Women Of The Newton City Council Speak Up, Highlighting New Era

NEWTON, MA — Six months into the new groove of the Newton City Council some have different ideas on just how things are going when it comes to the vibe of the chamber floor. A number of the women councilors are calling the decorum something that needed serious improvement. Others note the past eight years have actually seen vast improvements over decades past.

But with a number of new city councilors who happen to be women serving on the elected body, the question has come up, is the city council doing enough to make sure everyone is treated with respect?

"Some of these communication patterns some of the comments made off the cuff on the council, they just don't seem appropriate and they seem fraught with sexism and that's concerning," said City Councilor Brenda Noel who joined the council from Ward 6 in January.

After a number of incidents where she and some of her other newer colleagues watched one or two of their male colleagues spoke to them in a manner they described as disrespectful and possibly sexist, she said she and some of her colleagues told President Marc Laredo of their concerns. Although Laredo said he would not disclose what his colleagues told him in private, he said he has been working with them to create a more inclusive and respectful environment in the Chamber.

As a way to work out how they could help the president to that end, the Noel gathered the women on the council at her home on May 20 to discuss what they personally could do to change the tone of a chamber that sometimes ended with women shaking their heads and coming up to one another and vented about how they were treated, as Patch previously reported. That private meeting spurred what was ruled an unfounded anonymous complaint to the Attorney General's. (Watch for more on that later).

Multiple councilors told Patch of stories where a woman would hold their hand up to speak but the person leading that particular meeting would ignore her or be dismissive. Another incident mentioned was where a city councilor called two women councilors "lightweights." There were reports of a city councilor calling colleagues after hours and cursing them out, or snapping at them or talking over them in public meetings where members of the public were present. During one meeting a councilor asking a town employee about why something was not going the way it was supposed to in that department was interrupted by another councilor to tell her he didn't like her tone, Patch was told.

"I was just stunned at the interaction," said Noel. She said after a meeting in April where she said a councilor yelled at another councilor and then spoke down to two of the women councilors simply asking questions, part of their job she noted, she took her concerns to Laredo.

"I'm not going to sit in these meetings if that's the way men are going to talk to women," she said she was thinking.

'Did he just say that to you?'

Although some were hesitant at first, her colleagues by and large say they appreciate her efforts.

"I'm proud of the new colleagues for standing up and saying this may be the way certain people behave and play the game, and they may do it equally to men and women but that doesn't mean it's OK," said City Councilor At Large from Ward 5 Deb Crossley who was once the president of the League of Women Voters.

"There's a lot of good people on the council and to me it's less about a men, women thing than a professional way to conduct the business of the people and the public. We're going to disagree and there's going to be passionate disagreements. There should never be disrespectful disagreements or a tolerance for bullying," said Crossley.

"I never really thought that there was that sexism on the council until some of the newer women were like did he just say that to you? What was that? And then suddenly you notice it more," said Alison Leary who has been on the council for a number of years.

Is it everyone?

"I don't think it's everyone," said Noel. "There's stuff that's super concerning, and then there's stuff that's just bad habit. This is not a one size fits all on what's happening. I think it's really complicated," she said.

And that's why some of the women were hesitant to get together at her home on May 20, she said.

One thing that came up among them was how it would feel if the men got together away from the women like this. But this conversation does not come out of the blue. As the women of the Newton City Council come to grasp with how they interact in the chamber with their male counterparts, friends and colleagues, there is a greater context of gender disparity in US culture that has been top of mind.

"This isn't happening in a vacuum," said Noel.

And political experts agree as more and more women jump into politics, as has happened on the heels of the last election, the character of city and town council chambers across the country has been changing along with it. It is accelerating a process that has been in the works for years, and giving permission for a conversation to take place out in the open.

"It’s a breath of fresh air to have this discussion. It’s sort of like our #metoo moment, I guess," said Leary though she added she didn't think the issues in the chamber were as intentional as some of her colleagues thought. "It’s not like people are tending to be disrespectful. I think it’s just that they’re not aware of it. You’re a product of your time. And you don’t really notice it. I think it’s a good change and I think things are getting better," said Leary.

'We've come a long way, baby'

Crossley said a number of the newer women on the council have come to chat with her and some of the women who have served longer on the council for advice. She said it's important, however, to note that the climate in the chamber is a walk in the park compared to what it was when she first got involved with politics.

This is Crossley's ninth year serving as a councilor, and before that she was active in the community which started with league of women voters board. For some three decades she's been watching Newton's politics, she said.

"Today's city council is such an enormous improvement over those of years past in terms of constructive conversation, collaboration and respect. So even though there has been some mishegoss going on and it's mean and it's wrong, there were days when people bellowed at one another," she said.

She remembered watching meetings where people went on and repeated themselves and hogged the floor and put fellow councilors and members of the community down and just behaved egregiously.

"So from that perspective we've come a long way baby. But you know it doesn't mean we should tolerate the undisciplined behavior when it occurs, because it is mean," said Crossley.

Noel, acknowledges change won't happen overnight.

"This is a wake up call for some. Some just want to do better. And I think it's going to be a process," she said.

So what's a city council to do?
Laredo said he has taken a number of steps to improve the formality and help eliminate some of the perceived problems, Patch previously reported.
At the meeting the women discussed ways they could react professionally if they interpreted someone being disrespectful to another council member, man or woman.
At least for the full council meetings they plan to observe a more formal process and are brushing up on Roberts Rules, the order of motions, as a tool kit to bring order to a meeting.
If you hear "Point of clarification," or "Point of Order" those are ways to interrupt a meeting respectfully. It also helps prevent any councilors from being blindsided or feeling forced to vote before they're ready.
"I think that President Laredo is trying. I think there's more work to be done."

"I trust and believe that all off my colleagues will do their best to work hard and act respectfully to one another," President of the City Council Laredo told Patch in an interview.

"Disagreement on important issues is a fundamental bedrock of Democracy. The benefit of democracy is free speech and we are elected to consider different points of views and people may have very different views of what’s best for the city, and that’s good. We function better and make better decisions when there is vigorous debate on important public policy. The challenge is to make sure that’s done with the right tone and the right respect for one another. That’s a challenge for every group I've ever seen," Laredo said.

"It’s a very interesting time. And the manner in which we engage in dialogue in the national level is not necessarily good. And we can and are and should be doing much better on the local level."

Patch is in the process of listening to recordings of meetings from the past six months and will update once this reporter contacts the men who have been named. If you have witnessed behavior on the city council that you think is inappropriate, email jenna.fisher@Patch.com

In the meantime catch up on the story here:
Open Meeting Law Complaint Against Newton City Councilors
Newton Looks At Complaint, Councilors To Get 'Guidelines'

Women City Councilors Did Not Violate Open Meeting Law

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File Photo: Jenna Fisher/Patch