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It has been a busy several weeks as I got going on my door-knocking in Brookline, asking voters about their top priorities for state action. This newsletter covers the push to electrify, a number of upcoming and recent specific events I will be or have attended, as well as looking at a recent change by the Newton City Council to reduce hate speech incidents.
Electrification progress
I wanted to give folks a quick heads-up that the Newton City Council’s Zoning & Planning Committee will continue work tonight at 7 PM on a local ordinance requiring electrification of all new construction and substantial renovations in conjunction with the City's recent conditional approval by the State Department of Energy Resources (DOER) for participation in the pilot Ten Communities Program on electrification, which originated with efforts in Brookline.
Countless activists, staff, and Councilors have worked to get us to this point over the past few years. When I was running for City Council for the first time in 2019, many of my doorstep conversations were discussing with residents the idea of a ban on new natural gas hookups to residential and commercial buildings. Some of my Council colleagues initially felt that position was a little bit “out there,” but as I like to say, “I might be ahead of the curve, but I’m not that far ahead of the curve” and I kept banging that drum on each new Grant of Location petition for new future stranded asset infrastructure – until we got to this point where my starting position is about to become city policy. My own home went all-electric last year finally, too.
Newton Police seeking community participation
Councilor Martha Bixby and I have signed up to attend a federally-funded community relations-building program with the Newton Police Department later this week. The Newton Police are looking for additional members of the public to attend a session. It is several hours per session at various locations and an opportunity to learn more about modern community policing. If you are available, sign up!
Other recent learning opportunities
It was great to stop by the 200th Anniversary of Braille event at the Newton Free Library Children's Room this past weekend! I got my name written in Braille on an older machine, and I also got to see how newer equipment is linking Braille and digital screens.
On March 3rd, I was able to attend The Greater Boston Interfaith Organization's event in Roxbury, advocating on affordable/public housing policy and assistance to residents returning to society from incarceration. The audience for this event was more than 1,700 people.
At the end of February, I attended the Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers annual Legislative Budget Forum at the State House! One key theme was how housing policy is intertwined with disability services because it is so difficult for many human service workers to be able to afford to live in the communities where their clients live, and many clients also need a range of housing opportunity types and assistance.
If there is an upcoming event you think I should attend to learn more about a key policy area or a constituency in Newton and Brookline, please let me know, and I will add it to my calendar if I can.
My State Rep Campaign Kickoff: March 26 at 7 PM
Join Newton and Brookline residents, environmental activists, LGBTQ and racial justice advocates, and former City Councilors Alicia Bowman, Holly Ryan, and Brenda Noel at my campaign kickoff on Tuesday, March 26, at 7 PM at 19 Chestnut Terrace in Newton Centre to hear my vision for our Commonwealth as a candidate for State Representative to succeed retiring Rep. Ruth B. Balser.
This event is not a fundraiser (i.e. entirely free to attend!), and undecided voters are welcome to join us to hear me speak on the issues or ask me questions on issues that matter to you. Please just RSVP in advance to help us get a head count!
In a place like Massachusetts, an open seat Democratic primary for the State House is not just about who we are now, but about what direction we want to be going in the future. It's about being a beacon for the rest of the nation, putting our highest values into practice, and becoming the best version of ourselves that we have always wanted to be as a society. It's about becoming a Commonwealth for everyone.
It's true that it takes time to change policy, and you can only do that if you recognize and understand the urgency of the problems in the first place. Change only happens when people speak up and fight for it.
Nothing would ever get done better in this country without the people who don't accept the status quo and say it's time to do things differently.
So, please join us at my kickoff event and help us represent a wide range of perspectives and new ideas for a better, stronger Massachusetts!
Want to know more? Check out this profile of my candidacy at Newton's Fig City News site.
Mara Dolan for Governor’s Council: Event this Week
This year I am also supporting public defender Mara Dolan to be elected as our new Governor’s Councillor, the position that votes to confirm judicial nominees among other functions.
This Thursday, March 14, join Ambassador Barry and Eleanor White, Steve Grossman along with the Newton Host Committee Paul Guzzi, Evan Falchuk, Lynn Weissberg, Jay Harney, Dennis Kanin, Laurence Tribe, and Newton City Councilors Vicki Danberg, Becky Grossman, Bill Humphrey, Andrea Kelley, Alison Leary, as well as Alicia Bowman, Allan Cole, Deb Crossley, and Holly Ryan at a fundraiser in support of Mara Dolan. She will be on the same ballot as I am, on September 3rd.
New cybersecurity decision at the Newton City Council
I commend the decision at the end of February by the new City Council leadership to adopt the longstanding recommendations of Newton's IT Department to improve cybersecurity for our meetings by implementing webinar format at all Committee meetings to prevent so-called 'zoom-bombing' incidents by bad actors.
For four years, the previous Council Leadership declined to adopt these repeatedly recommended protections, despite repeated anti-Semitic and anti-Black hate speech incidents on Zoom, such as those once again recently experienced at Council committee meetings, which finally prompted the change.
We must take hate speech and identity abuse of any kind incredibly seriously, even when they are typically by random individuals or groups not connected to Newton. There is no excuse for having allowed these provocations to continue unchecked for so long.
At fully in-person meetings, members of the public already would also not be permitted to take control of sound systems or presentation screens without the authorization of the staff and Councilors during defined public comment opportunities, and there is no infringement of free speech to prevent these outside cyberattacks.
No one should have to be subjected to this malicious behavior when trying to view or participate in civic and community meetings in Newton, and use of new technology does not change that.