Recap of LWVN candidate debates for Preliminary Election, Wards 2 & 6

The League of Women Voters of Newton (LWVN) sponsored two Ward Councilor candidate forums in advance of the September 12 Preliminary Elections in Wards 2 and 6. Each race includes three candidates for seats in which the incumbents — Councilor Emily Norton in Ward 2 and Councilor Brenda Noel in Ward 6 — are not running. The September 12 preliminary will eliminate one candidate per ward, and the remaining two candidates each ward will compete against each other in the election on November 7. 

WARD 2

The LWVN hosted the Ward 2 City Council candidates forum on August 22, with Jen Lynch, from the Salem League of Women Voters, moderating. The three candidates are Peter Bruce, Daniel Gaynor, and David Micley. 

Peter Bruce, past President of the Newtonville Area Council, and 28-year Newton resident, explained that he is running because of his concern that “the new zoning proposals could eventually transform our suburban village centers into urban centers.” He emphasized that he supports “reasonable development that increases housing stock” that encourages affordability and racial diversity. He questioned the state’s rationale regarding the MBTA Communities Act, although he noted that noncompliance was not a choice. He advocated working with other communities to change the rules and considered ground-floor retail and commercial space an essential feature of the Act. 

Among his concerns is the potential impact on Washington Street traffic of the proposed development on Court and Craft Streets. While he believes the Fuller Administration is doing a good job in replacing old water mains, he recommended more Public Works Department Staffing to accelerate road and street repairs. Mr. Bruce is concerned that there is no one in the City overseeing flooding mitigation, and he believes that the residents living near Bullough’s Pond should have a say in the proposed dam. Moreover, he noted that large trees contribute to flood mitigation. 

Citing the NAC’s 2018 Washington Street Survey, sent to 11,000 Newtonville residents, with 2,500 responses, Mr. Bruce said the City needs to do a better job of communicating and soliciting resident feedback. He advocated for sending postcards to all residents on important issues. Noting that “climate change is an existential threat,” Mr. Bruce urged that new developments be solar-equipped and that the City install more charging stations for electric cars. Mr. Bruce would like to serve on the Zoning and Planning Committee, Public Finance, and Land Use Committees.

Dan Gaynor is a lifelong Newton and fourth generation Newton resident who served in the Obama/Biden Administration. He is also a local business owner. He said he will bring a “pragmatic, common-sense approach to solving Newton’s harder challenges, using objective data and facts, not ideology” in decision-making. He will balance progress and preservation in neighborhoods. Throughout the forum, he reiterated his commitment to “smarter development;” walkable, affordable, accessible villages for every age and income; sustainability, energy efficiency and green space, and improved infrastructure; stronger public schools; and support for small businesses. He is an enthusiastic supporter of Newtonville’s wider sidewalks and new benches. 

Mr. Gaynor strongly supports the proposed Village Center Overlay Design, noting that it proposes a 75-foot, 4 1/2 story maximum for village centers and it impacts only 3.5% of Newton’s total land mass. He said that it is the right mix for complying with the (MBTA) law and promoting affordability, walkability, and sustainability. He favors easing permitting restrictions. 

Expressing his concerns about potential flooding and contamination at Bullough’s Pond and Cheesecake Brook, Mr. Gaynor noted that Cheesecake Brook’s natural curving course had been straightened, and stone banks had been added, thereby contributing to its flooding – both of which he would vote to correct. 

To address racial diversity, Mr. Gaynor recommends that Newton be more welcoming to developers, but holding them accountable and offering more reliable, affordable transportation. 

He noted that transparency is an essential function of a City Councilor and said he will send emails to constituents, meet with local groups, and use a variety of media options to communicate with residents. If elected, he would like to serve on the Land Use, Zoning and Planning, and Public Safety Committees.

David Micley is a fifth-generation Newton resident, although he lived in Brookline for a while, where he served on its Town Meeting. He ran for an At-Large Ward 2 seat on Newton’s City Council again for the Ward seat. Motivated by the belief that local politics is the way to improve City services and infrastructure, Mr. Micley resigned from the LWVN Board to run for office. He said that working with constituents is “exciting,” and he is committed to understanding what people care about. 

Although he does not think the City should avoid a fight with the state about the MBTA Communities Act, he thinks the proposed zoning for 8,330 new housing units is sufficient for opening up opportunities for all economic levels and life stages. With over 30,000 units of housing already in Newton, adding a potential 8,000 “is a great step forward – a reasonable step forward,” he said, adding that he was open to change but it should be “at a moderate pace” that takes into account resident input. 

He said that Newtonville has become a “vibrant” village with destination restaurants and inviting places like the Bram Way. At the same time he expressed concern for cyclists because the bike lane on Walnut Street disappears in the village center. He advocated for a protected bike lane along the Washington Street green space. 

