Sean Roche

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?

We should: 1. Slow funding of pension obligations, while meeting our legal obligations 2. Change the city’s approach to operating overrides from larger, high-stakes to smaller, incremental that are better explained and justified 3. Lobby for changes to the state-mandated subsidy of the city's private golf courses (roughly $1.75 million per year) 4. Lobby for a real-estate transfer tax I’m optimistic coming developments will generate new revenue and make our village centers/commercial areas more economically productive. We need to continue to eliminate the time and expense to get city approval for revenue-generating developments.

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?

These folks can't afford housing because Newton doesn't have enough homes – supply and demand – and doesn't have a range of home types that meet more varied needs. The obstacle to more and more varied homes is zoning, which is wholly within council control (within state constraints). We need thoughtful zoning changes to make it possible to build, without the burden of council approval, different types of homes – triplexes, quadplexes, small apartment buildings – principally around our village centers and commercial areas. This will make housing more affordable and make village centers more vibrant and more economically productive.

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

Newton has good initiatives towards our goal to be zero-carbon by 2050, including the Climate Action Plan, BERDO, Newton Power Choice. What’s missing from climate discussion and planning is the benefit of adding housing. Probably the single most effective climate action the city can take is to add housing near transit, village centers and commercial areas, and other amenities so that people need to drive less. We need to ensure that we identify and discuss the climate impact of every decision that the administration and City Council make so that we can ensure that climate action is a priority and that we’re transparent about any tradeoffs.

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?

Residents benefit from information that a) gives notice about changes that affect them, b) allows them to engage in an informed way with officials on issues that matter to them, and c) empowers them to hold elected officials to account. We should start with small changes to the city web site following best practices of peer communities, including making it track City Council actions. I would also consider larger initiatives, but I’m optimistic that we can make substantial improvements with best practices using our current tools. I support the LWV report and recommendations which the City Council should review and consider with urgency.