Northland: Yes outspending No 10 to 1

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Emily Norton

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Feb 25, 2020, 4:03:30 PM2/25/20
to Newtonville Discussion, West Newton Community
Hi all, thought you'd like to see this (attd). The Yes on Northland campaign, funded by the Northland developer, has raised over 300K. I also see they are paying some Newton residents to be canvassers, which is fine, but I recognize some names who have been commenting on Facebook in favor of the project, who did not disclose they are being paid by the developer. 

The No side has raised 28K, in small donations from Newton residents.


Yes For Newton''s Future_Pre-election 20Mar3.pdf

Dan Proskauer

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Feb 25, 2020, 4:22:55 PM2/25/20
to Emily Norton, Newtonville Discussion, West Newton Community
Wow.  Is it even accurate to say "raised" ("has raised over 300K") when 100% of that money came directly from the developer in the form of two six-figure checks?  Must be nice...and presumably financially worth that kind of investment?  Thanks for sharing this!  Certainly the developer is within their rights to spend money funding this effort...but I'm glad the rules require the disclosure you shared.

Dan


On Tue, Feb 25, 2020 at 4:03 PM Emily Norton <em...@emilynorton.org> wrote:
Hi all, thought you'd like to see this (attd). The Yes on Northland campaign, funded by the Northland developer, has raised over 300K. I also see they are paying some Newton residents to be canvassers, which is fine, but I recognize some names who have been commenting on Facebook in favor of the project, who did not disclose they are being paid by the developer. 

The No side has raised 28K, in small donations from Newton residents.


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Emily Norton

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Feb 25, 2020, 7:59:48 PM2/25/20
to Jackie Morris, Dan Proskauer, Newtonville Discussion, West Newton Community
Thanks for your no vote on the charter, Jackie. This is a separate issue though. I thought people would be interested to see how much each side is spending. 

__
Emily Norton
Newton Ward 2 Councilor
www.emilynorton.org
Office (617) 795-0362
Cell (508) 397-6839
Pronouns: She/her/hers


On Tue, Feb 25, 2020 at 7:44 PM Jackie Morris <tofub...@gmail.com> wrote:
Councilor Norton,

Isn’t it true that after 2+ years of negotiation, all three councilors from Ward 5 voted for the project?  And a super majority of councilors, 17, who were voted in by the constituents of the city of Newton, voted in favor of the project.  I am curious as to why are you not advocating for the citizens of Newton to respect the vote from your city council counterparts?  

Governing by referendum is bad for Newton and this Northland referendum is bad for Newton.  If we put out a referendum to cut our taxes in half do you think it would pass?  Sure.  Would it be good for Newton, no.  We elect city councilors for a reason - to represent the people of Newton.  

Furthermore, this is the most perplexing since you speak and advocate for Ward representation and were a vocal lead on the No on Charter vote.  You said we should respect and protect the voice of the Ward councilors and I believed you and voted No.

In this case, Ward 5 councilor John Rice voted in favor of the project.  And if I am correct the Ward 6 Councilor also voted in favor of the project.  Both were voted in to represent the Ward.   Bill Humphrey the new Ward 5 councilor stated that he would have voted for Northland and ran on that platform.  He beat Reana Getz who ran on a platform opposing the project.  Ward 5 essentially voted for the Northland project by voting in Councilor Humphrey.

Look, I’m sure there are some people who do not agree with your votes but we all agree that you represent Ward 2.  Why are you advocating for us to undo what the local Ward 5 & 6 councilors voted for?  They represent the Ward and voted in favor of the project.  

Why are we not respecting the work that the Ward 5 & 6 councilors did on this project?


Jackie Morris

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Feb 25, 2020, 8:10:00 PM2/25/20
to dpr...@gmail.com, Emily Norton, Newtonville Discussion, West Newton Community
Councilor Norton,

Isn’t it true that after 2+ years of negotiation, all three councilors from Ward 5 voted for the project?  And a super majority of councilors, 17, who were voted in by the constituents of the city of Newton, voted in favor of the project.  I am curious as to why are you not advocating for the citizens of Newton to respect the vote from your city council counterparts?  

