The Land Use Committee met on Tuesday, May 19. See the report and meeting video. Approved Present: Councilors Kelley (Chair), Leary, Irish, Block, Farrell, Golden, Lucas, and Roche.Also present: Councilors Wright and Malakie.City staff: Sondria Berman, Senior Planner; Andrew Lee, Assistant City Solicitor; Cat Kemmett, Deputy Chief Planner; Zach Melcher,…
Posts published in “City Council”
The Programs & Services Committee met on Thursday, May 14. See the report and meeting video. Approved Present: Councilors Krintzman (Chair), Malakie, Farrell, Charm, Bixby, and Oliver.Absent: Councilors Baker and Micley.Also present: Councilor Leary.City staff: Greg Ansaldi, Chief Information Officer; Rachel Sherman, Deputy Director of IT; Marc Welch, Acting Commissioner…
On May 26, Mayor Marc Laredo responded to five FY27 Budget resolutions submitted by the City Council. The City Council reviewed those responses, submitted a sixth resolution, and ultimately voted to approve the $668,336,666 budget by a vote of 22-2. As explained here, the City Council’s amendment powers are limited,…
The Committee of the Whole met on Wednesday, May 20. See the report and meeting video. Held Present: Councilors Albright, Baker, Bixby, Block, Charm, Dahmubed, Farrell, Getz, Gordon, Greenberg, Grossman, Irish, Kalis, Kelley, Krintzman, Leary, Lucas, Malakie, Oliver, Roche, Silber, and Wright.Absent: Councilors Golden and Micley.City staff: Maureen Lemieux, CFO;…
The Programs & Services Committee met on Thursday, May 14. See the video. Budget materials can be found on the City’s website. Arts & Culture (report) Director of Arts & Culture Meryl Kessler presented the department budget. Arts & Culture was reorganized as its own city department — previously, cultural…
The Public Facilities Committee met on Wednesday, May 13. The report and meeting video are not yet available. Approved Present: Councilors Kalis (Chair), Albright, Dahmumed, Gordon, Grossman, Kelley, and Leary.Absent: Councilor Getz.Also present: Councilors Block, Farrell, Krintzman, Malakie, Roche, Irish, and Oliver.
The Finance Committee met on Monday, May 11. See the video. Budget materials can be found on the City’s website. Assessing (report) Director of Assessment Administration Jim Shaughnessy presented the Assessing Department’s budget. Discretionary spending is $67,000, half of which is allocated to software licensing. If given additional funding, Director…
The Programs & Services Committee met on Wednesday, May 6. See the video. City Clerk (report) City Clerk Drew Willison presented the department budget. In 2025, the City Council conducted 184 meetings, issued 59 special permits, passed 19 ordinances, and heard 376 docket items. The Clerk’s office issued 267 business…
The Zoning & Planning Committee met on Tuesday, May 5. See the video. Budget materials can be found on the City’s website. Inspectional Services Department (report) Commissioner of Inspectional Services Department (ISD) Anthony Ciccariello, ISD Executive Administrator Deb Finamore, and COO Josh Morse presented the ISD budget. The greatest need…
The Finance and Programs & Services Committees met jointly on Thursday, April 30. See the video. Newton Public Schools (report) Superintendent Anna Nolin presented the Newton Public Schools FY27 budget. She noted that people move to Newton “primarily for the schools.” She described various aspects of the budget, including how…
The Public Facilities Committee met on Wednesday, April 29. See the video. Budget materials can be found on the City’s website. Department of Public Works (report) Commissioner of Public Works Shawna Sullivan presented the DPW budget. The FY27 General Fund request is $37,294,127, with additional Water Fund ($29,960,348), Sewer Fund…
The Finance Committee met on Tuesday, April 28. See the video. Budget materials can be found on the City’s website. Comptroller (report) Comptroller Steve Curley presented his department’s budget. He described the office’s focus on financial compliance, noting that Newton was the first community with a budget over $130–140 million…