Fahey: Union Leaders Deserve Credit Too

An opinion piece on the override from Newton resident Dan Fahey.

  Mayor Setti Warren, and his administration, deserve much credit for negotiating ground-breaking contracts with our 17 unions that limit the combined growth of employee salaries and benefits to 2 1/2 percent. No other MA community has done this. It is also important to recognize the significant contributions of union leaders and their members for working hand-in-glove with the administration to make this happen. After all, unions and management are almost inherently at odds with each other in negotiations. That Setti and his team was able to set out the economic realities when a city is limited to that 2 1/2 percent growth mandated by Proposition 2 1/2, and to have the unions both grasp that reality and to realize how anything more than …

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Janet Sterman

2:36 pm on Monday, March 11, 2013

Dan, As much as you deny being a "flip flopper" (Josh Norman's expression), I can't even begin to tell you how many times you and Jeff Seidemen insisted that there is NO STRUCTURAL DEFICIT during the 2008 Tax Overrides debate. Ironically, you are now using it as a point of fact as something 'solved' by your BFF Mayor Warren. WHAT UP?!? Since you have made such a strong endorser of unions and …   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 ›