Two additional candidates for Newton School Committee have confirmed to Fig City News they intend to run, and as of this writing Fig City News is awaiting similar confirmation from an additional candidate who has filed with the Newton Elections Commission.
Linda Swain will run, presently unopposed, from Ward 2 (Newtonville) and she issued this press release on June 5 – two days after the current Ward 2 representative, Chris Brezski, announced his intention not to run for re-election. Ms. Swain told Fig City News:
My decision to run for School Committee is grounded in a lifelong belief in the importance of public education. I also recognize that students’ needs have shifted dramatically in recent years, creating new complexities for educators and placing increased strain on the school budget. I’m ready to listen, lead, and serve with a focus on what’s best for our children.
Christie Lee Gibson will be running from Ward 1 (Nonantum and Newton Corner) and shared this statement with Fig City News:
I am running for School Committee to help the City and Schools deal with our budget crisis. In providing constituent services, I would like to help all Newton residents better understand the City Budget, including how the [NPS] Budget functions within it. Currently, our budget is being squeezed between historic inflation from 2020-2023 and our commitment and legal responsibility to fund decades of unfunded pension liabilities for city workers, which is clocking in at about 10% of our City Budget. This means our schools’ budget and the rest of our city services are under a lot of pressure and will be for the foreseeable future, especially if we continue not to pass an override.
Given this level of pressure, I would like to help Newton residents understand which government roles are responsible for which aspects of the budget and make it easy for advocacy to be channeled to the appropriate officials.
As reported last week, Jonathan Kazakoff-Eigen, also residing in Ward 1, had “pulled papers” (nomination signature forms) from the City Clerk and now has also filed campaign paperwork with the Election Commission on June 5. Fig City News is not aware of any public statement by Mr. Kazakoff-Eigen regarding his candidacy.
Even without counting Mr. Kazakoff-Eigen at this time, the two new declared candidates increase the number of first-time candidates to 10. New candidates are shown in bold in this list of currently declared candidates:
- Ward 1: Christie Lee Gibson, (Jonathan Kazakoff-Eigen not yet confirmed)
- Ward 2: Linda Swain
- Ward 3: Jason Bhardwaj
- Ward 4: Tamika Olszewski
- Ward 5: Jenna Miara, Ben Schlesinger
- Ward 6: Mali Brodt, Jonathan Greene
- Ward 7: Bruce Hedison, Alicia Piedalue
- Ward 8: Victor Lee, Jim Murphy
Notes: Tamika Olszewski is running for reelection from Ward 4. Alicia Piedalue – who was recently sworn in as the new Ward 7 Committee member in March via special election — has pulled papers for re-election.
The ten new candidates, and up to five competitive races including Ward 1, would be the most for either category since at least 2010, according to Newton Election Commission archives.
Candidates must submit nomination papers with signatures by July 22.
