During nearly a decade as a member of the Waban Area Council, Rena Getz, who is currently President of the Council, believes she has been an effective advocate for her neighborhood and the broader Newton community. She is running to be one of two Ward 5 At-Large Councilors, challenging the two incumbents. Ms Getz favors diversity in the city and states that, as a Latina woman who attended high school in Colombia, she brings unique perspectives to the issues faced by Newton and will give voice to her Hispanic heritage.
Ms Getz is proud of the work of the Waban Area Council, especially their involvement in the recent project to improve pedestrian safety in Waban Square. As well, the Council has been actively surveying the Waban community for views on zoning in Newton. At the monthly meetings of the Waban Area Council, she has provided updates on the evolution of Newton’s zoning proposals.
She opposes the current version (3.0) of the Village Center Redesign Project and supports the August memo from nine City Council members seeking to separate the MBTA Communities Act from the Village Center Redesign Project. Instead, Ms Getz favors a zoning plan that addresses each of Newton’s village centers separately, seeking to identify which buildings should be preserved in each village. She states that Newton’s village centers are a valuable feature of city life and believes that the current zoning plan would eliminate the village centers’ charms.
She continued to say that Newton should evaluate new developments in Brookline, Somerville, and Cambridge to see what worked for those cities and use their best solutions. Ms Getz suggested that the City should increase its staff in the area of economic development to help aid businesses. Within village centers, she favors “Mom and Pop” stores — smaller shops run by locals. She favors the development of more small housing projects via the Newton Affordable Housing Trust and wants to provide more ways of funding the Trust.
Ms Getz said Newton is on the right track with its current pedestrian safety program. While she favors integrating bicycling into the city’s transportation, she said that Newton needs to identify specific roads that can fit bicycle lanes and those roads that cannot fit bicycle lanes — and focus on providing safe routes for cyclists.
Her campaign website is renagetz.org.
