I always like to see contested seats and we have twelve of them in the upcoming Newton elections Over the weekend I thought I’d take a look at some of the new candidates who are running for office in the upcoming Newton elections and see what they are each bringing to the table.
I was startled to see that of those 12 contested seats, five of the challengers don’t appear to have any candidate web site or on-line presence. The one that particularly jumps out is Mayoral candidate Albert Cecchinelli. His campaign makes the mayoral election a three way-race (Fuller, Sangiolo, Cecchinelli) and forces a city-wide September preliminary election to whittle the field down to two candidates. If Mr Cecchinelli is not going to actively campaign I wished he had saved the city the expense of running an unnecessary election. That said, Ceccinelli has made his case in a Newton Tab article and a NewTV candidate profile so he his doing some minimal visible campaigning.
Allan Ciccone is running for the Ward 1 at-large seat but has no campaign web site or visible on-line footprint. The same with Ward 2 challenger Jessica Aker Archer and Ward 5 challenger Debra Waller . Perhaps when running for a Ward seat in just one corner of the city its possible to ignore on-line campaigning and stick solely to face-to-face, door-to-door campaigning … but I doubt it.
Note – Debra Waller now has a web site – https://wallerfornewton.org/
Kevin Riffe is running for the Ward 1 seat. No campaign web site came up in a Google search but a few commenters below pointed out that he does indeed have a web site that was shared via his Facebook page – https://riffeforward1.com/
Riffe has a website. I can’t find it now but someone posted it on Facebook. It’s light on details, though.
This was posted on FG
https://riffeforward1.com/?fbclid=IwAR2C-0jUY3qeeSlFIxlOO_N-kDrdOziob6o2FE18jdtAl0LYn7CdIPf4U7o
You are correct that it is light on details:
https://riffeforward1.com/
@MMQC – Thanks for the tip and my apologies to Mr Riffe for the misinformation.
That said, his campaign web site doesn’t turn up in a “Kevin Riffe Newton” Google search, at least not in the first 10 pages of results. If you’re running for serious you probably should address that ASAP.
as I take my daily walk around
west newton
I see many signs in yards for
mr ceccinelli
why does village 14
continue to
demean italo-americans
really enough already!!!!
also I think its great we have a runoff!!!!
@Joe Rizza – ???? who’s demeaning Italo-Americans.
The post is about five candidates for public office who have no web site or on-line presence.
I too think it’s great that we have three candidates and a runoff election … but only if those candidates actively campaign.
I don’t think I know of a single candidate for public office in the last 20 years who was elected without having a web site … so yes, I do think it is a bit odd and worth pointing out.
I’m the daughter of an Italian immigrant. Al C. is a joke candidate. He has no website, no social media presence, and periodically shows up to parrot Trumplike talking points. I don’t like him because he’s Italian, I don’t like him because he’s not a serious candidate, doesn’t even try to be one, and is a Trumpian style conservative whose beliefs have no place here.
I mean I don’t dislike him because he’s Italian!
@joe rizza. So why are you voting for mr ceccinelli? What appeals to you about him and what are the main selling points? Please convince me.
I had some thoughts about Al Cecchinelli (and three other candidates) the last go round.*
Unlike the 2017 election, this year there are only two viable mayoral candidates for the general election and only one distractor, so Cecchinelli’s running won’t prevent a viable candidate from getting general-election attention and won’t significantly reduce the viable candidates’ air time in the preliminary.
*Caution, that was a peak-snarkiness post (though relatively restrained re: Cecchinelli).
Al is a very nice guy. But he’s in no way qualified to be mayor. Al has been in Newton politics for a long time though. Long enough to know that his phantom candidacy is going to help Fuller and hurt Sangiolo. Hmmm… I wonder why he’d do that?
Jerry I am fairly certain Jay Ciccone never had a website, and he won handily.
Maybe the candidates without websites are working on it and haven’t gotten to it yet because they’re new to campaigning and it’s a lot of work and they want to make sure they do it right.
It’s not even Labor Day for gods sake, it’s not like voters are even paying attention yet.
Why does the voice of this site always have to be so snarky?
