Thanks to Jeremy’s comment on Meredith’s post, we now know that the three candidates for mayor — Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, Amy Sangiolo, and Al Cecchinelli — participated in a League of Women Voters candidate forum.
Here’s the video:
Video of the League mayoral candidate forum
by Sean Roche | Sep 2, 2021 | Newton | 20 comments
Is it me, or was that debate pretty boring? Who submitted those questions? They didn’t even ask about the #1 issue of covid, masks or vaccinations ?? I also thought it was a bit disrespectful by LWV standards to have the moderator call the Mayor by her first name. I don’t think that ever would have happened with Mayor Warren, Mayor Cohen, Mayor Concanon or Mann … just sayin’
And if you don’t want to watch the debate (I haven’t) you can always read the summary in The TAB: https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/newton-tab/2021/09/02/gun-shop-controversy-back-spotlight-mayoral-candidates-forum/5687302001/
I was disappointed by the exchange on schools. The facts are, Newton’s schools opened far more slowly than the schools in our neighboring peer towns (Wellesley, Needham, Weston, Brookline, etc.). The mayor was a part of the School Committee that, in the opinion of many, under-performed.
Amy needs to make this clearer in future debates.
Ditto. Amy has plenty of ammo here to use. (no gun store pun intended) I know a lot of fellow parents dismayed by how everything went down with the schools last year. I’ve been perpetually disappointed by the school committee including newer members who I really thought would bring more accountability to the committee and they didn’t. I never thought Fuller was going to be a good advocate for NPS. As a mayor who sits on the school committee, a passion for public schools is paramount yet not something Fuller has done. She barely can muster attention at the school committee meetings which is very disrespectful.
I’m glad we have a competitive mayoral race, but was disappointed to see, at least in this LWV debate, Amy repeat the misinformation that Newton teachers were unfairly blamed for delaying in-person school. This supports a false parents vs teachers narrative that some have been trying to exploit. With a few loud exceptions on social media, 99% of Newton parents were (and are) extremely supportive of our wonderful, hard working teachers the past school year. Parents were justifiably frustrated with the institutions who run NPS – the School Committee (including current Mayor), NPS administration, and NTA – over the in-person school issue, and debating the actions of those institutions shouldn’t be conflated with not supporting teachers.
Interesting MMQC I received a Fuller flyer in the mail today and under her “Getting Results” section the top bullet point is “supporting our world-class public schools”. What a joke. She was often clearly not paying attention at SC meetings, My child was next to me when I watched one of the SC zooms and remarked how someone should tell the Mayor that you could see the reflection of her computer screen in her glasses and that it was clear she was doing other things, I talked with her several times during her office hours about our schools and every time afterwards I wondered why I bothered. It was a beyond frustrating experience.
I appreciate that the league puts these together, but they’re not debates (nor do they call them that). They call em “forums” and it’s better than nothing, which is what we’d get otherwise. The most unfortunate part is their rule that the moderator can’t be a Newton resident, which insures that the moderator can’t possibly know the issues as well a some local would.
But wait…they should see if Gail Spector would do the next one….she’s no longer a Newton resident!
It was an interesting conversation, well worth the time. I’m glad to get to know a bit about Al Cecchinelli. I don’t agree with him on a few things, but he clearly cares a great deal about Newton.
But from the Forum, it is clear that this will end up being a two person race between Ruthanne and Amy. Absent a sharp back and forth regarding the timing of the gun shop notification, it was pretty tame as a discussion.
I will say this. It is hard to gain traction against an incumbent. There seemed to be more agreement than disagreement, and even the gun shop debate was basically a discussion about “transparency” and “how long did the Mayor know about the gun shop”. I don’t think that particular issue moves the needle for a lot of folks, as the Mayor can rightly say the gun shop never opened. So Amy is left approving of the result, but criticizing the approach taken by the Mayor. All most folks remember is that it got resolved…and as for transparency, all of us I think get Ruthanne’s emails (the ones with all the P.S. notations.). I understand the complaint, but in general I just don’t think the transparency issue is one that resonates.
