were three candidates for each seat, i.e. six candidates in total, who were in the process of gathering signatures. I’d be curious to know the identity of that sixth person, regardless of whether they will appear on the ballot.
Thanks Jeremy – I plan to have more to share soon but appreciate the welcome note!
@Jeremy: According to the City Clerk’s Office, both former Alderman Alan Ciccone and Ward 1 resident, Janet Sterman, took out signature papers, but apparently didn’t return them. I wonder if Covid made it too difficult to gather signatures in a timely fashion…
@Sallee The Ciccone Family is backing John Oliver in the Ward 1 race. There was a letter to the editor in this week’s Tab from the family stating this and there is a blurb on John Oliver’s website referencing their endorsement.
@Newton Highlands Mom: I don’t doubt that you are correct about the family endorsement. I was just answering the question as to who took out papers and didn’t return them!
Does this mean there will be an additional run-off race for ward 2?
@Adam the charter only provides for a preliminary election when filling a vacancy for mayor, not for councilor
Thanks for the post, Sallee. I’ll be supporting Bryan Barash in the Ward 2 race. Bryan has earned my respect and my vote by consistently advocating for progressive policies, supporting community organizations, and showing up for racial justice and climate justice. In March, when the state shut down, Bryan sent out detailed daily emails with guidance on how to access unemployment aid, navigate food pantries, apply for federal + state assistance, etc. He’s a compassionate leader with a huge heart, and I’m excited to see what he’ll do on the city council given his good work in the State House.
Great that you will vote on March 16th, Emma. I hope our readers who have not been following the candidates in the past, or are not familiar with the new ones, will tune in on February 21st to see and hear them speak and think in front of our Zoom audience. If they do miss the Zoom Debate, we will be recording it and will post a link to it for them to catch it later. By the way, it is important to note that we are asking the public to send in questions they would like the candidates to be asked and to do that as soon as possible!
@Adam: I didn’t refer to the Charter myself, as Jeremy did above, but I did check in with the Election Department when I discovered that more than 2 candidates for one of the City Council positions had taken out signature papers. David Olson confirmed that this Special Election did not trigger a Preliminary run-off for either seat, no matter how many candidates might return papers for either given seat.
Lest I’m mistaken, the first word in “City Councilor” is “city”. Our city. The city of Newton. And our city has plenty its own issues to solve…
Shrinking business tax revenues, as business zoned land is converted to mixed use and luxury apartments.
Small businesses unable to survive, giving away storefronts to banks and the deterioration of villages and communities.
A battle between the NTA, Teachers and NPS that’s decimated this school year, and locking high school kids out of school (until this week).
Lot by lot, being torn down for more luxury condos and townhouses.
Proposed zoning that pits the well to do, who gets to keep their single family neighborhoods, against the less well to do around village centers.
Deteriorating and congested roads.
Lack of Covid testing and vaccination availability.
Come March 16th, my vote is going to the candidate who is more inspired to serve THIS office, not with an eye towards the next office. The candidate that is not so focused on leading, that they forget to listen to their constituents….all of their constituents, not just those who agree with them.
@Matt: Kudos for planning to vote on March 16th. Historically, Special Elections, especially non-Mayoral ones, don’t get much attention. As you have outlined above, there are many issues that the candidates should be asked so that the voters can choose wisely. I hope you send in some questions so that all the issues you believe should be addressed may be incorporated into the Debate.
Bryan has refused to answer the same question over and over again. Very disappointing for someone who spends so much time on social media.
Why does he think that his voice is more important than having a (ONE) (1) person of color on the 23 member city council? Why has he avoided answering this question for so long? All I’ve heard is excuses, apologies and diversions.
In the year 2021 Newton should be better than that.
@Matt. You have certainly covered most of the bases.
My vote on March 16th is for John Oliver. I know that is what Jay would want,, It is what the Ciccone family wants, It is what my family wants, I believe the City of Newton does not need Anti Police people right now, we need Common sense , life experience etc,,,, We need someone who has managed expenses, budgets,raised a family in the City etc… I know what we do not need right now is a College student with no life experience that lives off her parents , does not respect Police and can’t go into a liquor store yet…JOHN OLIVER ON MARCH 16
Does anyone know if David Micley is, in fact, running? I can’t find anything that indicates that he is campaigning.
@Joan: David Micley has agreed to debate Bryan and Tarik on February 21 at the Four Area Council Debate/ Candidate Showcase ( see post above the comments).Tune in.
@Jamie, Peter and Matt and others who want candidates to be asked about issues of importance to you…please submit your questions to [email protected]. (Note: email address has been corrected.)
We have to put these issues on the table and have civil dialogue about what is happening in the City of Newton right now. Because of the covid virus, people are not getting out and talking to their friends and neighbors. I understand that we need to plan for the future but we also have to discuss how people are realistically living in 2021. We need City Councilors who represent the views of the residents in their ward. There is so much misinformation out there which I find very disappointing. We need people on the City Council who can reach across the aisle and talk to people who have a differing opinions. So I would encourage everyone to read up on the candidates, attend the debate on 2/21 from 2-4pm, and most importantly vote on 3/16.