Do we a problem that there are too many or too few candidates? I think too few. I would rather have a candidate without a website than no candidate.
@Emily Norton – I didn’t think I was dishing up any snark (nor demeaning Italo-Americans)
I’m a voter, I spent some time trying to find out about the candidates that are running and came up nearly empty-handed for five of them.
Yes, the councilor candidates still have a couple of months and may indeed be putting web sites together. As for Albert Cecchinelli, his election is in only two weeks so his time is rapidly running out if he wants to reach voters who don’t already know him.
@Emily
Thankfully the enablers of this prejudiced website, and most of the commentary will be displaced by other platforms and V14 will become irrelevant soon.
That said, unfortunately they seem to have realised their demise and the attack dogs are out on the other platforms, but fortunately unlike here, they do not get to control the conversation!
Jerry Reilly=Snark. Lol. Is this the comedy channel?
@Simon-What’s up with your Trumpian conspiracy theories?
lisa:
for amy all the way!!!!!
reg to vote 1/68
rfk democrat ever since
fought in the trenches in the old days
old time 3-3 ward committee member
when being a democrat meant something.
this was an attack on a decent person
who has every right to run!
you and jerry(greg) are 3 peas in a pod!!!!!!!!
If candidates want to get noticed in a post-COVID 2021 political environment, a website is a requirement, not an option. Otherwise, most voters who are busy managing their lives in these tumultuous times and not politically involved will have little reason to pay attention.
As for Councilor Norton, she herself is quite capable of snark when it suits her personal political agenda. Stop trying to play the innocent victim.
No inside info here, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some administrative reason within the local Republican party why they thought they had to run a mayor candidate, even without a significant campaign push or expectation of winning. Maybe there’s some funding or support from the state or national party that reduces or goes away if the local chapter is absent from the ballot. The work of gathering all those signatures indicates some deliberateness and thought went into running. Appreciate the thoughts of anyone more experienced in politics.
Councilor Norton,
As one of the two founders of this esteemed community institution, I can assure you that Jerry did not engage in snark.
If you’ve ever met Jerry, he is incapable of snark. He is too kind-hearted and generous if spirit. So Greg and I have not — and will not — authorize him to engage in the snark arts, reserving that privilege to ourselves (though Greg is on sabbatical building his Chamber empire). We will not abide amateurs.
You can read safely read Jerry’s words as sincerely intended. He was trying to do his civic duty and engage with new candidates for public office. He was genuinely surprised to learn that, in this day and age, a non-trivial number of challengers do not have web sites.
Jay Cicconne was first elected in 2007, 14 years ago (coincidentally, Al Cecchinelli was one of the other candidates in the race). Councilor Cicconne was the son of a long-time, well-known alderman when he first ran and an incumbent in every subsequent race. Maybe he’s not the most relevant reference for this year’s crop of new, largely unknown candidates.
Ah yes Sean you discrediting Jays years of service to this city based on how you feel he got elected… Truly embarrassing for you to make demeaning comments about someone who has passed on… as always Sean keeps village 14 the classiest place on earth
Wow! Can anyone make a comment with someone attributing some nefarious motive to it? The purpose of Sean’s comment about Jay Cicconne wasn’t to demean him. Since Jay has been an incumbent for so long and is well known within his ward, there isn’t a necessarily a strong need for him to have a website. For new candidates and mayor, it is absolutely a necessity in 2021. For many people, their first introduction to a new candidate is through their website.
Peter W: No one is discrediting Jay’s years of service, may he rest in peace. But I was here for that race, and to say that his father’s years of service didn’t help Jay get elected completely ignores reality. It doesn’t discredit Jay to say that at all. Both members of the family served the city well, and Jay was known not just as his father’s son but a good man as well, both before and after his initial election. Sean’s point (which was clear I think) is that name recognition would be way more important than a website. I’m not sure how you find that to be a demeaning comment, and I say that as someone who may not have always agreed with Jay Cicconne, but always respected him and his contributions to Newton. I was very saddened by his death.
