City Charter Canard
by Ted Hess -Mahan | Jun 14, 2019 | Affordable housing, Charter, City Council, Newton, Riverside, zoning
With Zoning Redesign and a request to rezone Riverside Station in the news, a false rumor is once again making the rounds. Specifically, the word on the street is that if the City Council amends the Zoning Code or rezones a particular parcel, voters can override the...
Mayor says 'no thank you' to City Council's Charter Amendments
by Amy Sangiolo | May 17, 2019 | Charter, Mayor Fuller, Newton
Mayor Fuller sent this memo to the City Council today, informing them of her decision to "not forward the City Council's request to submit a home rule petition to the General Court with the amendments to the City Charter as voted by the Council on May 6, 2019 in Docket #7 6-19. Most of these amendments were originally proposed by
Charter amendments on city council agenda tonight
by Village 14 | May 6, 2019 | Charter
Amy Sangiolo's email newsletter provides the relevant links to the latest charter revisions debate. The City Council's agenda for it's Full Council Meeting includes a request for Home Rule Legislation to amend the City's Charter to include 2019 recommendations...
Mayor may veto City Council's Charter Subcommittee's Recommendations
by Amy Sangiolo | Apr 21, 2019 | Charter, City Coucil, Mayor Fuller
In a memo to the City Council, Chief Operating Officer, Jonathan Yeo states the following: "The Administration, including the City Solicitor's Office, have repeatedly testified against this separate counsel provision, with a clear statement that the Mayor will...
City Council creates subcommittee to revisit charter
by Greg Reibman | Feb 12, 2018 | Charter, Charter Commission
Four Newton City Councilors — two who supported the proposed city charter that was defeated by voters last November and two who opposed it — have been appointed to sit on a subcommittee to revisit the various Charter Commission recommendations. The...
Committee votes to reduce council to 8/8 but mayor says he won't sign it
by Greg Reibman | Nov 15, 2017 | Charter, City Council, Newton, Setti Warren
The Programs and Services Committee voted Wednesday to send a proposed home rule petition that would reduce Newton's city council from 24 to 16 members (eight elected at-large with ward residency requirements and eight elected exclusively by ward). Councilors...
What's the appropriate balance of power on the City Council?
by Gail Spector | Nov 15, 2017 | Charter, City Council
There's been a lot of discussion on this thread about ward representation and balance of power in the City Council. Personally, I've been a proponent of reducing the size of the City Council by cutting it in half while maintaining the balance of power....
Post-election message from the "No" campaign
by Bruce Henderson | Nov 8, 2017 | Charter, Charter Commission, Elections
Jack Prior, Treasurer of the "No" campaign, Newton Citizens for Local Representation, sent this message this morning to members of the Charter Commission and leaders of the "Yes" campaign: Hello Commissioners and Yes Campaign Leaders — ...
Your Letters-to-the-Editor that did not make it into the TAB
by Bruce Henderson | Oct 31, 2017 | Charter, City Council elections, Elections, School Committee
Last week was the last issue of the Newton TAB to contain letters-to-the-editor related to next Tuesday's election, since none will appear in this week's issue. After last week's issue, the TAB reportedly still had a backlog of over 130 letters not...
Boston Globe covers developments on Charter debate
by Bruce Henderson | Oct 31, 2017 | Charter, Elections
The Boston Globe has an article outlining the potential impact of the proposed change to the City charter and the people backing it. "Supporters say the existing council is too unwieldy. …[Opponents worry that] all twelve councilors …would need to...
Newton TAB: 'No' is the right vote on charter plan
by Bruce Henderson | Oct 26, 2017 | Charter, Newton TAB
The editorial in this week's Newton TAB says 'No' is the right vote on charter plan. It focuses on how the proposed charter will eliminate Newton's eight ward-elected councilors and says: "Ward representation has been a critical element of Newton's...
Just what is this thing called "Ward representation"?
by Bruce Henderson | Oct 18, 2017 | Charter, Charter Commission, City Council
Here's one thing that the YES and NO sides of the charter debate agree on: Ward representation is important — so much so that both sides feature the phrase in much of their campaign materials. The YES side says that the proposed new city charter...