All candidates running for contested seats in the upcoming election were invited to submit a post in support of their candidacy to Village14.  This is Alison Leary Mooradian’s

Thank you to Jerry Reilly and the Village14 team for hosting this forum.

I am running for re-election this year and all Newton Voters can vote for me as an at-large candidate. I was first elected in a special election in 2013. My goal has always been to contribute to Newton’s excellent quality of life which includes great schools, great services, vibrant village centers and diverse, welcoming neighborhoods.

My volunteer experience includes serving on the executive committee of the Massachusetts Sierra Club and on the boards of the Newton Conservators and the Newton League of Women Voters. Professionally, I worked for 2 years as the Associate Director of the Community Preservation Coalition which works with communities to understand, adopt and implement the Community Preservation Act. I currently work as a program manager for a social services non-profit serving adults with intellectual disabilities.

I am a strong supporter of the City’s Climate Action Plan released by Newton Citizens Commission on Energy in 2019. This plan is based on extensive quantitative research, analysis and sets targets over a 30-year time frame in order to meet aggressive climate goals. I will be using this document as a guide as we create a more sustainable and resilient city. This includes but is not limited to more trees and public greenspaces, stormwater improvements and encouraging development/redevelopment that meets high standards of efficiency.

The Public Facilities Committee has been working on a plan to require the electrification of new and substantially renovated buildings with a home rule petition. Other initiatives include the phase 3 solar projects, adding electric vehicle charging stations in public parking lots and adopting a stormwater ordinance that will help us better protect our local water bodies and better understand the impacts of development.

Zoning reform is a tremendous opportunity to meet multiple goals as a community. This includes building a community more resilient to climate change impacts and creating more opportunities for diverse and more affordable housing and incentivizing high-efficiency performance including net zero construction and passive house design.  Zoning improvements will also be key to ensure a clear, predictable process for development and ensure that it will be consistent with neighborhood context. Our current zoning favors very large single-family homes often at the expense of smaller, naturally affordable homes. My goals for zoning are many but I favor rules that set limits on the height and overall scale or mass of buildings, as well as how far buildings are from the street and neighboring property lines. Zoning reform is also an opportunity to promote good design, expand public open space and promote low impact development.

It is very important that we expand housing opportunities. We need more housing to provide opportunities for low and moderate income residents as well as employees who work in or around the city and contribute to our city’s economic growth.  I am especially excited about the Howard Haywood House now under construction on Jackson Road which will provide 55 new one-bedroom rental apartments for low and moderate-income seniors and also replace the inadequate community center with a modern and expanded facility. 

Since I was first elected, I have been working on initiatives and policies to get the City to recycle more and throw away less trash. I reconstituted the Solid Waste Commission (now called the Sustainable Materials Management Commission) which has been working on moving the city forward towards a holistic, cost-effective path for managing trash and recycling. This includes incentivizing waste reduction, improving the quality of curbside recycling, encouraging reuse and repurposing of materials and products. 

I ask for your vote on Tuesday Nov 2^nd (if not before).