On July 14, 2026, LWVN sent a letter to Mayor Marc Laredo, expressing its concern regarding the lack of availability of Election Commission meeting minutes, meeting recordings, and the short notice provided for the time and date of meetings and relevant materials, including agendas.
Read the entirely of the letter:
On July 14, 2026, LWVN sent a letter to City Councilor Josh Krintzman, Chair of the Programs & Services Committee, with respect to Docket Item No. 245-26, “Request to set early voting hours for the September 1, 2026, State and Federal Primary Election” and Docket Item No 246-26, “Request to set early voting hours for the November 3, 2026 State and Federal General Election” which calls for the setting of the hours during the early voting period during which voters can cast votes.
In it’s letter, LWVN expressed its disappointment that the recommendation for early voting hours does not include provision for voting during the evening hours of 5:00-8:00pm on one weekday during the early voting period, as has been historically provided in Newton and requested that the Committee reconsider including those hours.
The letter states in part; “We believe that giving voters more options for casting votes and greater flexibility in voting hours is essential to protect the constitutional right of voters to participate in
government and our democracy. Therefore, we firmly urge that, in your consideration of the establishment of early voting dates and times for the upcoming primary election on September 1, 2026 and general election on November 3, 2026, you add back the early-evening hours that will enable more Newton residents to exercise their constitutional right to vote.”
Read the entirely of the letter:
On May 15, 2026, LWVN sent a letter to City Councilor David Kalis, Chair of the Public Facilities Committee, the rest of the Public Facilities Committee and the full City Council in support of the Newton Energy Commission’s request to adopt an ordinance that would require owners and managers of residential properties that are not owner-occupied and not already required to report under Newton’s Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO) or the Massachusetts Large Building Energy Reporting Program, to report annually metrics of energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions (Docket Item #115-26).
Read the entirety of the letter:
On April 17, 2026, LWVN sent a letter to Mayor Marc Laredo and the City Council, expressing its disappointment in the docket tracking working group’s recommendation to select CivicPlus as the vendor to replace the current docket tracking software.
The working group was convened to consider two alternative software packages, CivicPlus and Legistar. The letter states that, “From the standpoint of residents, business owners, community advocates, and any member of the public interested in following the work and decisions of the City Council, there is no comparison between CivicPlus and Legistar.”
The letter further states that if public transparency is a primary goal of the City’s docket tracking system, technical advances should produce a meaningful public benefit. The decision to select CivicPlus instead of Legistar appears primarily to have been based on cost, not on transparency goals.
LWVN requests the Mayor to reconsider the City’s decision to proceed with CivicPlus.
Read the entirely of the letter:
On March 3, 2026, LWVN sent a letter to City Councilor Josh Krintzman, Chair of the Programs & Services Committee, with respect to Docket Item No. 77-26, “Review of Newton City Charter,” which calls for “an evaluation of the structure, composition, role and duties of Newton’s City Council and School Committee.” The item states that “[t]he review should also include any other component of the Newton City Charter deemed appropriate. In it’s letter, the LWVN Board urged the Programs & Services Committee to give thoughtful consideration to the work already performed by the Charter Commission elected in 2015, as set forth in its Final Report issued in May 2017.
The letter states in part; “As charter reform is again on the table in Newton, we ask that a review of the charter include consideration of all the recommendations and associated research produced by the Charter Commission. Many of the recommended changes are uncontroversial and would benefit the city, its citizens and increase transparency in government. We further
request that, in particular, any discussion of the size and make-up of the city council allow for extensive input from members of the public.
Read the entirely of the letter:
On Friday, January 16, 2026 the Newton Beacon published LWVN’s Letter to the Editor: Micley Should Have Been Transparent with Moving Plans. The letter asserts that City Councilor David Micley should have disclosed his intention to move out of Ward 2 before the election, because it was up to the voters, and not him personally, to decide how to weigh his plans. You can read the letter as it appeared in the Newton Beacon HERE.
Below is the full text of the letter:
