Finishing his fourth term and running for re-election as an at-large City Councilor from Ward 4, Josh Krintzman sees himself as a source of continuity on a City Council that will certainly have many new members in 2026. He spoke about growing up in Newton, attending Zervas Elementary School, Brown (at the time) Junior High, and Newton South High School. He addressed a variety of issues in a conversation with Fig City News.
Krintzman spoke of his work as Chair of the Council’s Programs and Services Committee. He highlighted the work the Committee did over the past year reviewing the specific budget request from the School Department, and he noted that the Committee pushed the Mayor and administration to come to agreement with the School Department.
Also, Krintzman said the Programs and Services Committee evaluated and rewrote the Tree Protection Ordinance, which sets out new rules around tree removal by residents. Krintzman said the Committee had the matter on its agenda for approximately 13 meetings to carefully craft the new legislation.
The Committee is also involved in matters relating to parks and recreation. Krintzman said one area he is most proud of is the Committee’s work on Newton’s recreational fields. He said his Committee pushed the administration to develop short- and long-term plans to improve City fields, and advocated strongly and effectively for a large increase in spending on field maintenance.
When asked about the use of artificial turf on City fields, Krintzman’s answer was nuanced. He said: “I do not want artificial turf, but I accept that as a necessary component of a comprehensive plan, artificial turf is going to be a piece of that, because we have to have playing surfaces for our kids. We have to have enough fields available to withstand the usage that we have planned for the number of kids, and the number of things they want to do. I was persuaded that again, not the preferred playing field, but as a necessary component of a comprehensive plan.”
Krintzman summarized his position on housing in Newton, saying, “Newton has for a long time been a mostly single-family residential community. That’s the vast majority of our tax base …Those aren’t bad in and of themselves. Should they be the exclusive housing in the community? Absolutely not. So, I do support the Inclusionary Zoning ordinance, which makes sure that new developments and big new developments will have a component of affordable housing.”
Regarding the Washington Street pilot project, Krintzman said that Washington Street is problematic in a few ways: it was very unsafe and it was an underutilized section of the city. He said he supports that the City is evaluating the area, trying to improve it, trying to revitalize the area, and trying to make it safer. Krintzman spoke of the benefit of being flexible, noting that the project was created as a pilot and can be changed. He continued, saying that the City is listening to comments about what works well and what does not work well. He said this process enables the City to be flexible to produce a long-term solution that revitalizes the area and makes it safer for pedestrians and vehicles.
Krintzman summarized his philosophy saying: “I just think you need to have a reasonable, broad approach … and that’s the mentality I try to bring to the City Council. Whether it’s housing, whether it’s our energy ordinance…I try to be reasonable and practical, and that’s who I am.”