As for Albert Cecchinelli, my general take is that I’m happy he is running, because I like contested elections. If it was just Mayor Fuller running, I’d be VERY happy he was running, because again, I like contested elections. He declared before Amy S., and perhaps that was part of his thinking as well. I don’t know. Our system requires a preliminary election, which isn’t Albert’s fault either. I do wish we had more campaign events, including a debate, before the preliminary election. As there is very little opportunity for Albert to get his message out, I doubt he will take more than a few hundred votes city wide, especially in the face of Amy S. having a very organized and well-run campaign from what I can see.
Councilor Norton, I honestly didn’t read Jerry’s post as snark. I think the entire post does point to something I’ve noticed across the last few elections, which is that most of the candidates are far more organized than 15 years ago. More door hangers, more signs, more websites, more facebook ads, more social media mavens, more money, more organization, more slates, and more city councilors weighing in directly on other races. In that environment, it is a bit surprising some of the candidates don’t have web pages and barely seem to be campaigning publicly. I’ve met a few of the folks that don’t, and I think they all seem to be running an old school campaign (door to door) or frankly they are running against the incumbent more than anything else, and hoping the “slate” will pull them to victory. Nothing wrong with that, but it is surprising. As for your point that is just late August/September, that’s a good point, maybe they will turn up the activity. But I doubt it and election season seems to have creeped into the summer, judging by the robocalls and yard signs!
Simon French: I appreciate the righteous anger on repeat, but feel it is undeserved in this particular case (and in some cases I can understand your frustration with Village14 in the past). Not everything is an attack on your candidates, and Jerry has never been that type of person anyway. I wouldn’t even know which candidate he was attacking since the ones without websites span the gamut of the usual city council groups. I do think it is a good thing that there are other places for folks to discuss politics. Care to share which ones you like the best? (I mean that honestly, without snark. I’m not a fan of NextDoor due to the rather random ways discussions just disappear and because it keeps locking me out, and I’ve never been a fan of the listservs)
If this is the reaction a simple post on websites gets, we are in for a long few months before this coming election.
Fig, Bruce,
I’m going to have to disagree with you here. Seans been known to be condescending and rude beyond belief to people he doesn’t agree with politically with that being said my interpretation of the comment was he implied that Jay Ciccone was only elected because of his father, and from then on because of he was incumbent thus discrediting all the work he did for not just his ward but the rest of the city. If that wasn’t the case my apologies but when it comes to Sean he has a nasty chip on his shoulder and this wouldn’t be the first time he’s come after the Ciccone name.
Peter W.,
My apologies for not being more clear. Councilor Norton, in what I understood was a defense of some candidates not having web sites, notes that former Alderperson and Councilor Jay Cicconne won without one. I was trying to make three points.
1. Ciccone’s first election was in 2007, which is a lifetime ago in terms of the central role of a candidate’s web site (also in the ease of setting up and maintaining one).
2. When he first ran, his father had been a public official for years. Ciccone, Jr., presumably had name recognition and access to a network that I doubt this year’s challengers (except his father) have. I did not mean that his father won Ciccone, Jr., the race, only that it reduced the necessity of a web site. For what it’s worth, I think Ciccone won because the two candidates he beat were not as strong as he was. He also got more votes than the incumbent, I believe. He, too, was not, at that point, a strong candidate. Jay beat lesser candidates.
3. Once Ciccone, Jr., won in 2007, he was an incumbent, which reduced his need to have a web site in subsequent elections. None of this year’s web-site-less candidates are incumbents, though Ciccone, Sr., is a former elected official.
It’s 2021. Building a website is not difficult. There are plenty of off-the-shelf products that would allow any aspiring candidate or incumbent to create, at minimum, a site that would help a voter at least know how to contact that candidate and a few other factoids.
Its’ 2021. A candidate who does not have a website in 2021 makes me worry that perhaps they are not (how do I say this and not be accused of setting off snark alarms?) technologically proficient. I want city leaders who are living in modern times, or in the case of having a campaign website, living in the 2000’s. A website never tells me every thing I want to know about a candidate, but not having one tells me something.
It’s 2021. Local media is broken. Candidates can’t count on having their stories told by independent journalists. They need to turn to other platforms to reach voters. A website is one such platform.
It’s 2021. We’re in the midst of a pandemic. In person campaigning is challenging. A website offers voters a safe way to meet the candidates.
