At the final City Council meeting of the year and the term, six Newton City Councilors – Alan Lobovits, Bill Humphrey, Andreae Downs, Vicki Danberg, Rick Lipof, and Mayor-elect Marc Laredo – reflected on their time in office. Councilor Lenny Gentile, who was not in attendance, will also retire after 36 years of service representing Ward 4.
Alan Lobovits, Ward 6
Alan Lobovits, a retired physician who has lived in Newton for more than 40 years, has served a single term as Ward 6 Councilor. Motivated by concerns over housing policy, Lobovits had organized neighborhood discussions in Newton Highlands to help residents understand zoning proposals.
“Somebody said to me, ‘Well, if you don’t agree with the incumbents, you know you should run’… and I hadn’t thought about that,” Lobovits told Fig City News.
Once elected, Lobovits leaned on fellow councilors to learn the mechanics of City government.
“It was a very steep learning curve for me,” he said.
Serving primarily on the Land Use Committee, Lobovits said rejecting proposals can be just as important as approving others. Lobovits said development decisions are shaped by competing concerns, from housing needs and affordability to stormwater runoff. Despite frequent criticism of the special permit process, he said it produces stronger outcomes for both applicants and residents.
Though his tenure was relatively brief, Lobovits said he deeply appreciated his time in office.
Bill Humphrey, Ward 5
Retiring Councilor Bill Humphrey said his six years on the City Council were shaped by uncertainty, from the COVID-19 pandemic to labor disputes, global conflict, and rising political instability nationwide. He said the period also brought significant fiscal strain in Newton, placing added pressure on local leaders.
“It has been a challenging and unpredictable six years,” Humphrey said.
Humphrey cited accomplishments ranging from pandemic-era constituent support and housing approvals to environmental reforms, historic landmarking at Robbins Square, City seal updates, and street safety improvements.
“Local government is where the rubber meets the road,” Humphrey said.
Humphrey also highlighted reviving the City Council’s Political Science and Government scholarship for graduating Newton seniors, an award he had received after graduating from Newton South High School.
“Public service is what I always knew I wanted to do by that point in my life, and public service is what I’m good at,” Humphrey said.
Humphrey is stepping away from elected office to pursue graduate studies in public history and additional training in design, while leaving open the possibility of returning to government in the future.
Andreae Downs, Ward 5
Andreae Downs joined the City Council in 2017 with a background in journalism and civic advocacy, having been active in the League of Women Voters and chairing the City’s Transportation Advisory Group.
“The reason I ran for City Council was not to be a City Councilor or politician – it was to get some stuff done,” Downs told Fig City News.
Downs credited Mayor Ruthanne Fuller with breaking down internal silos, and she emphasized the value of pilot programs, especially in areas like road safety, which she described as critical to residents’ daily lives.
During her tenure, Downs focused on transportation safety, environmental sustainability, and neighborhood livability, pointing to reforms that improved pedestrian and bike safety.
“I was just trying to do what we could within the budget to make it safer and more attractive to walk and bike,” Downs told Fig City News.
While Downs said she is proud of what she accomplished, she acknowledged that the role increasingly felt like a job rather than a volunteer civic commitment.
“This is not an easy position. There are hard decisions. There are hard compromises,” Downs said in her remarks.
Downs said she tried to work collaboratively with other Councilors and often noted when she voted with colleagues she usually disagreed with, pointing it out afterward to them. Downs pointed to progress on energy policy, strategic zoning changes, and ongoing parking reform as signs the City Council moved the city forward, while acknowledging there is still more work to be done.
Downs said she plans to remain active in the community through environmental projects such as pollinator gardens, and her work on the wastewater advisory committee. She also expressed interest in continuing to help residents understand local government, potentially through explanatory columns about City Council actions.
In her final send-off to her peers, Downs urged them to “have courage, lead with empathy, and listen to the experts, especially the engineers.”
