Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller is the second elected official (after City Councilor Julia Malakie) to condemn the Ward 3 GOP email attacking former Councilor Jim Cote and the first to condemn Councilor Emily Norton’s anonymous flyer attacking Councilor Cote.
Says Mayor Fuller about the email and the flyer:
These tactics are wrong. They are divisive. They are deceptive. They are manipulative. They are inconsistent with Newton’s values.
Here is her full Facebook post:
Note: Mayor Fuller does not condemn Councilor Norton by name, but does cite Marcela García’s Boston Globe column in which Councilor Norton admits to the flyer.
Note: There is no evidence to suggest that Councilor Norton had anything to do with the Ward 3 GOP email.
I’m glad the Mayor took a stand on this. As many said in the first thread here, the Mayoral race was an example of a race focused on the issues. It could have turned on its head, but thankfully it did not, and both candidates deserve praise.
Oftentimes our divisiveness comes from the top down, but not in this case. It was a step in the right direction that this race was issues focused. This is another step in the right direction.
Newton is known for being divisive, whiny, and pretentious
The mayoral race did stay very respectful. Very different from 2017 which turned incredibly nasty.
It takes two to keep a race civil. Kudos to both Ruthanne and Amy for both staying focused on the issues and respectful. While I felt one was the better choice and voted accordingly, I wouldn’t have been upset with either outcome.
Mayor Fuller comments that ‘No identification of who wrote the fliers or who paid for them’ is not acceptable…are they illegal in a campaign or simply bad form?
Certainly Bad form which is manipulative and divisive is bad enough!
Ironic for mayor fuller to comment on civility and divisiveness when those tactics are the whole reason she was even elected. Have we forgotten the stunt she pulled days before the election making baseless claims of sexism against Scott Lennon in 2017?
Jean,
I’m no shill for Mayor Fuller. Go here for some proof. But, late in the campaign, Scott made a very ill-advised statement and doubled down on it. He created his own problem. Then-Councilor Fuller — and a whole bunch more of us — just responded.
Jean – exactly. This one had me scratching my head, coming from Ruthanne, out of all people…
Excellent statement from Mayor Fuller. We simply can’t accept the incidents that occurred last weekend as the norm in the community.
LOVE that mayor Fuller released this statement. However if she’s going to call out bad behavior, she omitted Susan Albright’s dishonest attack on Julia via the West Newton listserve on election eve.
Thank you Mayor Fuller for your strong statement condemning the tactics by Councilor Norton and perhaps others.
There was also this additional statement just posted by President Susan Albright, Vice President Rick Lipof:
It would be appropriate to see a similar statement signed by all 23 of our councilors but I’m not holding my breath.
Fuller’s communications director crafted a very nice social media post.
That’s rich coming from Councilor Albright after she made a blatantly false statement about Councilor Malakie on the West Newton list serve the afternoon before the election. I’m waiting to see if she makes a public apology about that. She should!
Thank you.
Emily Norton disgraced herself with an 11th hour, clandestine, anonymous lit drop in my ward, attacking a good man, Jim Cote, without allowing him an opportunity to redeem himself before election day. I am a proud liberal, and every progressive should denounce the slimy campaign tactics of Ms. Norton, a self-proclaimed progressive “climate activist.” We progressives do not need friends like her. She should resign. Now.
Thank God this clown is no longer a City Councilor……. Buck Fush…..