I think a lot of folks, as MMQC and Newton Highlands Mom point out, view Ruthanne’s leadership on the schools during Covid as inadequate, if I was Amy I would remind folks of the cluster that was the prior school year. I didn’t really see her stress that point in this forum. But again, the kids are back in school this year, and I’m not sure enough parents will blame the Mayor for last year’s slow return to school when the kids are back now. As I’ve said before voters have short memories.
In short, not much here in this Forum to help Amy bridge the incumbent gap, and nothing here to convince me to vote for Al. I look forward to watching the debates. Very glad I got to watch it.
ps. I disagree with Lauren Berman on the Tab summary (sorry Lauren!). It was a pretty bare bones article in my view. I think the Forum is worth watching and the article isn’t really worth reading.
Thanks Lauren. I found the Tab article interesting in that it succinctly explained the differences between the candidates.
Of course there’s The Who would you rather have a beer with test. For me, it’s Amy all the way, authentic, sincere intelligent and passionate.
Figgy, I think people have a short attention span on some things (the gun store is probably water under the bridge for most voters at this point) but I think the COVID/school issue is still weighing heavily on a lot of parents. It’s something where a lot of us are still dealing with the repercussions – for my family it was financial repercussions because I needed to pay a lot of money for childcare so I could work – for others it is the mental health of their kids or maybe some academic concerns. So even if the kids are back next week, I think a lot of families are still dealing with the stress of last school year.
I know I am biased because I never trusted Fuller when it came to NPS but among my neighbors and friends this is a sentiment we discuss often.
MMQC:
I’m sure it is weighing heavily on a lot of parents. I certainly haven’t forgotten. I think parents aren’t a monolith though. I was hit hard by the past year and so were my kids. But some families were not. And for those that were, I think a lot of us blame everyone, the mayor, the school committee, the superintendent, and the NTA. I am intending to vote for any challenger to the school committee for sure, such as there are. And I hope the NTA realizes the hurt on the side of the parents. I support teachers but found the NTA to be tone deaf. And I find the school leadership to have been absent as well. Or better said, frozen and overwhelmed.
The question is how many parents blame the mayor for the schools not measuring up to our peer communities on this, vs the other parties or the virus itself. The question is also how many parents think a change of leadership to Amy will make a material difference for the next phase of the crisis. Amy needs to make that case. She has not yet done so in my view.
Lisa, I think I’d like Amy personally, although I do not know her. But that particular test doesn’t really matter to me. I liked Setti a great deal and would gladly share a beer with him now. But he wouldn’t have my vote again.
The reality in this race for me is that I think both Ruthanne and Amy can do the job. And many of the positions are similar. I think Ruthanne has really come on strong in the last year in many ways. I also think the school debacle and the zoning mess don’t help her cause. I think Amy is struggling a bit to differentiate herself from Ruthanne. I’m looking forward to the debates so I can hear from both what they intend to do over the next 4 years and how they intend to spend the windfall from the Federal Government.
Figgy, I agree with you about the NTA, school committee, and superintendent. I went to a few meet n greets with some of the current school committee members who I felt really excited about and they were all letdowns. And how Fleishman’s contract got unanimously renewed is beyond me.
My advice to the Sangiolo campaign… Challenge the Mayor to a one-on-one, in-person debate, during which both candidates speak directly to each other, with gentle guidance from a mutually agreed upon moderator. I’d suggest the challenge be issued publicly, [perhaps right here on V14], because otherwise the Mayor will almost certainly duck it.
Frankly, I have no idea who would win a debate using the format I’m suggesting, although I’d admittedly be rooting for Amy. More importantly though, it’s the voters of Newton who would be the biggest winners from a real back-and-forth debate. They would gain an understanding of both candidates that is simply not achievable through candidate “forums.”
1. “I support teachers but found the NTA to be tone deaf.” The only members of NTA are Newton educators – they run it, they are included in all decision making. So either you like us or you think we’re tone deaf, but you can’t have it both ways.
