I read about the NPS future budget dilemma. Any type of override is not the solution. School leaders must reevaluate their spending demands and focus on the type of education system Newton can actually afford. Newton middle class residents can not continue to pay the present 3.5% increase in property…
Posts published by “Letters to the Editor”
Forty years after efforts to clean up the Charles River began, we still cannot safely swim in its waters. The only swimming in the Lower Basin — between Watertown and Boston Harbor — occurs through special permits, and these events are often canceled due to poor water quality. Now, we…
We all enjoy the former Walgreens parking lot between Langley and Lyman streets. It daily hosts an ‘overflow’ of 50-60 cars. However, the current success of parking in the Newton Centre Triangle lot depends entirely on this overflow. Have the proposed plans for a plaza considered what will happen when we…
Newton Dialogues on Peace and War holds peace vigils every Monday afternoon in Newton Centre — and has done so ever since its founding in 2002. NDPW aims to foster dialogue particularly around nuclear disarmament. In 2019, Newton’s City Council passed its “Back from the Brink” resolution, originally introduced by NDPW, calling…
After much deliberation, I am deciding that I’m not running for re-election this year. Being a city councilor is a great job—one I’m honored to be allowed to do. Much of the good government can do is done here, at the local level—help people, protect public schools and civil rights,…
I watched the City Council discuss city issues with the Mayor. The meeting was conducted in a very polite and civil manner. The real tough questions facing Newton and its residents were not laid out in a comprehensive way. What I find missing from the Mayor’s leadership is a satisfactory…
I was appalled to learn that Newton’s City Council has overwhelmingly approved a ban on tobacco sales to people born after a particular date. If approved by the Mayor, this law will set a dangerous precedent by creating separate classes of citizens with different legal rights. If this is accepted,…
Last March, the Supreme Judicial Court upheld Brookline’s innovative Bylaw, The Nicotine-Free Generation. Following Brookline’s lead, I with colleagues docketed an ordinance change to protect Newton’s young people from starting a smoking habit. This new law would prevent the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after January 1,…
We recently made a donation to Fig City News. Fig City News is critical in keeping the citizens of Newton informed of what is happening locally and remaining engaged in our city government. We are impressed with the quality of Fig City News and honored to support the Fig City…
Access to high quality healthcare is a human right. This was made explicitly clear by the residents of Newton who live in Representative John Lawn’s 10th Middlesex district. In the recent election, the 10th Middlesex voted over 68% “YES” on a non-binding ballot question supporting universal coverage and eliminating premiums, deductibles,…