2011 State of the City Address

Just over a year ago I stood before you and spoke of the significant challenges our community faced –
addressing our structural deficit while making much needed investment in crumbling infrastructure,
maintaining our commitment to excellence in our public schools – and changing the tone of our discourse.

Tonight, I am pleased to report that, while we still have much work to do, we have made significant
progress on each of these goals and, most importantly, we have laid an important foundation for the work
ahead.

Throughout last year, and moving forward, we have taken a four-pronged approach. First, we have
looked for new revenue wherever we could responsibly find it. Here in Newton, we have limited
opportunities for economic development but we have made significant progress on two exciting projects
already. Chestnut Hill Square was unanimously approved by the Board and will add immeasurably both to
our tax base and to the vitality of our community. Thanks in no small measure to the efforts of Alderman
Ted Hess-Mahan.

And work on Needham Street is finally moving forward as well. When I took office, prospects for
development there looked dim. We had no funding for the design that I believe must precede any
effective development. We lobbied MassDOT to work on the roadway and we began earnest
conversations with the town of Needham. The State took notice and agreed to complete the design work,
a value of nearly $500,000, and I am optimistic we will have even more progress to report this year.

Much deserved credit for both of these projects goes to Candace Havens, newly appointed Director of
Planning and Bob Rooney, our intrepid Chief Operating Officer.

Of course, we all know that we can’t grow our way to fiscal health here in Newton so we have looked to
build trust, confidence and efficiency in government by zero-basing everything we do – challenging our
assumptions and our old way of doing things in order to improve service while lowering cost.

In addition, we have begun implementing performance management, building a culture of excellence

throughout City Hall. This means mapping every one of our processes, measuring how well we perform,
holding ourselves accountable to clear and compelling measures and improving every day on everything
we do.
Finally, we have begun honest and open conversation with all our stakeholders, including our municipal
unions, about our current condition, our future if we don’t change and the need to reduce long- term
expenses. I have asked those participating in our bargaining discussions to come back to me with
proposals for moving Newton forward in a financially responsible way and those conversations, thanks, in
part, to the leadership of Tom Lopez and Michael Zilles, in their capacity as co-chairs of the Insurance
Advisory Committee, have been on going and quite productive.

Let me stop and say that it has become fashionable in politics to promote the notion of good government
at the expense of public sector unions. I do not subscribe to this theory – because good government
happens because of excellence in our public sector unions not despite it. I walk these halls every day. I
speak to our staff – not just managers but fire fighters, police officers, teachers, maintenance workers –
and I know they are as committed as I am to this community. We will not forsake collective bargaining to
score cheap political points. We will not dishonor our hard-working employees by blaming them for poor
management decisions of the past. But we will ask them to work in partnership with us to right our
financial ship.

I want to take a few minutes to elaborate on some of these points by providing some detail around
several of the tangible accomplishments members of my staff have brought about, working closely with
our School Committee and Board of Aldermen as well as countless private citizens.

Last year, we delivered a balanced and responsible budget; one that begins a multi-year process of getting
Newton’s fiscal house in order. Unlike most municipalities, that budget called for no police officer, no fire
fighter and no teacher to be laid off. We engaged in active discussions – detailed working sessions with
the Alderman and our Finance Chair, Lenny Gentile before even submitting a final budget. And, I’m
pleased to say that budget passed – without change – in record time. More than two weeks ahead of
schedule.

This year again, we intend to present a balanced budget; one which will require nearly $9 million in
savings. And again, we will focus on the priorities of our residents – educating our children, protecting
residents and their property, maintaining our public buildings and spaces.

We could not do this without people like Sandy Guryan, the Schools’ Chief Administrative Officer who
found the money last year to help us save teachers’ jobs or Maureen Lemieux our new CFO who is
bringing a laser-like focus to every aspect of our budget and using a zero-based approach – questioning
every thing we do, every penny we spend money on. She has already found hundreds of thousands of
dollars of common sense savings – while improving rather than degrading city services. Take the changes
she’s made in Treasury – putting tax information on line, providing immediate access to those seeking
mortgages and re-financing while drastically reducing the number of phone calls coming in to City Hall.
Freeing up that manpower has enabled us to eliminate the six-week backlog we had on posting payments
and to realize more than $100,000 in additional interest annually. Currently Maureen is bringing this
same approach to our largest operations like maintenance and I am certain we can see similar
improvements everywhere. Thank you Maureen.

Or the example set by Donnalynn Kahn who reorganized our law department, brought a level of strategic
thinking to our response to potential litigation, worked openly and honestly with disputants and staved
off contentious court cases. Most recently, Donnalynn did what I expect every manager at City Hall to do
– ask whether we are better served by using outside experts or, in the case with labor law, bringing the
expertise in house. We now have a labor attorney on staff and, as a result, we expect to save more than
$150,000 annually on outside counsel fees. Thank you Donnalyn.