2. DESE took away the right of all unions in the entire state of MA to negotiate the reopening of schools last year due to the “exigency” of the situation. NTA and Newton educators had no input whatsoever in the reopening plans – not when, not how, not anything. Somehow that was never explained clearly to parents. Why we were blamed for decisions we’d had no say in continues to be a conundrum for me.
3. This is what NTA did do beginning in the summer of 2020: push for was the upgrading of the ventilation systems in all the schools and the implementation of a testing program. If you think these were bad moves, then okay, Fig, we’ll just agree to disagree on that.
Despite all that happened last year, this week Newton educators had a terrific first week back – everyone is upbeat, working in their classrooms and other spaces in the schools, and thrilled to be done with zoom.
My sense is that people want to move on, re-establish partnerships with other parts of the system, and have a great year. I wish the entire community could experience the sense of renewal Newton educators felt this week, but I know that can’t happen, at least not yet. However, I’d suggest that making an effort to let go of past grievances, rather than continuing with the “throw the bums out” attitude, would go a long way in supporting a positive, upbeat beginning of the school year for NPS students.
Did I miss it, or did the forum go into much detail on housing or the police reform task force? I listened to much of it and didn’t catch a dedicated section. Very thankful for the video all the same. Thx!
Hi Jane:
I disagree on most of your points as you might imagine.
1) With few exceptions, I’ve found my kids teachers in Newton Public schools at all levels to be good. Some of them have been amazing. I thought the teacher of my youngest last year should get a medal or some sort of award. But it certainly possible to love my kids individual teachers and find their union to be lacking. The union may be led and be made up by teachers, but I also talk to individual teachers. And your union certainly didn’t speak with one voice last year, at least privately. And I remember vividly some of the public pushback the NTA did. It felt at times that the adults in the room were squabbling, while the kids sat at home.
2) From an outsider’s perspective, it feels like the NTA and the City’s relationship is broken. Or at least it was during August 2020. I remember the OnlyWhenItsSafe campaign by the NTA, the back and forth on the ventilation, the rumors regarding requests for additional compensation. And at first I was very sympathetic to the concerns. And then I saw our neighboring towns moving forward with different plans. Like 5 day elementary for the younger kids who couldn’t do zoom. And I’m not just blaming the NTA. Of course not. I also blame the school committee and the Superintendent. You all sank together. I just don’t give the NTA a pass. It was defending the safety and contract of its members. I get that. But my kids suffered in the meantime. Maybe I’m just off base and I’m being unfair with a “pox on all your houses” belief. But it comes from a sense of pain and loss, and observations at the time.
3) I don’t think those are bad moves. Hence why I also blame the other parties. But in talking to both teachers and administrators, it feels like each of you blame the other for being stubborn or unwilling to bend to the reality of the situation. And I’m left with the comparison to other communities, and the harm done to my kids. So no, again, I give no one a pass.
Jane, I would love to feel that sense of renewal. But mostly I feel a sense of dread. I don’t trust the school system, the NTA or the school committee to deal with this in a logical way if Delta or some other variant takes control during the winter. I’m truly glad Newton educators feel a sense of renewal. My family and my kids do not. I can’t speak for other parent’s but I think a lot of us are down here in the mud. I’m very aware how much was lost over the past 18 months. That isn’t any individual teacher’s fault. It is everyone’s fault, mine included. Let go of past grievances? My grievances are the harms done to my kids, and the inability of their school system and city leadership to address them. So no. I’m not ready to forgive and forget. Maybe the system will rise to the occasion if things get really bad again. Or maybe y’all will argue like little children in public again while my kids are on zoom. Fair? Probably not. But I and a lot of parents are still carrying some baggage here. We’ve been with our kids all summer and see the damage done by last year.
Most kids are resilient. Some are not. The NTA and the City will agree on a new contract and move on. Some of these kids won’t easily catch up academically or emotionally.
But hey, everyone did the best they could, right? Let go of the past, right? Time to move on and all that…
I felt like the NTA started acting like extortionists last year.
