The Special Election on the proposed override and two debt exclusions will be held on March 14, 7AM-8PM. Checking your voter status and polling location here. NOTE: Voters who usually vote at the Senior Center will vote instead at Cabot School while the Senior Center is under construction. Early voting…
Posts published in “Override”
The School Committee Budget Resolution supporting the proposed override and two debt exclusions passed 8-0 during the February 6 School Committee meeting. Last week, Fig City News focused on a notable abstention from the vote. However, the remaining eight members, including the Mayor, unanimously approved the Resolution drafted by Chair…
The city of Newton has been criticized for its excessive spending. A few years ago I did my own analysis to try and quantify Newton’s spending versus a reasonable baseline. The baseline I chose was the Federal Reserve Bank [FRB] yearly inflation rate. It is a good measure of the yearly increase in the…
On Tuesday, the Charles River Regional Chamber hosted a one-hour online forum with Mayor Ruthanne Fuller and Interim Superintendent Kathleen Smith to discuss proposals for an operating override and two debt exclusions (see video). After a brief presentation by the Mayor and Interim Superintendent, Chamber president Greg Reibman moderated a…
The February 6 School Committee meeting contained another full agenda, with the headline item — a discussion and vote on endorsing the proposed overrides — pushed toward the end of the 4-hour session. Prior to the override topic, three NPS K-12 Arts educators gave a presentation describing the recovery of…
After forming and registering a month ago, the No Override Newton campaign launched its website this week. These excerpts cite some of the campaign’s reasons to vote against the proposals for an operating override and two debt exclusions: The site invites the public to join its mailing list, make a…
I am a long time Newton resident whose children attended our wonderful public schools. I will be voting NO on all three of Newton’s proposed override questions. Why I am Voting NO and How to Make Me a YES The clear fundamental issue in the City’s budget is the massive…
Getting significant additional funding to help restore the city’s loss of street trees is a major reason that I will vote “Yes” for Newton’s override on March 14. At the beginning of the 1980s, Newton had 39,000 street trees. After years of losing trees that were not replaced, the city…
I support the proposed three overrides as essential to maintaining Newton’s capital infrastructure. Newton is an exceptional city but if one scratches the surface, many problems become apparent. I’ve chaired the Property Board for the United Parish of Auburndale (UPA) during its recent major capital improvement campaign. My first job…
Interim Superintendent Kathleen Smith and Assistant Superintendent Liam Hurley met with Fig City News to review two versions of the NPS budget for the next school year (FY24) — with and without the $4.5 million that would be provided by approval of the operating override proposed by the Mayor. Approval…