Letters to the Editor

LETTER: Is This the Right Time for an Override?

A letter to the editor from Newton resident and independent voter Harry Sanders.

To the editor: Is this the right time for an override? Sequesterization is the new buzzword for trickle-down economic reality on the local level. We rely on federal funding for highways, housing, and everyday community needs. Will second and third-tier citizen needs be met should Congress turn off the fiscal money tap? Governor Patrick has stated the case for expected state cuts in municipal funding. His $1.9 billion tax plan will meet with an additional heavy tax burden here at home. Should this fiscal perfect storm happen, Newton taxpayers would have to fill the void in unexpected extra funding for municipal needs - results of which would be an unusually harsh tax burden tail-spinning Newton property values. Is anybody thinking about …

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Norman Wirtz

9:14 am on Saturday, March 2, 2013

Newton has a budget quandry!! A proponent of the Override recently wrote “17 municipal contracts were renegotiated so that the compensation growth rate dropped to match the rate of city revenue growth.” 1. Without an override, the budget can only grow at 2.5% 2. If the “compensation growth rate dropped to the rate of city revenue growth” then compensation will grow 2.5% 3. Compensation is 75.5% …   more ›

Letters to the Editor

Mayor Setti Warren: Preserving Newton: It’s Our Choice

An opinion letter from Mayor Setti Warren supporting the Newton override.

  A city where people can walk, bike, and drive without trips, spills and damage to their vehicles due to potholes. Where emergency responders have the tools they need. Where school buildings are conducive to learning. Where students get a well-rounded education with the attention they need to meet their potential, in classrooms that enhance and foster learning. That’s the Newton I grew up in, the Newton where I returned to raise a family, the Newton we now have the opportunity to preserve for future generations. But I see it slipping away. Angier and Cabot Elementary have been identified by the state as two of the worst school buildings in Massachusetts. We have dramatic enrollment growth—900 new students since 2005 and 800+ more expected…

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Robert L. Cerra

6:22 am on Sunday, March 3, 2013

What the city of Newton needs is our own form of a Sequestor. The Mayor is incappable of staying within a budget. Obama, Deval and Setti, along with the choir at the Newton School Committee, have told us that the world is going to end if we don;t raise your taxes. It is pure fiction fueled by an unrealistic view of spending tax dollars   more ›

Letters to the Editor

Kay Khan: Vote 'Yes' Three Times on March 12

A letter to the editor from Newton State Rep. Kay Khan supporting the March 12 override questions.

  I’m writing to ask you for your support, and most importantly your THREE YES VOTES, in order for Newton to pass Mayor Setti Warren’s override package on March 12. Local government in Newton has come a long way in the past few years getting its finances in order. I have been working hard – and quite successfully, I might add — along with the other members of Newton’s legislative delegation to ensure that our city continues to receive its fair share of local aid. Still, because Newton is such a great place to live and raise children, many young families have moved here over the past decade, adding almost a thousand students to our school system, and hundreds more are expected in the coming years. More teachers and space are vitally …

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Moving Newton Forward

2:11 pm on Friday, March 1, 2013

It's a shame more Newton voters didn't vote for Greer. She brings an independent perspective to government. Greer worked as an engineer and real estate professional while Kay Khan's background was primarily in the academic and health services areas http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/west/2012/10/21/swiston-challenges-kahn-time-for-house-seat/hTdaXhgYVPZA3mE8vnLTmN/story.html   more ›

Letters to the Editor

LETTER: Support the Newton Override; "Our Kids Are Worth It"

A letter to the editor from Newton South English Teacher Corinne Pop supporting the Newton override.

  To the editor: Why should you support the override? There are indeed many reasons why you might not want to—but not one of them is as important as the one reason why you should.  Some people don’t want to support the override because non-Newton kids are educated in the Newton schools, or because construction at North was a botched endeavor. Some people don’t want to support the override because they don’t have kids in the Newton schools, or because they don’t like our government, or our tax rates, or our president, or the state of our economy, or the direction this country is going in. I’m not saying those aren’t valid complaints—but this override is our chance to actually allocate our own money in a way that is targeted at just those …

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Norman Wirtz

9:29 pm on Saturday, February 23, 2013

The override is to fund $11 million. The non override budget is $313 million. A competent administration should be able to find 3.5% of lower priority or wasteful items to fund the override. The administration needs to address health care contributions and out of control pension costs BEFORE taxes have to be increased. The mayor wants more taxes, the governor wants more taxes and the feds want …   more ›

Letters to the Editor

Opinion: We All Have a Stake in Maintaining Our City

An opinion piece from Dan Fahey urging residents to vote "Yes" on all three Newton override ballot questions.

