Experience has demonstrated that the Zoom meetings format for virtual and hybrid City meetings is far superior to the webinar format currently in use for many Newton meetings. This webinar format does not allow one to see fellow citizens who are in attendance, nor does it allow one to see…
Posts published in “Letters to the Editor”
We publish here Letters to the Editor with the intent to reflect a broad range of opinions and insights of Newton residents. Please note our submission guidelines and send letters (maximum of 300 words) to letters@figcitynews.com.
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on Fig City News are those of the writer and not Fig City News.
This letter is to address the thoughtful concerns raised in a recent letter published on April 1 regarding the repair of the McGrath Fountain in Auburndale. We share the deep respect for Dick McGrath and all that he did for Newton, particularly his positive impact on parks and recreation for our…
The destruction of Dick McGrath’s Memorial Fountain occurred in winter a year ago. I saw it a day or two after the destruction. The large bronze fountain was lying on the ground several feet away. I called the City, concerned that someone could grab it take it to a junkyard and…
I strongly support the proposed housing development at 78 Crafts Street in Newtonville. I have lived in Newtonville since 1978. I moved here when I married and began my professional career. I rode the commuter train to Boston for years. My sons attended Newton K-12 public schools. I want future Newtonians to have…
The Newton chapter of Mothers Out Front would like to thank the City Councilors who signed the position statement opposing the expansion of private jets at Hanscom Field (Vicki Danberg, Rebecca Grossman, Andreae Downs, Stephen Farrell, Martha Bixby, Alison Leary, Maria Greenberg, Bill Humphrey, Alan Lobovits, Dave Micley, Andrea Kelley,…
This morning as I headed for Stop and Shop, I stopped by the Freedge to drop off some boxes of oatmeal. I was thinking about how that would be a great food for a family. I had images of children at a table spooning the warm cereal into their hungry…
On February 24, Marian F. Davidson Mandell Jacobson celebrated her 90th birthday. Like the hub of an ornately carved wheel, Marian connected many friends with each other for years, always inclusive and welcoming to her culturally active life. She grew up in West Roxbury and Brookline, settling in Newton in…
In a recent Boston Globe op-ed, former Newton School Committee member, Matt Hills, dismissed the impact of the prolonged contract negotiations and strike claiming the final result was practically so close to the school committee’s initial proposal to render it meaningless (or in his words “much ado about nothing”). A week…
Newton will contribute $43.5 million to its pension plan in fiscal year 2024, $37 million of which (7.4% of budget) to fund our $300 million pension deficit by FY2032. Pension contributions will grow 6.6% per year, far outpacing growth in revenues. Without adjustment, the budget share going to pension contributions…
My partner and I are recent transplants to Auburndale. We love it here, and we’re glad her son was at Williams Elementary and is now at Brown Middle School. The teachers and support staff at both schools have been fantastic, and he’s thrived in all the ways a parent can…