Mark Holt cites several reasons – Newton Schools’ failing reputation, the state’s mandated MBTA Communities Act, and reducing the City’s fossil fuel consumption – for running for Ward 6 Councilor. (That seat, which is elected by only the voters of Ward 6, is currently held by Brenda Noel, who is not running for reelection. The Preliminary Election will be on September 12.)
Having served in the New Hampshire legislature for two terms prior to moving to Newton, Mr. Holt believes he has experience advancing his priority issues. Among his goals is to persuade the City Council to petition the state legislature to grant more control over the budget, which currently rests almost entirely with the Mayor.
“Why are we laying off teachers?,” he asks. He thinks that accepting more Metropolitan Council for Economic Opportunity – METCO – students to enroll in the Newton Public Schools would allow rehiring some teachers who lost jobs because of budget considerations. In his view, Newton “is all about kids and the success of the next generation of children.” He and his wife, Imelda, moved to Newton twenty-two years ago because of the schools.
Mr. Holt is particularly critical of the MBTA Communities Act. “Governor Healey along with her Director of Housing should not be dictating Newton’s development future – this is our city,” he says. He questions the legal right of Attorney General Campbell to threaten local communities refusing to comply because that removes “Newton’s municipal sovereignty in ways the Commonwealth’s historical tradition never experienced.”
As Mr. Holt sees it, “forcing Newton to rapidly urbanize with the construction of 8,000 high-density ‘eastern bloc’ style buildings is something few want.” “Where did the 8,330 MBTA unit assessment come from?,” he asks. Both the Village Center Zoning Redesign proposal and the MBTA Communities Act will lead to “unintended consequences,” including overcrowded schools and inadequate infrastructure costing taxpayers an additional 30% increase “atop our already unaffordable property tax bill.”
According to Mr. Holt, Newton could meet its state-mandated 40B affordable housing threshold if the City used Community Preservation funds to acquire the seven acres of the disputed Boston College’s Mishkin Tefila land for some of the 400 units of affordable housing units the City to reach the 40B threshold. He said that Newton should negotiate a solution to BC’s lawsuit against the City including the sale of the disputed land, and use it to build workforce housing.