Governing by referendum is bad for Newton and this Northland referendum is bad for Newton.  If we put out a referendum to cut our taxes in half do you think it would pass?  Sure.  Would it be good for Newton, no.  We elect city councilors for a reason - to represent the people of Newton.  

Furthermore, this is the most perplexing since you speak and advocate for Ward representation and were a vocal lead on the No on Charter vote.  You said we should respect and protect the voice of the Ward councilors and I believed you and voted No.

In this case, Ward 5 councilor John Rice voted in favor of the project.  And if I am correct the Ward 6 Councilor also voted in favor of the project.  Both were voted in to represent the Ward.   Bill Humphrey the new Ward 5 councilor stated that he would have voted for Northland and ran on that platform.  He beat Reana Getz who ran on a platform opposing the project.  Ward 5 essentially voted for the Northland project by voting in Councilor Humphrey.

Look, I’m sure there are some people who do not agree with your votes but we all agree that you represent Ward 2.  Why are you advocating for us to undo what the local Ward 5 & 6 councilors voted for?  They represent the Ward and voted in favor of the project.  

Why are we not respecting the work that the Ward 5 & 6 councilors did on this project?

On Feb 25, 2020, at 4:22 PM, Dan Proskauer <dpr...@gmail.com> wrote:

Jackie Morris

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Feb 25, 2020, 8:10:25 PM2/25/20
to Emily Norton, Dan Proskauer, Newtonville Discussion, West Newton Community
Are you voting Yes and respecting the Ward councilor votes?

dorfm...@comcast.net

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Feb 25, 2020, 9:25:59 PM2/25/20
to West Newton Community, em...@emilynorton.org
Thanks for sharing the fundraising information. I’m in support of the project but don’t feel the same about the northland contributions.

I guess there’s nothing that prohibits them from making that kind of contribution ($325,000) but it doesn’t seem right. I think the literature we’ve been receiving probably says it’s from “yes on 3” (I don’t have any here to check) but from the info you sent it looks like the campaign hasn’t raised a penny from newton residents. That’s disturbing. I thought the signs and cards and people canvassing showed support from residents, but I guess not.

This is what campaign finance reform is about. Can Newton enact a local law to prevent this from happening in the future? On a local issue like this it seems wrong when one side can align with a deep pocket non resident group to get such huge contributions that the others side could not hope to match. Could the contributions at least be capped? Or does citizens united prohibit regulation at the local level as well?

Ann
Dorfm...@comcast.net





------ Original Message ------

Michael Halle

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Feb 25, 2020, 11:06:34 PM2/25/20
to Ann, West Newton Community
As I've said in other forums, spending on this referendum seems completely different than typical campaign financing.  This is a referendum about a specific development.  This isn't a political side aligned with a special interest. Here, the developer followed the rules, got approved, and is protecting its multi-year investment in the project. I'm not really sure I'd expect anything different.  Time will tell if saturating the metaphorical airwaves produces the appropriate result. 

"No" used the tools at its disposal (the referendum), The developer is doing the same, just different resources.

As to the question about why nobody else is donating money to the "yes" referendum, they don't need to give money.  More money doesn't help, Northland's got that. There are plenty of people who are supporting the project who are organizing and writing letters and answering questions.  Some are coordinating with the developer, some are just expressing their own viewpoints.  Some care more about specific aspects of the project. Others care more about process, or facts, or trying to find coherence and common ground (I like to think that's me, because I care more about facts and building consensus than I do about any particular project).  

In the same way, some "no" people are affiliated with RS2020 and some aren't, and there's a bunch out there trying to convince everyone they can. 

Councilor Norton stated that she saw people post on Facebook who aren't noted in Northland's expenditures. I don't know exactly the implication the Councilor is making, but I do know there are a whole lot of people speaking their minds passionately, on their own, just like they are on the "no" side.  Money isn't necessary to buy passion and discussion in Newton elections, especially about something like development. If there's true impropriety, or just an oversight, please bring it forward.