Mr. Micley, whose car was in the library parking lot flood, urges flood mitigation including preserving large trees as well as upgrading Bullough’s Pond and Cheesecake Brook. He said that Newton’s green spaces attracted people to the city and should be preserved. He is a believer and practitioner of frequent constituent communication through newsletter.

All three candidates are Newton School supporters, although none believe the City Council has a role in educational policy. All three praised Newton’s teachers and urged that the City include regular competitive Cost of Living increases.

WARD 6

The three candidates for Ward 6 Ward Councilor are Martha Bixby, Lisa Gordon, and Mark Holt. Ms. Bixby and Mr. Holt participated in the August 23 LWVN forum, and Ms. Gordon was unavailable. Nancy Brumback, a Sudbury League member, was the moderator.

Martha Bixby began by explaining that in her six years in Newton, she has been a Mason Rice PTO co-president; a soccer coach,  and a co-founder of Newton Neighbors(founded to support people during the pandemic) and is active in the JCC and the Ward 6 Democratic Committee. Her reasons for running include making roads safer; maintaining Cold Spring Park and Crystal Lake; resolving concerns about public transportation, and improving schools. Having helped people with a variety of local issues — like unclogging street drains to prevent flooding — she wants to bring local concerns to City Hall. 

Ms. Bixby supports the proposed Village Center Overlay District (VCOD) and the MBTA Communities Act as a way to create more diverse, affordable housing, thereby allowing older people to downsize and remain in the city and also providing housing for younger families. 

In answer to the question about repurposing the Newton Center Triangle parking lot, Ms. Bixby agreed that it was intriguing but it served as parking for small businesses. She would be happy to continue the conversation. 

Among the city’s challenges, Ms. Bixby felt that public transportation is essential and that the City should be advocating for more public transportation. She is a proponent of reducing fossil fuel dependency and wants to hold gas companies responsible for the repair of streets where there have been gas leaks. An advocate for making more housing accessible to a diverse population, Ms. Bixby favors hiring a City Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, who would also provide more material available in other languages. 

Ms.Bixby noted that early childhood care is expensive and we need to work on ways to reduce costs for young families. As a way to use empty commercial space in village centers, Ms. Bixby advocated for using store fronts for pop-up businesses, which might become permanent. 

Although she did not specifically indicate which City Council committees she would request if elected, she said she was interested in road safety, transportation, and public spaces.

Asked about paying to upgrade the City website, said she felt it needed to be more navigable. In her view, regular newsletters, office hours and attendance at local public events would help increase transparency. She concluded by assuring voters that she would focus on representing Ward 6 neighborhoods and constituents and would work to make things better everyday by working for a positive impact on climate change, transportation, good jobs, and housing.

Mark Holt has lived in Newton for 22-years and is a real estate datanomics technician. Before moving to Newton, he served two terms in the New Hampshire legislature. He was an Oak Hill PTO treasurer and has coached soccer, lacrosse, and football. 

Mr. Holt is a strong opponent of what he terms the state’s “unfunded mandate” to comply with the MBTA Communities Act and urges Newton to refuse to comply. Moreover, he said he would urge Brenda Noel to vote against the proposed Village Center Overlay Design until the Planning Department supplies a fiscal impact study of building a proposed 9,000 units of new housing, of which 1,000 would have to be affordable. He claimed that the Planning Department could calculate how much developers would make building high-density units. He accused the Planning Department of trying to create “Kenmore Square” in local neighborhoods and  encouraging “Eastern-bloc style architecture,” which would put 18,000 cars on the streets as part of the MBTA Communities Act, none of which will be located near MBTA stations and more than 90% of workers will not ride the T to work. 

Mr. Holt said that it was wrong to confuse income and race, and that housing costs in Newton were the result of high construction costs, nonsensical environmental requirements, and high interest rates, which he blamed on the Biden administration. 

He staunchly opposed hiring a City DEI director, saying it would be divisive and suggested that teaching high school civics would be a positive measure. In the course of the forum, Mr. Holt asserted that he was shocked to learn that there was “no money for paper, pencils, and chalk” and that forty teachers were laid off. Nowhere in his travels around the state has any community fired forty teachers, he said. 

He accused the City administration of mismanagement in its dealing with Boston College and Webster Woods. Boston College has filed a $17 million lawsuit against the City charging that Newton had not paid enough in taking the property by eminent domain. Mr. Holt recommended that Newton should negotiate with Boston College for the remaining seven acres, which BC is using administrative offices and parking. He thinks it would be a good site for industrial and residential development.

Mr. Holt lamented the demise of the Newton TAB and feels there needs to be more “broadsheet” newspapers. He worried that NewTV was losing subscribers. In his closing remarks he said that as a city with 30,000 housing units, Newton was lacking 370 units of affordable housing. If elected, he would “take direct action to create affordable housing for our workforce, including teachers, municipal workers and people who serve our businesses.”

Both Ms. Bixby and Mr. Holt favored the transformation of on-street parking spaces into outdoor dining areas.