News

Dear Friends,

I hope that you are getting through the winter and looking forward to the start of spring. In this month’s newsletter, I will focus on supporting our schools, parking in our village centers, upcoming budget deliberations, the status of my campaign, and notes about Newton Community Education program registration and PorchFest 2025.

Supporting Our Schools

A key priority for me as Mayor will be to work closely with the School Committee and the leadership of the Newton Public Schools to ensure that all students receive an excellent education. Our three children and I are beneficiaries of a great education in the Newton Public Schools, and I am proud of our school system!

Although the last few years have been a difficult time for our schools, I am confident that under the excellent leadership of Superintendent Anna Nolin we are going to meet our challenges. Here are three ways I intend to lead in this area:

1. Work closely with Dr. Nolin and the School Committee to improve the quality of education, including ensuring that we have consistent high standards across all schools and that decisions as to best teaching and learning practices are based on evidence and data.

2. Listen carefully to and improve our communications with all residents (not just those with school-age children) and other stakeholders (including teachers and staff) about what we are doing in our schools and the financial support our schools need.

3. Ensure that every school building is equipped to meet the needs of 21st century learning. While we have made considerable progress in constructing new buildings and rehabilitating existing ones, we have a lot of work ahead of us that will take time and money.

Working together, I am confident that our schools will thrive!

Parking in Village Centers

Parking in our village centers is challenging. Our local business owners – whose success is critical to our local economy and the vibrancy of our village centers – are emphatic about the need for convenient, safe parking for their customers and employees. At the same time, measures to improve pedestrian safety and other forms of transportation can lead to a loss of parking. We also have zoning rules that require businesses to individually provide parking that are frequently waived in the special permit process. Here is how I will approach balancing those competing interests:

• Recognize the importance of parking for the vitality of our businesses and therefore preserve and, where appropriate, enhance public parking in and near village centers.

• Develop a customized approach for each village to best address its parking needs. This will include:

  • making sure that our villages are safe for pedestrians, cyclists, public transportation, and automobiles.

  • providing spaces for employee parking.

  • examining time restrictions on parking spaces.

  • creating safe loading zones for deliveries and pick-up services.

• Consider the private lots that are frequently (if not always legally) used for public parking (such as the Star Market lot in Newtonville and the Walgreen’s lot in Newton Centre) and what effects the loss of this de facto public parking will have on parking in the rest of the village.

• Eliminate zoning requirements that require first floor small individual businesses to provide parking, but only after we have successfully implemented public parking plans in each village.

By listening carefully and building consensus, we will successfully tackle the issues of parking in our village centers.

Budget Deliberations

In February, the Mayor met with the City Council to provide a preview of the upcoming budget, for fiscal year 2026 (July 1, 2025 – June 20, 2026). In fiscal year 2026, revenues are likely to be stable and spending will increase modestly over fiscal year 2025. Our biggest unknown is federal spending. While we are not heavily dependent on federal funds, any loss of funding will either lead to a reduction in a federally funded program or a reduction elsewhere if funds are shifted within the budget to level fund the affected program. Furthermore, the state receives significant federal funding, and the loss of those funds will, in turn, affect the ability of the state to provide funding for some of our priorities.

Find the report on her budget presentation and the presentation itself here.

Campaign Update

Team Laredo recently launched the first of a series of short videos that highlight my personal story, work and civic experience, leadership style, and where I stand on key issues. We will be sending them out via email, and they also will be available on my website.

I continue to meet with residents and business owners both individually and in small groups. These conversations are an excellent opportunity to listen to your questions and concerns. Please email me at marc@laredofornewton.com if you can host or want to attend an event.

We have over 300 public endorsers! Please let us know if we can add your name. Also, check out our Facebook and Instagram pages to follow the campaign.

Finally, donations are critical to the success of a campaign. If you have not done so, please donate here.

Newton Community Education and Newton PorchFest

Newton Community Education’s spring programs are open for registration! Whether you are looking to try a new hobby, get active, or gain new skills, there is something for everyone. Learn more or enroll today at Newton Community Ed's website.

Newton PorchFest is an afternoon of free music performed outside of people’s homes in Auburndale, Lower Falls, Waban, and West Newton. PorchFest 2025 is scheduled for Saturday, June 7, 2025, from 12pm to 6pm. Sign up to participate or to learn more about Porchfest 2025 here.

As always, I welcome your thoughts, questions, comments, and criticisms!

Thanks,

Marc