I understood their safety concerns, but I had to go to work in person in July of last year. None of us got to make a list of demands and we work with the general public, so plenty of opportunity for exposure.
Of course, I love our NPS staff and teachers so this is more about how I felt the NTA operated as a union than anything about the teachers. And yes I think all of us were let down by the SC and Fleishman too.
I’m cautiously optimistic for this school year after some informative principal Zooms, but I think many parents and kids are battling some degree of PTSD after last year.
I do wish that we had more school committee candidates though. That is disappointing.
Ever hear the expression “an educator’s teaching environment is a student’s learning environment”? If you think the battle to get the ventilation systems upgraded didn’t include concerns about the health of the students, then you are sadly mistaken. And I mean that sincerely. It’s the union’s responsibility to advocate for the physical wellbeing of its members, with a clear sense that the students benefit from that advocacy. NTA was not successful in getting the city or administration to work on the ventilation systems in the summer. Were teachers upset about that? Of course they were. Did they blame the NTA leadership – some did, but most didn’t.
We all struggled personally last year. We all have children in our families who had a most difficult year – my family included. The difference is that it never crossed my mind to place personal blame on anyone for the awfulness of the whole situation. You need to know that many Newton parents chose to engage proactively and in partnership with teachers as their kids struggled to try to make things better for the kids. But, as is often the case, the louder, angrier voices prevail.
Everyone made mistakes last year. People on all sides said things in anger that were inappropriate, unkind, and inaccurate, including you. I know I did and I’m willing to own and to take responsibility for that. You’ve made it very clear that you plan to carry your baggage into the next school year. Have at it. My only request is that you choose not to be a negative force within the larger school community as Newton educators move forward in a positive direction.
Jane, I’m not placing personal blame. I’m placing collective blame on all of the participants. You are taking it personally because you don’t agree that the group in which you participate deserves any part of that blame. Shooting the messenger by calling those of us who call out the overall educational system for failing our children “louder angrier voices” just reinforces that you aren’t hearing those voices at all. You are just hearing the voices you want to hear, the ones that agreed with you. If only the city and the school administration had listened to you, things would be different. It is always someone else’s fault. And so the wheel turns.
As for my mistakes last year, I have many regrets. But pushing the school system to measure up to peer communities isn’t one of them. Not out of anger. Out of recognition of the harm being done to our kids and the fact we could have done more for them, especially the youngest ones.
Also, just for the record, it is *beyond insulting* for you to call my disappointment and worry about the damage done to my kids and other kids in Newton “baggage”. You don’t like being called tone deaf? That was the definition of tone deaf. I’m glad the Newton educators get to move forward in a positive direction. I really am. New school year, new kids I suppose. Clean slate and open classrooms. And I want the teachers who teach my kids to start fresh, I really do. But please recognize that asking us as parents to release our “baggage” isn’t as easy as it is for you. As the parents I talk to and my family work our way through our kid’s education and emotional issues, it isn’t so easy to just forget the past and move on. My “baggage” isn’t my anger towards to school system. My “baggage” is making sure my kids get through this. That doesn’t refresh so nicely at the beginning of a school year. Our slate doesn’t wipe clean.
As for my being a “negative force within the larger school community” that really depends on the actions of that larger school community. Keeping the schools open, keeping the focus on catching the kids up and helping them get through the past 18 months and the 9 months to come, even when the inevitably #### hits the fan in a few months…that would be a positive step forward.
I thought the forum was good. I agree with those who feel that schools should have been more an issue. I felt all 3 candidates did a great job and this forum probably wont determine a winner or loser. If you went in with a candidate, you probably supporting that candidate. Al and Amy did a nice job pushing Ruthanne on some issues and Ruthanne did a nice job explaining her position on those issues.
The only recommendation I have is towards the LWV. What I would like to see in the next zoom is keeping all the candidates on the screen at all times. Sometimes you can see how a person really feels through facial expressions and when you take everyone’s profile off the screen except the one talking, we can’t see how a person really thinks. Just a suggestion for the next zoom, but it was done very well and thanks for having it.