December 9, 2021 (Thursday, 7:00-8:00pm) – An Educational Forum on the American Rescue Plan Act and Its Impact on Newton. LWVN co-sponsored an educational forum, together with U-CHAN, regarding the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
City of Newton Info
Reimagining Our Village Centers
September 13, 2021 (Monday, 7:00-8:00pm) – Reimaging our Village Centers. As part of the City’s community engagement efforts related to the redesign of the City’s Zoning Code, LWVN invited community members to get together to share their experiences of, and their future visions for, their village centers.
The League Presents: Newton’s Municipal Budget
Given that it is budget season at the local and state level, Marcia Johnson was able to have a conversation about Newton’s Municipal Budget with Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Yeo and Councilor-at-Large, Ward 7, Becky Grossman, Finance Committee Chair. For many, the city’s budgeting processes seem to be somewhat of an enigma, so the League has taken this opportunity to provide more insight into the process and ways in which citizens can be engaged. They talked about the following:
- The process that the Mayor, her executive team, and department heads follow to prepare the budget document and how they contribute to the City Council’s deliberations.
- Important fiscal-year milestones, most importantly mayoral budget presentations.
- The steps that the City Council, its Standing Committees, and the Finance Committee follow to have input into the process, review, amend, and approve the budget document.
- The timing of various meetings, which will be held via Zoom and where community members can find important documents.
- How best for community members to be engaged.
Watch the video now!
The League Presents: Saying Thank You and Good-bye – A conversation with outgoing City Clerk David Olson
In the last few days before his retirement, I had the opportunity to sit down and have a conversation with David. Twenty years ago, he came to Newton from the House of Seven Gables to lead Historic Newton, which was housed in the Jackson Homestead. In 2005, at the time of Ed English’s retirement, David applied for the position of City Clerk and Clerk of the Board of Aldermen (now City Council) and became the eighth City Clerk in Newton’s history.
Let’s now learn about David and how he approached this new and intriguing opportunity to work with the Newton community and others in City Hall. He brought leadership, innovation, and a focus on talent development to the Clerk’s office that it had not seen before, especially to the Elections Office. The City Council and the Executive Department will miss David, and so will I!
Thank you, David for all that you have done for Newton! You are leaving big shoes to be filled.
Marcia Johnson
The League Presents: A Conversation with Susan Albright, President of the Newton City Council
Recently, I had the pleasure of having a conversation with Susan Albright, President of the Newton City Council and a Councilor at-Large for Ward 2. The City Council is Newton’s legislative branch of municipal government. It is made up of 24 members – sixteen at-large Councilors and eight Ward Councilors. Susan has been a city councilor for 16 years and president for almost one year.
I thought it would be good to learn about how she and the Council have managed the incredibly challenging 2020. She reflected on her first year as president and shared her priorities for her next year. She also shared the process for filling the councilor vacancies because of Councilor Jay Ciccone’s untimely passing and Councilor Auchincloss’ successful election to Congressman-elect for District 4.