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This week’s newsletter goes over the early voting hours, fire hydrant flushing, the project approved for Levingston Cove at Crystal Lake, and a summary of my work and positions on more than a dozen issues before City Council this term.
Early voting and other info
Early voting in-person at City Hall for city (and area council) elections will be available next week, Mon-Fri Oct 25-29 from 8:30 AM to 5 PM and also Sat Oct 30 8:30 to Noon. (Saturday voting has to end early because election staff need time to prepare paperwork for Tuesday.)
There will NOT be Early Voting the day before the November 2 election. So if you aren’t able to vote before Noon on Saturday, then you should plan to vote on Tuesday November 2nd itself at your normal polling location. (If you are dropping off a mail-in ballot to a City Hall dropbox, you must do so before 8 PM on November 2nd. Any ballots received after that, including by mail, will not be counted.)
Some final campaign reminders...
While I have talked to about six hundred Ward 5 residents in-person this year during the course of my door-to-door campaigning, I haven’t been holding in-person events. But I will be making an appearance in-person at the Newton Gun Violence Prevention Collaborative back yard event for endorsed candidates on Friday, October 29th from 5 PM to 6:30 PM, weather permitting. (Zoom if raining.) RSVP for that event here.
And check out my League of Women Voters 2021 candidate summary here!
As I noted in my newsletter last week I am supporting several other candidates for office on the basis that I think we can collaborate effectively in government together. They are: City Councilors-at-Large and Council candidates-at-large Alison Leary, Andrea Kelley, Meryl Kessler, Deb Crossley, Andreae Downs, Vicki Danberg, and Alicia Bowman, as well as School Committee member Kathy Shields and candidate Shawn Fitzgibbons. I’m also supporting my Ward Councilor colleagues Maria Scibelli Greenberg of Ward 1 and Brenda Noel of Ward 6, but Ward 5 residents can’t vote in those races because they’re not citywide.
We don’t all agree on everything all of the time, but we have a solid working relationship, and I find that you can’t really get anything done in government by yourself. Teamwork makes the dream work, as they say...
Hydrant flushing
Recently a number of residents in various neighborhoods asked me why their tap water was showing up brown and why they had not been warned in advance. So, I checked in with the team at the Department of Public Works’ Water & Sewer tent at the Newton Centre Harvest Fair this past weekend to get the scoop!
Here’s what’s happening: The Fire Department (in conjunction with DPW) is going around the city checking and flushing fire hydrants ahead of winter to make sure that they are all functioning properly and will be easy to activate in the event of a fire. (As a reminder, during winter if hydrants become iced-up or snowed-over, a fire can quickly destroy an entire home before our incredible firefighters can get enough water going. This has happened recently in Newton, and we all need to remain vigilant about hydrant access all winter.)
Here’s why warning is limited: The Fire Department can set approximate parameters for which days or weeks they will be testing hydrants in which neighborhoods, but if they encounter a problem with a hydrant or if they get pulled away to emergency calls, the testing schedule can be delayed. Sometimes, they don’t know which streets they will be working on until a few minutes beforehand, which does not leave enough time to notify specific homes.
The bottom line is that the brown tap water is safe and short-lived, but you might need to let it run for a bit before you drink it or bathe with it. (And don’t run the washing machine until it clears, to avoid staining clothing.) We apologize in advance for any inconveniences, but this fire hydrant flushing work is very important for the safety of your homes this winter.
You can learn more in this memo on the City website and find staff contact information for follow-up questions.
Levingston Cove Project at Crystal Lake
Under the leadership of the Ward 6 Council delegation (Brenda Noel, Alicia Bowman, and Vicki Danberg), the City Council this week finally approved the use of Community Preservation Act funds to support the Levingston Cove project at Crystal Lake in Newton Centre.