I just received an email from the Debra Waller campaign (ward 5). She now has a web site – WallerForNewton.org
Glad I don’t need to vote in Ward 5. Waller is too conservative-ish for me but Humphrey parroted the idea that Biden was senile on order to push Bernie which I thought was pretty disgusting. Neither is an attractive candidate.
I don’t know what Bill actually did, but I was also a Bernie supporter. Maybe it’s because I’m 8 years older than President Biden, but I would never point fingers and suggest that anyone that much younger than me was senile. The fingers might just poke back at me. I know a few fuses in my brain have blown over the years, but I think that Bernie, Joe and I are doing pretty good with what we have.
Agreed, Bob!
MMQC: I’m not a Bernie supporter, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Humphrey on the city council. Based on his prior campaign I was expecting a radical, but whenever I’ve watched a meeting since he was elected he seemed like one of the adults in the room. I’ve heard shouting from both sides, but Bill has always seemed calm, and his written discussions were excellent even if I disagrees. To criticize him for a Bernie va Biden thing seems very unfair when we have a lot to judge him on as an incumbent on the council. I’m not in Ward 5 so just posting my observation for what that matters.
@mmqc – agree that Bill’s actions post election had been much more metered (a pleasant surprise) than one would assume based only on his prior campaigning.
That said, his voting record and general point of view aligns exactly with the City Councilors who enthusiastically voted in favor of Austin St, Trio, Northland and Riverside.
Was happy to see more balance on the Council when Tarik Lucas and John Oliver were elected in March. And while Deb’s website is less than a week old, looking forward to hearing more about and from her in the weeks and months to come.
Our country’s government was built on checks and balances. Would be great to see that in Newton as well.
I agree with Matt. And Humphrey’s temperament is a different issue from his voting record and ideology. I expect Councilors to be calm and respectful to their peers and in that regard I have no issue with Humphrey. I just disagree with him on the issues. I welcome the addition of Waller to the debate
Marylee and Matt: I was responding to MMQC. I’m not saying that demeanor means anyone should vote for Bill on that fact alone, just that I’ve been impressed with his demeanor thus far.
As for Debra and the issues, her website goes into great details on zoning, some detail on police issues, and a bit of detail on transparency. Three issues. Nothing on schools. Roads. Etc. so if those are your three main issues, especially zoning, you’ll find her website to be an interesting read. Otherwise, not so much. (As a FYI to her campaign the link on the final issue is broken).
I’ll read her zoning text when I have more time, but one thing she recommends is limiting FAR to prevent McMansions. I disagree with that as it also eliminates the ability of those of us on smaller lots to make smaller additions to our homes like most of my neighborhood has done. Sometimes the goal to control development has some pretty awful unintended consequences. But I’ll need more time to review her proposal in full. There is a lot of text for Labor Day weekend!
She certainly is very different than Bill on these issues, especially zoning and police. Always good for a Ward to have a choice!
Having read Kevin Riffe’s website, I don’t find it “light on details” but find it to be honest and sincere and not filled with empty promises but very achievable goals from someone who has spent his entire life, 61 years, living in Ward 1. Mr Riffe has a deep and sincere love for his home and the understanding and insight on how to make Ward 1 a great, close knit community even greater. It’s Ward 1’s culture and deep rooted citizens that has always made it a special place and who else to better represent it than a leader who understands that culture and it’s citizens, being a one of those citizens and a part of its culture for his entire life.
I recently had to make a very difficult decision to withdraw from the race due to an ongoing family medical emergency, hence no website, etc. I felt a lot of guilt in doing this. I hope to try again in the future, but unfortunately, now is not the time for me.
@Jessica Aker Archer – I hope all goes well for your and your family and that we meet you down the road in a future election.
I was dropping off CC Candidate lawn signs in Ward One today (demand is huge) and I was incredibly impressed with Kevin Riffe’s coverage based upon lawn signs. Certainly no “Phantom Candidate” I also ran into him while he was canvassing.
I had an appointment in Nonantum a few days ago and it seemed like almost every house had a Riffe sign on Linwood. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m not really following that race too closely but it seems like there’s a lot of enthusiasm for him.