In Newton only about 20 percent of households have children in the system. Those households are probably more receptive to the upcoming override, since its failure to pass will likely adversely affect their kids’ school experience. But what about the rest of us [e.g., empty nesters like me, whose daughter has been out of the system for eight years]?  Why should we pay more taxes, when there's less direct benefit for us? One answer: Property value. Research has shown that school quality has a significant and positive impact on a city’s property values.  Many families move to Newton because of our schools’ reputation and, while I believe our schools are still good, they are certainly vulnerable. Newcomers to the city are often shocked at the…

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Janet Sterman

3:41 pm on Saturday, March 9, 2013

Despite your fear inducing campaign along with the gloom and doom painted by the Mayor's office of: growing potholes and crumbling sidewalks, falling down school buildings, overcrowded classrooms, poor fire stations, and inadequately staffed fire and police - while promoting three property tax increases, Newton's property values are still going up! http://newton.patch.com/articles/sold-newton-…   more ›

Letters to the Editor

LETTER: Vacancy in the Vatican: Why Generation Y Needs an Empathetic Pope

A letter from a Boston College junior on the recent resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.

  On Monday, 11 February 2013, Pope Benedict XVI formally announced his Papal resignation due to his advanced age and diminished strength, which has not occurred in the past 600 years.  During his term as Pope, Benedict XVI has been confronted with internal scandals arising from within the Church, specifically sexual abuse crises costing the Church two billion dollars in settlements according to Chester Gillis, dean of Georgetown University; however, the Church's scandals cannot solely define the Pontiff's administration, which began in 2005.  Globally, he has reached out to the developing world to places where Catholicism is growing, arguably the geographical locations that will be the future of the Catholic Church.  Despite the shock and…

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Adam Maleson

3:45 am on Sunday, February 17, 2013

"Despite the shock and confusion Catholics in the world ARE feeling" [proofread] You are a junior in college. You're like 20 years old, maybe 21. So your affiliations with the Catholic Church and Generation Y seem extremely relevant to you at this moment in your life. "Despite the shock and confusion Catholics in the world are feeling regarding Benedict XVI's resignation, the Catholic Church and …   more ›

What Do You Think About Gov. Patrick’s Travel Ban?

Do you agree with the governor's decision or was it too drastic?

All non-emergency drivers were ordered off the roads on Friday when Gov. Deval Patrick issued an executive order banning travel during the blizzard. (Editor's note: The ban is lifted statewide as of 4 p.m. Saturday.) Patrick's executive order is being praised by some and bashed by others, reported The Boston Globe. While former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, who was in charge of the commonwealth during the Blizzard of ’78, praised the governor’s move, others called the order “tyrannical” and say the strict ban and hefty fines were too much, according to The Globe. Those caught violating the ban would face up to a year in jail and a $500 fine. What do you think? Do you agree with the governor’s decision or do you think the travel ban …

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Letters to the Editor

LETTER: Newton PTO Council: Vote "Yes, Yes, Yes" on Override Package

A letter to the editor from the Newton PTO Council asking residents to support all three override questions on March 12.

  Last week, the Newton PTO Council voted overwhelmingly to support the Mayor’s proposed override package.  A yes vote on the override package, which includes three ballot questions, insures that the children of Newton get the education they deserve, in facilities that address their needs. Our schools are facing serious enrollment issues, budgetary pressures, and deteriorating facilities.  For Newton to continue to uphold its standard of educational excellence, we need improved buildings, more teachers and greater funding for our schools. To receive the full benefits of this override, the three ballot questions should be viewed as one.  One ballot question provides for a debt exclusion to finance the reconstruction of Angier Elementary, a …

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Robert L. Cerra

6:44 pm on Saturday, February 2, 2013

The schools receive 88% of our property tax money, that is appently not enough. No matter how much we give the schools it will not be enough and they will continue to tell us they need more. To ask them to live within a budget is unfair, anti-educational . President Obama wants just a little more, Governor Patrick wants just a little more and now Mayor Warren want just a little more. To ask them …   more ›

Letters to the Editor

Letter: Newton Officials Should 'Live Within Their Means'

A letter from the co-chairmen of Moving Newton Forward, a local group opposed to Mayor Setti Warren's $11.4 million override proposal.

Spirited citizens, calling themselves Moving Newton Forward, want to preserve an essential element of our City’s most common good---your household income. What are you saving for? A car? A honeymoon? Tuition? Retirement? Mayor Setti Warren is betting that you will sacrifice more of your personal savings to fund his government’s growth by saying yes to his three override proposals in March. Moving Newton Forward urges you to vote no on each on March 12. Instead, let’s respectfully ask our Mayor and Alderman to do what households do---choose expenses wisely. Live within their means. Vote no on each override proposal because: We can contain our local spending. Join us at the first citywide meeting of Moving Newton Forward on Wednesday night, …

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Letter: Low Risk Was Never Meant to Mean No Risk

Shana Rowan, executive director of USA Families Advocating an Intelligent Registry, provided this letter to the editor in light of recent media coverage and legislative proposals surrounding the John Burbine case.

  By now, all of Massachusetts and much of the country has heard about the gruesome allegations against John Burbine; a man accused of videotaping himself sexually abusing 13 young children. He’s also a Level 1 registered sex offender, which has understandably led lawmakers to respond with proposed legislation aimed at preventing such a crime from happening again. Unfortunately, as is often the case following high-profile child sex crimes, well-intentioned legislators respond with broad-brush proposals and political placebos that may make constituents feel good, but don’t actually do anything to protect the public. Because Burbine was classified as a low risk Level 1 offender, the knee jerk emotional response has been that there must …

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