This project at Levingston Cove seeks to control erosion of the waterfront, expand recreational fishing opportunities for the stocked fish in the lake, increase ADA accessibility for users, and modernize the site to current design and safety standards in an attractive way. There will be a platform with safety railings out over the water by a few feet, better clearance on the adjacent pathway for wheelchair users and pedestrians, and more stability for the shoreline. Modifications to the plan were made based on community feedback through an extensive process over several years. Some groups endorsed the plan and some groups did not.
A central set of objectives had to be followed with any design: “protect water quality, enhance aesthetics, protect wildlife habitat, ensure public safety, provide universal access and educate the public regarding the lake’s ecological condition.”
The final vote at City Council this week was unanimous, but not until after it was first delayed by one councilor for a couple weeks and then eight councilors unsuccessfully tried to send it back to committee.
Why was it so contentious getting to a final approval? In a letter to the City Council, Parks Commissioner Nicole Banks explained:
“It was only after we were presenting to the [Community Preservation Commission] that we began to receive sketches of alternative layouts, with no vetting of whether these sketches were feasible or met the design goals. This is the sketch that the Council was emailed by a member of the Friends of Crystal Lake. The professionals who designed [our] proposed project with the platform, among many other professionals, include registered landscape architects (RLA). We shared the resident-submitted sketch to our contracted design team. The resident who has an architecture background refuses to accept the opinions of our project RLAs and Public Buildings and Inspectional Services Department who all state unequivocally that the resident-submitted design requires fall protection (such as a safety railing). Such a railing would be necessary along the water’s edge of the pathway, and likely along the other side of the path where a retaining wall would be required. This does not begin to address the issue of sacrificing the universal accessibility of the proposed design with the fishing platform.”
I raised many of these concerns at a Newton Highlands Area Council meeting where this sketched-out “counter-proposal” was presented, and there were simply no satisfactory answers.
Had this gone back to committee, it would have been a death sentence for the project. Not only is the Council term about to end, but nothing could be done in committee to make changes anyway because we were only voting on the funding and other entities like the Community Preservation Commission, Conservation Commission, and the Commission on Disabilities had been responsible for voting on the design. Parks Commissioner Nicole Banks noted to the City Council that evaluating or attempting to propose any counter-design would have entailed:
“Going through the redesign process, essentially starting the whole project over, including new geotechnical work to accommodate a differently designed deck/platform/sitting area...Presenting before the Commission on Disability with a plan that will likely be inferior to the previously supported plan in terms of universal access… [and] Bringing the project back to the Conservation Commission for support with a plan that will likely require greater impact to [i.e. excavation of] the little permeable surface that currently exists, [which] may be problematic from the Conservation Commission’s perspective...”
Indeed, it seems to me likely that this counter-proposal was actually intended to end the project (and give up the earmarked funding) by offering the vague promise of “something better” that could never actually survive the approvals process. (It also gave some City Council candidates a way to differentiate themselves from the incumbents in the month leading up to the election.)
I bring all of this up not to rehash what I hope will be a soon-settled dispute, despite pending citizen appeals to state authorities, but simply because I received concerned emails from residents of Ward 5 who had seen a pamphlet at Crystal Lake denouncing our project at Levingston Cove as excessive and undemocratic and promoting an unworkable and infeasible alternative that did not meet basic safety and accessibility requirements of the 21st century.
I want everyone to be assured of three things: We had a good process to get to this design (including turning feedback into design improvements), people were heard even if they did not ultimately get their way, and the project we ended up with will be a wonderful, beautiful, and modern amenity for Crystal Lake that we can all be proud of when it is completed.
On the issues this term...
If you need a refresher on what I’ve been working on during my first term on the City Council and what I hope to continue working on in the next term, here are some notes I put together on what I’ve been working on with my colleagues and some of the positions I’ve taken.
Infrastructure: Repairs
We’re making progress faster than ever on street repaving projects like Chestnut Street and pothole fixes on smaller streets, but we all know there is much more to do to catch up. I see that as I walk around Ward 5 door to door, helping connect you to city staff to get pothole patches done or to find out long-term paving schedules.
We also know that we’re continuing to struggle to get utility companies to coordinate their road work with ours so that they’re not digging up brand new roads, and we need to keep pressuring them to do better.
