Newton Mayor Elect Ruthanne Fuller: My Door Is Open

NEWTON, MA — Newton Mayor-Elect Ruthanne Fuller describes her management style as one that involves listening, collaborating and then, once a plan is in place, finding value in monitoring and changing said it, if need be.

"I like to have diverse opinions around the table. And to spend a lot of time on goals and looking for shared goals and then examining alternative strategies to reach those goals," she told Patch after Outgoing Mayor Setti Warren introduced her to a room full of City Hall employees.

Fuller had walked around the War Memorial room at City Hall hand outstretched thanking employees, introducing herself and repeating their names back to to them. When the room mostly cleared, she sat down to chat with Patch.

"I'm a believer in management by walking around. You don't stay in your office. You go to the other staff person's office, you go out in the city. It's amazing how much you learn by going out and bumping into someone," she said.

And then she saw someone off to the corner and jumped up, went over to him and introduced herself. When she returned she said, "The most important person in the room: It's not the mayor. Don't you forget it," she said indicating it was, in fact, the custodian.

Introductions

As sun poured into the War Memorial room landing on the three rows of chairs set up facing a podium and three flags for a meet and greet at City Hall Thursday morning, staff seemed to prefer to keep their distance, sticking to the walls rather that sit for this. Many of them still had questions and told Patch they were curious what the new boss meant for them.

"It gives me real pleasure to introduce the next mayor of Newton, Ruthanne Fuller," said Outgoing Mayor Setti Warren to applause. Fuller stood nearby hands by her side looking around the room.

There was no public Q &A at the formal introduction but after Warren lauded the staff for their work, introduced Fuller and she lauded the work Warren and the staff have done she touched a bit on the future here. The tone of her stump speeches still ringing in the air:

"Our challenge, like most other cities and towns around us, with these major forces; whether it's market values changing the affordability of who can live here, the need to look forward on environmental sustainability; with housing affordability becoming so important with traffic congestion, and this is a city that together with your help we can make real progress," she said.

And then she told those gathered, that as a city councilor she'd seen and been impressed by their collective flexibility and capacity to serve and strive for excellence and wanted to build on that.

"That focus on continuous improvement that each of you bring to your job - it's magnificent. We'll keep working on that and keep building on that so thank you for that focus," she said.

And then she offered a clue as to her management style.

"Many of you know so much more than I do. I will be listening to you learning from you. My door will be open. Keep talking to me. Fill me in. I will say I need your help. I need your ideas, input your energy,"she said.

Questions

But many of the city employees still have questions and concerns, they told Patch.

Patch: A few folks have asked how they can help you as you've asked.

Fuller: Sometimes you think of a city as roads and buildings in fact the city is the people who work here, I need their ideas and energy and their help so we keep making Newton a better city.

Patch: You've said you want to keep your door open. It's easy for a boss to say that, how will you make the staff feel that?

Fuller: Just as the doors of the City Hall have to be open to all residents, the door to my office has to be open to them. They have to feel that I will listen and learn and have their back.

Patch: What about pensions?

Fuller: We have to have a terrific compensation in order to attract and retain and that includes all our benefits from health insurance to pensions. That's part of my job as mayor.

Patch: So you've heard about the health insurance concerns as well?

Fuller: Oh yes. My job is to make sure we're a strong city financially, so we're growing and thriving city, we do have our financial challenges but we have the strength to face them and move forward.

What about Warren?

Warren still has the podium in City Hall for about a month and a half, and there are a few more things up his sleeve that he said he's not yet ready to announce. But his priority now?
"It's really about continuity of operations. Ensuring that the mayor elect has foundational background with all the departments, including the executive office so that when the mayor takes over on Jan. 1, she's able to have continuity," Warren told Patch.

"I want to thank Scott Lennon for his service to the city," said Warren who described Fuller's historic election "an important milestone for the city."

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Photos by Jenna Fisher/Patch