Or take the work of our new Chief Procurement Officer, Rose Durham. Working hand in hand with our
new Performance Management Director, Nancy Forrester, they are looking to save more than $250,000
annually by putting everything out to bid, combining and standardizing for bulk purchase where possible,
getting bids out early in the cycle before the cheapest contractors have signed elsewhere for the season
and securing prompt payment discounts. Nancy helped to identify the opportunities – I encourage each
and every one of you to visit the conference room Nancy has taken over as a process mapping space but
Rose’s firm and close management of the process – her heightened sense of accountability to the
taxpayers of this community – will enable us to fully realize the benefits.

And finally, there is the work of Josh Morse, Director of Facilities Management. Working closely with
Jonathan Kantar and Alderman Deb Crossley, he is overseeing the implementation of the Noresco energy
savings suggestions at twelve municipal buildings. We are replacing old air handling units with new ones
that heat and cool more efficiently, utilizing florescent, long-lasting light bulbs and motion-sensored
lighting systems, weather stripping buildings for better insulation, and employing energy management
systems that allow us to better understand and manipulate heating and cooling. Newton has already
been recognized as one of the greenest communities in the Commonwealth – but we know we can do
more to save our environment – and our costs.
Each of these accomplishments, while impressive on its own merits, speaks volumes about the kind of
public-private commitment to excellence, service and leadership we have exhibited here in Newton. As I
said on Inauguration Day, we are a community of great wealth and talent. And over the past year, we
have put that wealth and talent to use in meaningful ways.

But I also want to speak about a less tangible accomplishment – the change in the tone in our discourse.
As many of you know, I first decided to run for Mayor of Newton in 2008. At that time, I saw a City whose
residents had lost confidence in local government. Important decisions were getting bogged down in
process, and the tone and tenor of our discourse had become poisoned.

Just this past week, our President reminded us that “only a more civil and honest public discourse can
help us face up to the challenges of our nation in a way that would make those who lost their lives
proud.”

Over the past year, I have dedicated myself to governing in a way that changes that tone. That has meant
reaching out to residents – all residents, not just the ones who regularly contribute. It means responding
to questions openly and honestly and, most importantly, it means asking residents from every part of this
city, from every village and every perspective, from every demographic and every point of view, to work
collaboratively and civilly with one another – and with my team and the School Committee and the Board
of Aldermen, to generate the best solutions to our problems and move the city we all love forward again.

We have brought a new level of openness and responsiveness to all aspects of City government. We
initiated weekly sit-downs with TAB, a monthly call-in program and biweekly office hours. As we prepared
the FY11 budget, we held eight town halls and six sessions with the Board of Alderman to seek input. And
we repeated this process, holding widespread and candid conversation as a community about our Capital
Improvement Plans. Over the next year, we will bringing Newton Serves to every village, encouraging
Area Councils to take shape, added new talent and energy to our boards and commissions and we will
again hold working sessions with our Board and Town Hall Meetings with our residents. I am thrilled that
the School Committee and Superintendent Fleishman have now scheduled a Budget Forum to share the
significant challenges we face on the schools side – more than $6 million gap to close.

Make no mistake – finding the money needed will be difficult. But, as I have often said, I am prepared to
make tough decisions. But I cannot and will not sacrifice our children’s education because as the
Governor recently said, “young people get their chance now and don’t have the option to sit out their
education until the recession is over.”

I believe more strongly than ever that this means emphasizing what happens in the classroom. Nothing is
more important. We cannot build state of the art buildings and then leave those buildings devoid of what
really makes a difference in a child’s education. We must ensure that our schools attract, develop and
retain quality teachers and pay them a fair wage. We must make certain that our class sizes are as small
as possible across the board and that our curricula promotes skills like critical and creative thinking as well
as collaborative and inventive problem solving. We must attract and retain the most creative, energetic
and proactive school leadership we can. These principals develop and inspire teachers who make a
difference and set a tone inside every school building that emphasizes learning.

Everything else we spend money on, everything else must be zero-based. This means examining every
program and every cost element, including our health care costs. Everything must be on the table
including how we actually implement the mandates the State requires. There can be no sacred cows. We
have found millions of dollars in savings on the municipal side and I will spend as much time as I have to
over the next few months to ensure that together – school committee, administration, teachers’ union –
we find the money we must to close the budget gap.

I want to end tonight by talking about dogs.

When I took office a little more than a year ago, I talked about the fact that sometimes our passion here
in Newton keeps us from hearing one another. That, conflicting views, now and again, turn personal and
rhetoric becomes venomous. I pointed out that we demand excellence in our public schools and argue
with unparalleled fervor about our dog parks.

I am pleased today to say that here in Newton, I believe, we have taken that lesson to heart – and no
better example than with the work – led by Bob Derubeis on off leash areas. Bob, solicited the help of off
leash foe and friend alike, forming a working group. They developed criteria for the areas and a process
for approving them that is open and transparent. Last year we argued bitterly about one temporary
location. Today, we have made Cold Springs Park a permanent off lease area and five new locations will
open in the spring.

It is only because of the great wealth and talent we have here in Newton – the elected officials who serve
so selflessly, the residents who volunteer countless hours, my tireless staff – with special recognition to
Megan Costello who lives close by only because I told her she couldn’t sleep in the office. It is only
because of your passion about and commitment to this great community that I can say, the State of this
remarkable city is very good. We have significant challenges ahead but I am optimistic that we have what
it takes to meet those challenges together as a community.

Thank you.