Newton Mayoral Candidates Face Off At Preliminary Forum

NEWTON, MA — Newton's three mayoral candidates faced off last week in a preliminary mayoral forum, at which they discussed topics including COVID-19, partisanship, public schools, and the local economy.

The forum, sponsored by the Newton League of Women Voters and NewTV, gave candidates Albert Cecchinelli, Jr., current Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, and former city councilor Amy Mah Sangiolo the opportunity to voice their positions ahead of the September 14 preliminary election, after which there will be only two candidates in the race.

The most contested topic of the evening was in relation to the question of what the candidates will do, or have done, to ensure transparency in local government, an inquiry that prompted Sangiolo to criticize Fuller for knowing about a a gun shop that was originally scheduled to open on earlier this year and not immediately telling City Council members.

“There was that time lag between when you shared that information with the City Council,” said Sangiolo. "I come from a different point of view about having respect for the City Council and working with them in partnership."

In late March, Fuller was alerted there was a gun shop beginning the licensing process. Although residents only learned of the proposed shop around April 15, the mayor said she dealt with the situation as quickly as possible.

“When I found out about the gun store potentially opening on Washington Street, I immediately acted," said Fuller. "I worked internally first with our police, inspectional services, law, and planning department to understand the facts. Then, I reached out to City Council leadership, our passionate residents, and experts from Giffords and Everytown [for] Gun Safety to determine exactly what to do.”

"In record speed, we created a sensible and effective ordinance and the special permit requires no adverse impact on the neighborhood," she continued. "And you know, we don't have a gun store on Washington Street."

Fuller also highlighted her willingness to constantly improve as mayor, encouraging residents that "if I mess up, I hear about it and we try to do better."

In addition to the gun controversy, candidates discussed the future of village centers, with Sangiolo and Cecchinelli criticizing the current state of the city and advocating for more outreach and communication with businesses, less density, and more parking.

“Of course these businesses are going to fail because nobody can get to them,” said Cecchinelli, arguing that if people can't get to local businesses they will support "big box stores" instead. "We've got a large elderly population, we have a lot of handicapped people in the city that can't walk to these places, they can't bicycle, they need to drive."

Fuller said that, since her first day in office, the city has worked closely with Newton businesses, especially during the pandemic, and distributed $610,000 in grants since March 2020 to help them. City officials have also expedited the Al Fresco program, sped up road and sidewalk improvements, and invented Project: Pop-Up, and created Newton Hires.

"We've done it and we are going to do more," she said.

During a discussion of the city's public schools, Fuller said the city has done everything in its power to keep students and staff members safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, including installing ventilation upgrades, supplying Chromebooks, funding testing, and convening a Medical Advisory Group to help make decisions on how schools can safely open.

Sangiolo didn't have such a positive opinion of how the city reopened its public schools, arguing that the blame placed on the teachers and the teachers' union was misplaced.

"The teachers' union fought hard like they should to protect their union members, particularly when it came to the reopening of our schools because of COVID," she said. "I think there was a failure there by the school department and also by the mayor in terms of not managing the reopening of the schools."

Sangiolo also advocated using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to help schools recover from the pandemic, to which Fuller said the city is already using those funds for that purpose.

Early voting in Newton opens on Tuesday, September 7 and the municipal election is scheduled for Tuesday, November 2. Election updates can be found here.