(Newton TAB opinion column, January 4, 2006)

At the beginning of 2005, I offered a dozen New Year’s resolutions for the City of Newton (Newton TAB, January 5, 2005). I would like to look back at how we did at achieving last year’s resolutions and to offer a couple new ones. Last year’s resolutions included:

1) Get the Newton North High School project back on track— City officials have gotten behind a plan to build a new high school rather than renovating the old one and we hired an architect to design the new school last fall, but we have recently learned that the cost of a new high school may be thirty to sixty million dollars more than previously budgeted. Building a world-class new Newton North High School without jeopardizing other capital projects or the City’s operating budget should remain at the top of our priority list for 2006.

2) Make a strong commitment to maintaining and improving infrastructure & open space—For years, I have been advocating allocation of sufficient resources for maintenance of our buildings, streets, and parks, as well as for purchasing equipment needed to fix streets, remove snow, and provide other important City services. I am encouraged by recent commitments by the Mayor to fund repairs to Newton South High School’s track and playing fields, City sidewalks, and fire stations that 2006 will be the year we finally start to give maintaining infrastructure the priority it deserves.

3) Work with City employees more collaboratively to resolve labor disputes and to solicit new ideas— I continue to be concerned that we have a great deal of room for improvement in the area of soliciting input from City employees and taking a less confrontational approach with the people who do the day to day labor that makes our City run. I hope that in 2006 we will be able to resolve all remaining contracts amicably and start to fund our employees post-retirement health benefits before the deficit in that area grows to crisis proportions.

4) Improve land use planning and enforcement— Under the leadership of Land Use Committee Chair George Mansfield and our new Inspectional Services Commissioner John Lojek, we have begun the process of improving enforcement of zoning ordinances and special permit board order conditions, but much more work remains to be done in this area in 2006.

5) Develop a comprehensive snow clearing plan— Public Works Commissioner Bob Rooney has worked with Aldermen and concerned citizens to improve the City’s snow clearing efforts, but we have lacked the equipment to develop a plan that keeps even our arterial sidewalks passable on a consistent basis. With the recent approval by the Board of Aldermen of additional equipment for the Public Works Department, we should update the snow-clearing plan during 2006.

6) Pass and implement the light ordinance— I am pleased to report that we enacted the comprehensive light trespass and pollution ordinance that protects all Newton residents from the disruptive effects of bright light shining into their windows in the Spring of 2005 and that it has already helped to improve the quality of life for many Newton residents. This item is one that we can check off the list.

7) Reform accounting practices— Significant progress was made in 2005 toward the goal of balancing our accounts in a timely basis thanks in large part to the tireless work of Comptroller Dave Wilkinson. While more work remains to be done in this area, I feel comfortable checking it off.

8) Correlate fees to policy objectives— I remain concerned about fees that encourage behaviors contrary to public policy objectives, such as school bus fees, which have the effect of encouraging students to drive or be driven, further clogging our streets. I have worked on proposals to index auto excise tax rates to the pollution and road damage of a vehicle, offering discounts for low-emission, fuel efficient vehicles; to make our water and sewer rate structure more progressive to encourage water conservation; and to eliminate minor fees that cost more to administer than they generate. I hope that we continue to look at the big-picture effects of our fee structure in 2006.

9) Help the needy— In 2005, we made progress in the areas of property tax relief and affordable housing for the neediest amongst us, but much more work remains to be done on both these fronts in 2006.

10) Acquire open space— We managed to purchase some significant parcels of open space, but we are spending our limited CPA funds without sufficient matching funds. My hope is that in 2006, we can acquire more open space in neighborhoods throughout the City by more aggressively seeking matching funds for our land acquisition efforts. In particular, we should acquire the historic Kendrick House property and develop a sufficient endowment to see that it is restored now, then maintained as a public museum for many years to come.

11) Implement a citywide wireless internet access network— Offering WiFi throughout Newton will provide a valuable service to Newton residents while helping to generate badly-needed revenue for City operations. I hope that we will get started on this project early in the New Year.

12) Improve Newton’s financial planning— I am proud of the excellent work of the Newton Finance and Management Working Group that I organized last Spring, which came up with a number of innovative ways to improve the City’s bottom line, several of which have already been implemented. My resolution for the City for 2006 is that we implement as many of the remaining Finance & Management Working Group recommendations as possible.

To replace the two resolutions checked off for 2005, I’d like to offer two new ones for 2006:

1) Develop an Exciting New Plan for Newton Centre— The Newton Centre Task Force is off to a great start in their development of a plan for Newton Centre’s commercial district. If they can continue their momentum in 2006, balancing the needs of area residents with improvements that will benefit people from throughout Newton, I believe that they will succeed in coming up with a plan that will not only be great for Newton Centre, but will serve as a model for all of Newton’s villages in years to come.

2) Make Government More Accessible— I would like to see the City work harder to reach out to Newton residents, making information on City policies and initiatives more readily available to Newton residents and to solicit input into important policy initiatives. We should make public documents available on the City’s web site and should not require that our citizens complete Freedom of Information Act requests to get public information to which they are legally entitled. Newton residents have the knowledge and intelligence to help us run our City government better. We should do a better job of listening to them in the New Year.

(Ken Parker is a member of the Newton Board of Aldermen and can be reached by phone at (617) 965-3723 or via email at ken@kenparker.org. For a complete copy of Ken’s 2005 resolutions, please visit www.kenparker.org.)