John Chaimanis

Questions and Answers

Question 1: After 40+ years of Prop 2 ½, a very limited ability to pass overrides, steep increases in expenses such as employee benefits and utilities, and a relatively small commercial tax base, Newton faces fiscal challenges not encountered by our peer communities, making it increasingly difficult to adequately fund our schools and other city services. What are your ideas for raising revenues or otherwise addressing Newton’s fiscal challenges?

I am a finance professional and have worked at the nexus of private and public organizations for my career. I want to share this expertise with the City Council. 1 Recruit attractive businesses, and encourage local shopping. A dollar spent in Newton, multiplies in Newton. The commercial base is not only a generator of income for the city, it also strengthens our community. 2 Encourage real estate developers to invest in our community. We have needs as a City – we need to do a better job of linking our needs with developer’s plans. 3 Use effective public-private-partnerships. 4 Fund pension obligations on time, not ahead of schedule.

Question 2: What, specifically, can the City Council do to ensure that lower income residents, young families, and long-term residents looking to downsize, can afford housing in Newton?

Homeowners, speculators, developers, and institutional investors compete for properties, increasing prices. A 2016 RKG report for Newton found, “The imbalance of demand and supply is so great that the City could not physically accommodate the development needed to affect pricing in a substantial manner.” To address this, we can: 1 Protect naturally occurring affordable housing. 2 Strengthen the Newton Affordable Housing Trust by increasing developer buyout payments to reflect market rates. 3 Collaborate with non-profit housing developers. 4 Encourage larger developments to include ownership options, helping downsizers keep equity and cut cost

Question 3: What is Newton doing to address climate change, how effective are these efforts, and what else could/should we be doing?

For 20 years, I've worked at the intersection of finance and sustainability, with my clean energy company building solar to power 25,000 homes. Newton's Climate Action Plan is robust, and my expertise equips me to implement it creatively. We can: 1. Enhance tree canopy via ordinance and planting to boost beauty, sequester carbon, cool ground, and improve stormwater retention. 2. Expand solar development. 3. Use Public-Private Partnerships to fund energy efficiency retrofits (insulation, air handlers, sensors), cutting costs immediately with low/zero upfront costs and advancing our climate goals.

Question 4: Government transparency refers to the obligation of a government to proactively share information related to the management of public resources and decision-making; it’s indispensable to accountability and to an informed electorate. A recent initiative conducted by Newton’s LWV identified significant deficiencies in Newton’s local government transparency and specifically with respect to the City’s website. How do you think improved transparency could benefit our city? What improvements would you advocate for to the City website or transparency in general?

Newton's LWV transparency report guides better governance. Transparency fosters trust, enabling open sharing and informed decisions. 1. Finance: Provide public access to department-level budgets in .xls format. 2. Mayor’s Newsletter: Enroll all citizens and include more city department head reports for diverse perspectives. 3. Development Projects: Share negotiation details between city employees and developers with the city council and committees for robust public engagement. 4. NewGov: Expand the database with meaningful, accessible information.