City Council will review elected salaries at June meeting
Some of Newton’s top elected officials may get their first raise in about 14 years when the City Council weighs the recently completed compensation report produced by the all-volunteer Blue Ribbon Commission, the Newton TAB reports. The mayor’s current salary is...
Emily Norton champions divestment from fossil fuels
Ward 2 City Councilor Emily Norton, staunch environmentalist, has championed the City Council’s divestment from fossil fuels. The Council voted on Monday by a vote of 22-0 with 1 absent (Kelley) and 1 recused (Cote). You can read more about it...
Is Riverside Station a transit-oriented site? Yes or no
In a multi-pronged proposal to the City Council’s joint Zoning & Planning and Land Use committee meeting Tuesday, the Right Size Riverside committee (also known as Lower Falls Improvement Association) started its presentation for the Riverside MBTA station site (city documents here) with an usual request..
Don’t call the Riverside MBTA site a “Transit Oriented Development.”
Here’s how Right Sized explained its request in a memo…
“…Riverside is not robust. Located at the terminus of the Green Line D Branch, with long travel times to most major centers of employment, and with only one MBTA bus line stopping at Riverside only

Laredo on Ciccone’s Rosa Parks comment
What did City Council President Marc Laredo do in response to Councilor Jay Ciccone’s remarks comparing higher parking meter rates to Jim Crow laws? Publicly, nothing.
Councilor Ciccone stuck to his Rosa Parks comparison
As reported in yesterday’s post, at a meeting of the Newton City Council Public Safety and Transportation committee (PS&T), committee chair Councilor Jay Ciccone compared a proposal to implement variable priced parking to Jim Crow laws. After he made his...
Councilor Ciccone compares parking plan to Jim Crow laws
Last month at a meeting of the Newton City Council Public Safety & Transportation (PS&T) committee, during a discussion of variable parking pricing, committee chair Jay Ciccone drew a racially insensitive comparison between the inconvenience of having to park...VIDEO: Watch the school demographics presentation
In her most recent email newsletter, Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller wrote…
An in-depth demographic study of how the four proposed large developments would impact the Newton Public Schools shows that the new housing (1,775 units) would create only a small amount of new enrollment. The study forecast only 83 additional students district-wide over the next decade.
Is she out of her mind? How can that possibly be?
Watch this video to see the presentation on the topic:
Programs and Serives Finance Committee April, 10, 2019 from NewTV on Vimeo.

Council bans plastic stirrers and polystyrene; water bottles could be next
The Newton City Council approved a ban Tuesday on restaurants using disposable plastic stirrers and polystyrene food containers. The measure also prevents retailers from selling or distributing polystyrene foam disposable food containers and ban selling or...
Lappin joining Gronkowski, announces retirement
Ward 8 City Councilor Cheryl Lappin sent this to colleagues (under the message line “Gronk & I’…have come to the same decision”) today..
Dear Colleagues,
I am reaching out to share with you that after 18 years of serving as a Newton City Councilor I have decided not to run for a 10th term.
This was a difficult decision because serving on the City Council has been among the most meaningful and rewarding experiences of my life. It has been a privilege to work on behalf of our neighbors in Ward 8, and all residents, to assure that Newton continues to be
Should changes be made to the mayor’s, city council’s and/or school committee’s compensation?
VIDEO: Watch Northland’s updated project proposal to Land Use
Here’s the video of Northland’s presentation to the City Council’s Land Use Committee showing its proposed changes to its Needham Street mixed use project, followed by public comment.