Private Ways: Based on countless doorstep interviews and constituent emails, I believe we need to revisit and reform the ordinance on maintenance and acquisition of Private Way streets, which often have a free rider problem of one or two bad actor property owners or increased traffic from driving apps. Councilor Downs and I are working on some proposals for reforming Private Way streets as part of a comprehensive strategy for our transportation network.
Infrastructure: Road Safety
The safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicle occupants is paramount, and I support our Vision Zero goals of getting to a point where there are no deaths on our roads. We’re continuing to add crosswalks, bumpouts, speed tables, stop signs, new speed limits, and bike lanes, in key areas of concern for Ward 5 around our elementary schools, playgrounds, and village centers, and every day we’re adding more to the list and our master plans.
Pandemic Resources and Programs
I championed emergency rental assistance and personally distributed information on it to Ward 5 renters. I’m also an enthusiastic proponent of Newton’s pandemic food assistance program, which I hope will be the starting point for permanent future social programs to address and end long-ignored poverty and hunger hidden just below the surface for too many families in Newton.
I supported efforts to promote outdoor dining to aid restaurants, and I hope it will become a permanent feature of our social sphere in Newton.
I voted for a temporary tax and fee reduction on restaurants and other businesses during their most acute crisis phase to try to preserve a healthy balance in our tax base for the future (by preventing widespread simultaneous closures in our commercial tax base).
Environment
While we had some setbacks this term with some of our environmental efforts, we’re pushing for new electrification standards in new residential construction, so that legacy fossil fuel systems do not become stranded assets for homeowners in a decade. We know there’s not enough renewable capacity on line right now to meet all our society’s energy needs, but we need to begin to make the transition now so that residents aren’t stuck with technologies that don’t meet our climate action plans and future state/federal laws or regulations.
I’ve been one of the Council’s most vocal opponents of the private natural gas utility this term, advocating against new construction of gas mains when the company refuses to repair existing mains that are approaching 1,000 leaks across the City of Newton. Their ad hoc “emergency” responses to leaks when they can no longer be ignored by the company also result in chaotic street excavations and shoddy repair work.
Parks, Recreation, Culture
I’ve been committed to our parks funding and our recreational spaces, and I work closely with both our Parks Commissioner and our urban forestry team to build for the future and help you with park or tree problems in the here and now.
I helped lead the fight to preserve Sunday hours at the library during the pandemic, so that we wouldn’t set a precedent with budget cuts.
I’ve advocated vocally for Parks projects and renovations in Upper Falls at the Greenway and Braceland Playground.
Zoning Redesign and Housing Policy
After putting a pause on residential zone redesign efforts, we’re focused now on village centers, which present both commercial reform opportunities and the possibility I’ve pushed for which is reforms to allow mid-sized 100% low-income housing tax credit projects like we’re promoting at the Armory, so that we get genuine affordability options in Newton near our shops and public transit.
I’ve also pushed for us to create a city housing trust to help facilitate financing and approval of affordable housing projects, for families and seniors, using Community Preservation funding and (hopefully with state reforms) small real estate transfer fees on certain luxury properties.
We should also be considering allowing not just modest single-family but also more two- and three-family housing, especially conversions of existing historic homes, within walking distance of village centers and transit stations. Many parts of Ward 5 actually already have this, and it would not represent a major change here in the streetscape.
Unfortunately there has been a tremendous amount of misinformation and confusion around our zoning redesign efforts, which are always going to present us with difficult balancing acts as a change here affects another element over there and residents have a wide range of competing preferences from preserving their surroundings to maximizing their home values before retirement. Sometimes when the city staff has prepared options for the City Council to look at and debate – such as the much-misrepresented single-family zoning issue – we haven’t even been able to debate them and say what elements are good or bad about the ideas because some people have jumped right to incorrectly telling everyone that we have already signed off on these ideas. I hope we will have a more productive process in the next term. We’ve nearly reached a consensus on the problems, but so far lack consensus on the solutions. That’s generating a lot of acrimony and mistrust for no good reason!