Sure, the money could and should have been better spent, but once we were down the referendum route this really was the only likely outcome. This election is costing $33K of taxpayer money, and the delay in the vote that RS2020 wanted and several City Councilors supported would have cost all of us $112K more. (With the added bonus of extending this debate for another month! Joy!) Again, this is a completely legal route RS2020 is taking. But it has its own costs.

I've been clear about acknowledging the comments and effort of RSN about this project, and about being respectful to all parties. I've called out what I felt were inappropriate comments by "yes' supporters. 

But I simply don't see the path from a "no" vote to a better consensus result, or even to any result that doesn't risk significantly greater harm to the local community. In that, I have respect for all the Councilors who worked to make this project better over 2+ years, even if they ultimately opposed it.  They did good work, and that shouldn't get lost in any vitriol. 

I am definitely not convinced that this kind of referendum is a great policymaking tool.

--Mike


Stephanie Karger

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Feb 26, 2020, 7:22:25 AM2/26/20
to West Newton Community
Just for the record: I was not paid to post the "Yes" sign on my lawn; I offered to host the sign because I believe the Northland project is good for Newton.
Stephanie
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James Cote

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Feb 26, 2020, 4:18:10 PM2/26/20
to Emily Norton, Newtonville Discussion, West Newton Community
Taking the situation out of this expose:  3 Years ago I enlisted Jay Harney and Emily Norton to docket an item with me to the City Council regarding the registration of lobbyists reaching out to elected officials.  The goal was to prevent big ticket items like Retail Marijuana and Development from campaigning to elected officials without full disclosure. (Retail marijuana also raised in excess of $300,000)
The committee responsible for hearing this item let it die with the Council at the end of both terms 2016 to 2018, and 2018 to 2020.  So needless to say when money is on the table, there are people that will fund it.  As for advertising directly to residents and voters, well that's just an everyday right of business people so no harm there.
Thank you.
Jim




James Cote
Candidate for (Soon to be announced)
Newton, Massachusetts

“When passion rules, she never rules wisely.”

— Benjamin Franklin


On Tue, Feb 25, 2020 at 4:03 PM Emily Norton <em...@emilynorton.org> wrote:
Hi all, thought you'd like to see this (attd). The Yes on Northland campaign, funded by the Northland developer, has raised over 300K. I also see they are paying some Newton residents to be canvassers, which is fine, but I recognize some names who have been commenting on Facebook in favor of the project, who did not disclose they are being paid by the developer. 

The No side has raised 28K, in small donations from Newton residents.


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didi_614

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Feb 26, 2020, 4:32:21 PM2/26/20
to Emily Norton, James Cote, Newtonville Discussion, West Newton Community
Who were the councilors on this committee that did not let it thru the committee?

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Nancy Finn

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Feb 26, 2020, 5:10:16 PM2/26/20
to dpr...@gmail.com, Emily Norton, Newtonville Discussion, West Newton Community
Hi all,
The public relations firm they are using is North winds.
Nancy Finn
Ps the same one Korff is using

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 25, 2020, at 4:22 PM, Dan Proskauer <dpr...@gmail.com> wrote:



Nancy Finn

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Feb 26, 2020, 5:17:50 PM2/26/20
to dorfm...@comcast.net, West Newton Community, em...@emilynorton.org
Hi all,
Sadly money from outsiders of the residents of Newton is very suspect.

I am voting NO as the proposed project is too big for the location. There is already too much traffic there as it is.
Upper Falls village has a right to not have this development forced on them.
Affordable rents are $3-6k without utilities. Really not affordable. 
Northland will have total control over this proposed development.
Regards,
Nancy



Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 25, 2020, at 9:26 PM, "dorfm...@comcast.net" <dorfm...@comcast.net> wrote:

Thanks for sharing the fundraising information. I’m in support of the project but don’t feel the same about the northland contributions.
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