Newton Mayoral Election: First Candidate Forums Announced

NEWTON, MA — It's that time of year. As Newton residents are waiting to hear who made the official list of candidates for mayor, the candidate forums are getting ready to happen. Several groups are planning mayoral candidate forums next month, including the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber's forum will be hosted by chamber President Greg Reibman and the main topic will, of course, be business issues facing Newton.

"We think it’s really important that our candidates focus on issues that matter to the business community, and we wanted to have a specific event where business folks could ask questions and hear their positions. And so that the candidates could understand what concerns they had," said Reibman in an interview.

(( Don't you want to keep up with Newton? We want you to, too.

Sign up for the Newton Patch Newsletter))

The forum is limited to about 100 people, because of the venue and registration is open first to chamber members, but then all are welcome after that.

Reibman is no stranger to moderating such candidate panel discussions, doing so in his previous life as a journalist at the TAB and at NewTV. He said he wanted to give the candidates an opportunity to speak in front of the business audience.

"We're really interested in what happens with Wells Avenue in the next several years, so we wanted to have this geared toward the business audience, especially in the N-squared district where we're having it," he said.

The three councilors (Ruthanne Fuller, Amy Sangiolo and City Council President Scott Lennon ) have confirmed they'll be attending. Reibman said he's just waiting to see who else returns papers and qualifies to run before inviting them.

The event will be held Thursday Aug. 10 from 8-9:30 a.m. at the auditorium at Wells Park, 85 Wells Ave. in Newton. All mayoral candidates who qualify to appear on the Sept. 12 preliminary run-off will be invited to participate. Admission is limited due to the capacity of the venue and advance registration is required.

Other forums?

The Council on Aging is having a forum at the Newton Senior Center on Aug. 15, 7 p.m. and The Newton League of Women Voters will host one at NewTV, although the date is not yet clear.

The Newton Dems have penciled in Aug. 24 as a possible date for their mayoral candidate forum, though they have yet to secure all the democratic candidates for that date, according to chairman Shawn Fitzgibbons. However, only candidates registered as Democrats will be under the spotlight for the The Democratic Committee forum. But that includes the three city councilors running Sangiolo, Fuller and Lennon.

"The goal is to give candidates a chance to give their stump speech and ask them questions," said Fitzgibbons. "I anticipate we will ask questions about their stance on issues our committee has endorsed or taken a stance on - some state some local issues. And then allow audience questions," he said.

The location as with the date are not yet set, he said. What is set is a Labor Day BBQ where municipal democratic candidates running for School Committee or Council can give their 2 minute stump speeches and mingle at 4 p.m. on Labor Day.

Photo by Jenna Fisher/ Patch