Historic Preservation
As a 5th generation Newton resident, balancing our historic preservation with our community’s continual evolution is important to me. That’s why I’ve co-sponsored historic preservation efforts including stiffer penalties for egregious violations, while also seeking commonsense updates and reforms to our landmark and demolition ordinances that I felt would strengthen historic preservation while not creating a broken patchwork of ordinances. And when some ideas for reforms were floated that I didn’t agree with, I spoke up, and joined my colleagues in rejecting those changes.
I also believe that one tool to preserve our existing historic housing stock would be to make certain kinds of renovations easier and more cost-effective for property owners, so that there is more of an incentive to modify the homes rather than tearing them down. Right now it’s so profitable on so many lots to do full rebuilds instead of modest additions that our demolition delay just puts a pause on the inevitable. We need to fix those market incentives in our policies to better align with our community goals.
Public Safety
I supported commonsense reforms to police practice and accountability, and I have strongly advocated for moving non-police functions to other departments’ offices where the responsibilities fit more logically, like social workers for mental health, traffic engineers for road safety, inspectional services for leaf blowers, and more. I also want Newton to reorganize a combined Department of Public Safety encompassing Fire, Police, and (in-house) EMS services in a new way. This kind of transformation can’t happen overnight, but I will continue to work to build support for this shift in the public and among elected leaders in Newton.
Seniors
I co-sponsored senior tax relief like the work-off program reform we just passed this month to raise the income eligibility cap, and I continue to push vocally in Committee for the creation of new programs to assist low-income Senior homeowners with maintenance cost burdens.
I supported the construction of a new senior center in Newtonville on the existing site, maximizing the use of existing public assets without taking green space and being responsible with our precious time and resources to get this built.
The Council voted this term to approve the use of Community Preservation dollars to help build hundreds of new units of senior living.
Disabilities
I’ve been proud to vote for numerous disability access projects around the city and I continue to believe that disability access improvements in our public facilities and public streets make life better for everyone.
I’ve worked alongside my fellow Councilors in support of state transit accessibility projects on both the Green Line and commuter rail.
Playground access project moved ahead during the pandemic, and I requested updates for the Council on this progress at several points.
Gun control
I’m proud to be endorsed by the Newton Gun Violence Prevention Collaborative this year for my work assisting the passage of restrictive new zoning for the firearms industry in Newton after a gun store was proposed to open here. We’ve made it exceptionally unlikely that another such business will try to open in Newton. I also joined many of my colleagues in rejecting a proposed total ban because pragmatically I believe that the current composition of the US Supreme Court is so overwhelmingly opposed to gun control that we risk losing all municipal gun control authority across the country. We need to be strategic and wait until a more favorable court composition to pick that battle.
Transparency & Communication
Zoom meetings allowed us to get more residents into meetings, especially parents of young children and homebound seniors or people with disabilities.
Zoom meetings brought committee meetings to NewTV for the first time
We’ve rewired several rooms in City Hall to be able to continue providing hybrid meetings for residents, elected officials, and city staff after we return to City Hall.
We’re currently working on developing an automated, searchable online docket system for Council business. (It has been slow to happen because most “off-the-shelf” software for this kind of functionality is designed for either much smaller Councils or much larger and better resourced major city governments, which means we will need a low-cost but custom software design.)
I personally have published nearly 50 newsletters in this term alone!
I’m planning to talk in a future newsletter about Pensions and Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB), since I sit on the Finance Committee and it has come up in a couple recent debates, but I realized that was going to take more space to cover thoroughly. I will wrap up this week’s newsletter here instead and you can look forward to that topic, on which I will endeavor to present an interesting and less dry perspective than you might be used to, after having given it a great deal of thought in the past two years of my term in office.
And I will soon fill you in on all the work I did on post-Census City of Newton precincts, but the state is still completing its district work, and I don’t want to confuse any readers about their future precincts and polling locations just before an election that will still be using the old lines for one final time.