Vicki Danberg, Ward 6
Vicki Danberg reflected on her more than two decades of service. Danberg cited early work on the Newton Centre Task Force as a turning point that later reshaped village centers across the city. She also pointed to Newton’s leadership on climate policy – including adoption of stretch and extended stretch energy codes – and housing approvals that added roughly 3,000 units over time, many of them affordable.
She said she is most proud of reforms that made Newton safer and more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists, including her role in making sidewalk snow clearing a legal requirement.
“Government is not a solo job,” Danberg said in her remarks. “Government is a team effort.”
As she steps away from the City Council, Danberg told Fig City News she hopes future leaders continue to support housing of all types, coordinated infrastructure planning, climate action, and robust investment in arts and culture, which she described as a major economic driver for the city. While leaving elected office, she said she plans to remain active in civic life, including work on boards and commissions and international volunteer efforts focused on children’s dental health. Her husband, Dr. John Ficarelli, a dentist, attended the meeting from the gallery in support.
Danberg said facing challengers played an important role in her time on the City Council.
“It’s kept us all honest and made us better candidates and better City Councilors,” Danberg said.
Since 2007, Councilor Vicki Danberg has been looking into Chapter 61B, a 75% reduction of real estate taxes to the golf courses in Massachusetts including the three private golf courses in the City of Newton. She will continue to pursue this as she leaves the City Council.
Rick Lipof, Ward 8
After 24 years of service across three decades, Rick Lipof leaves the City Council with a rare vantage point on how Newton’s politics have evolved.
First elected in 1996, Lipof served 12 years on the City Council, stepped away for six, then returned for another 12-year stretch that included chairing the Land Use Committee, leading Public Safety and Transportation, and serving as vice president.
Lipof traced his civic roots back to his childhood, recalling stuffing campaign envelopes as a six-year-old and later learning firsthand from assisting former Mayor Ted Mann as he went door to door. Lipof said the most important lesson he learned in office was the need to move beyond single-issue advocacy.
“You go from activist to advocate,” he said, arguing that effective governance means representing all approximately 90,000 Newton residents.
At the start of his time on the City Council, Lipof served alongside his father Mike Lipof, making them the first father-and-son pair to serve together on the council.
He paid tribute to former Mayor Setti Warren for restoring trust in City government and praised Mayor Ruthanne Fuller’s leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lipof cited accomplishments ranging from major land-use decisions and early work on the Riverside development to creating the City’s Traffic Council. He also pointed to community-scale initiatives, including legislation that allowed breweries in Newton, which he said helped foster neighborhood gathering and civic life. He emphasized the importance of building strong relationships among Councilors.
“I was raised with the simple value that you don’t just go to work, go home, and take care of your family, but you have an obligation to be involved in your community, to make a difference,” Lipof said.
Lipof thanked his family for their support and closed with humor, joking that a recent colonoscopy left him being driven by his wife to the meeting. He said he was proud to be part of the first father-and-son pair to serve together on the City Council.
“None of us would be in public service if it was not for the support of our families,” Lipof said.
Marc Laredo, Ward 7
Outgoing Council President Laredo used his closing remarks to recognize the retiring Councilors, praising their contributions to the city. Reflecting on his own 14-year tenure, Laredo said he was repeatedly impacted by the perspectives of fellow councilors, noting that he often changed his position after listening to debate in committee or on the Council floor. Laredo is preparing to move just across the hall, to the Mayor’s office in January.
Lenny Gentile, Ward 4
Councilor Gentile was not present to deliver closing remarks at the final meeting of this City Council. He had offered a farewell the previous week during the Finance Committee’s last meeting of the year.
Gentile, who spent decades on the Finance Committee – including many years as chair – used that moment to thank members for their reliability. Gentile requested that those who remain on the Council should continue to take seriously the responsibility of overseeing how taxpayer money is spent.
“I return to being just an everyday taxpayer,” Gentile said.
