by village14 | Jan 10, 2020 | Newton |
When City Councilor Emily Norton and four colleagues stood up Wednesday night to invoke a parliamentary procedure known as a charter privilege to postpone setting a date for the Northland referendum, I couldn’t help but recall this wonderful cartoon from Mark Marderosian which ran in the Newton TAB in July 2008.
My memory is a little fuzzy about what happened in 2008 but as I recall it was the tail end of a controversial budget debate when Aldermen Paul Coletti, Ted-Hess Mahan, Susan Albright and Sydra Schnipper rose to prevent a vote rejecting Mayor David Cohen’s city budget. Because of the timing, the move meant that Cohen’s budget was approved by default, in spite of the fact that Cohen did not have the needed votes. (If anyone reading this can fill in the gap please do.)
Anyway, while the 2008 charter action achieved what it was intended to do (i.e. an allowed-under-the-rules end run past the will of their colleagues), it’s not clear that Wednesday’s stunt by
by village14 | Jan 9, 2020 | Northland |
John Hilliard from the Globe has just published this update on all things Northland, including last night’s council meeting. by village14 | Jan 9, 2020 | Congress |
Newton City Councilor Jake Auchincloss reportedly raised “more than” $609,000 since declaring his candidacy in October for the seat now held by Joe Kennedy III, the Globe reports. Jesse Mermell of Brookline raised $351,000. The article did not have the latest numbers...
by village14 | Jan 8, 2020 | Newton |
The City Council voted 15-7 in committee Thursday to hold a special election on March 3 (Super Tuesday) for the Northland project. But before that decision could be formally ratified, five councilors, lead by Councilor Emily Norton, used a parliamentary move to...
by village14 | Jan 7, 2020 | Newton, Northland |
The Newton City Council will meet Wednesday night in a special session to either repeal last month’s 17-7 super-majority Northland vote or to set a date for a special election.
While a repeal is unlikely, as City Clerk David Olson explained in a memo last week, the council has essentially three general choices when it comes to scheduling a date:
On March 3 in conjunction with the Super Tuesday presidential primaries (at a cost of approximately $32,917)
Sometime between mid-March and early May (at a cost of approximately $145,902)
At the next municipal election on Nov. 2, 2021 (where presumably it would be part of the regular ballot at no added expense).
Olson’s memo also contains a lot of historical data on voter turnout, suggesting that turnout on March 3 could be 20 to 30 percent points higher than a standalone spring election where Northland is the only item before voters.
As we saw during a brief debate at Monday’s council meeting (go to the 22:24 mark on the video below), this is going to be contentious. There’s also a very good chance that a minority of four councilors will
by village14 | Jan 6, 2020 | Newton |
The MBTA released the following update this morning on its Green Line Transformation project…. Green Line Transformation Program 2019 Year in Review As we look toward the important improvements that the Green Line Transformation (GLT) program will deliver to... by village14 | Jan 5, 2020 | Newton |
Read all about it here. T’hen come back and share you resolutions for Newton
by village14 | Jan 3, 2020 | Affordable housing, City Council, Elections, Northland |
The ballot campaign Right Size Newton has launched to reverse the City Council’s 17-7 super majority vote in support of the Northland project, could cost taxpayers $145,902 to hold a special election, City Clerk David Olson told the council in a memo released Friday.
Olson added that if it could be arranged to hold the referendum on
by village14 | Jan 3, 2020 | Newton, Ruthanne Fuller |
Right Size Newton, which is organizing the referendum to reverse the Northland decision has filed a complaint with Office of Campaign and Political Finance against Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, John Hilliard reports for the Globe.
by village14 | Jan 3, 2020 | Newton, Newton Highlands |
The Newton Highlands Area Council’s Srdjan Nedeljkovic once again provides meticulous minutes from last night’s presentation for a proposed redevelopment of two commercial parcels at 1149 and 1151 Walnut Street into a mixed-use project consisting of 26... by village14 | Jan 2, 2020 | Newton |
From Newton City Council President Albright’s Facebook page….
by village14 | Jan 2, 2020 | eating |
Which of the new Newton restaurants that opened in 2019 have you tried and which of those that have closed do you miss?
