by Irina Costache, Campaign Organizer | Subscribe by Email
It was a quieter week on the campaign trail this week as we pass through the Jewish high holidays and with the weather beginning to turn. Bill still knocked over 200 more doors and continues to identify new supporters every day. On Tuesday afternoon, Bill recorded a 3 minute candidate statement at NewTV, which will be available online (and on NewTV itself) soon, as will the 2nd League of Women Voters debate that was taped 2 weeks ago.
Updates on the two meetings Bill attended this week are found further below in this week's newsletter.
There are 32 days remaining in our campaign. If you have been waiting to get involved, now is the time!
Upcoming Sunrise Canvassing
On Saturday October 12 at 2 PM (the weekend after this one), Sunrise Boston youth climate activists will be joining Bill at the Waban T Station to launch a door-knocking afternoon in support of my candidacy. Climate activists of any age who are interested in knocking doors for Bill are welcome to join us -- but they should email Bill at least a full day in advance so that we can plan ahead.
Other Ways to Get Involved
Lawn sign requests: We are still looking to distribute a few more lawn signs! Please email Bill if you are interested in having a lawn sign installed in your yard. We are nearly out of signs, so don't wait around to put in your request!
Letters to the TAB: There are just a few weeks of TABs remaining before the election. If the spirit moves you to write up to 350 words in support of Bill Humphrey's candidacy, please send a draft our way, and we'll take a look before you send it in!
Neighbor Outreach: When the election gets closer, we certainly welcome your mass emails in support of Bill. But if you're looking to get connected to your neighbors one-on-one before then, let us know and we can give you geographically based lists of target voters in your immediate neighborhood for you to reach out to by phone or in person. You can even set up face to face meetings between Bill and your neighbor!
Absentee Ballots: For those who wish to vote by absentee ballot or have a student away at college in need of an absentee ballot, here’s a reminder that there is still time to request one! Requests can be made up until 12:00 p.m. on the day before the election. However, the city website says, “as a practical matter, if you want the ballot mailed, you may want to request the ballot further in advance, so as to allow time for delivery.”
The form to request one can be found here. The application for an absentee ballot may be sent by email (elections@newtonma.gov), mail, fax, or delivered in person to the City Clerk’s office in City Hall. There’s no deadline but they should be requested as soon as possible to make sure the ballot can be returned in time.
A number of supporters said they had forgotten to request their absentee ballots in time to vote on September 10, and we want to make sure you don't forget before November 5.
Engine 6 Monthly Meeting
Bill attended Wednesday night’s monthly meeting of the Engine 6 affordable housing activists. The meeting touched briefly on the proposed Riverside development, on which you can find a summary from Engine 6 on the latest revisions here.
Highlands Area Council Meeting
On Thursday night, Bill attended the monthly Newton Highlands Area Council meeting.
Councilor Rice gave an update on the NewCAL site selection process, which has drawn a lot of public criticism. He said that one rationale for the full-sized site (as opposed to more moderate-sized potential locations now finally being reviewed) is to create enough evening rental space to subsidize the staffing costs to provide all day comprehensive services to seniors above and beyond the recreational activities and programming.
There was a discussion of proposed traffic mitigation spending commitments from Northland that could soon be finalized into the special permit. One interesting proposal most heavily discussed at the Area Council meeting is Greenway connectors to Newton Highlands Station (via Curtis St and Floral St) and somewhat less firmly also to Eliot Station via Margaret Rd, up the dead-end Suban Rd, and then connecting to the pedestrian ramp/bridge to Eliot Station over Rte 9. For other items in the list of mitigation proposals, we refer you to the city website for the latest documents on the Northland hearings. Councilors are still accepting public feedback by email.
The Area Council also did some planning tonight for the kids' Halloween Parade and Haunted House in Newton Highlands at the Hyde Center on Sunday Oct 27th. (That's the same day as the Ward 5 candidate debates at Zervas being sponsored by the 4 area councils.)
There was another long discussion about retail marijuana again but basically nothing new to report.
That was the end of the “major” agenda items according to the chair and Bill had to leave at that point.