Alderman Ken Parker has been a consistent and strong advocate for long-term planning that includes a committment to regular maintenance. As one example, in recent mayoral candidate forums hosted by the Newton PTO Council, NewTV and the Newton TAB, Ken Parker has taken a strong stand against Mayor Cohen's decision not to allow additional School Department bonding during FY 2010.  This decision will prevent badly-needed capital improvements from taking place in favor of the installation of modular classrooms at several schools in Newton.  This may address short-term space issues, but the cost to Newton taxpayers as a result of the deferred maintenance will be much higher.

"While I understand your desire to limit total borrowing, we believe that it is inappropriate to pit classroom space needs against the replacement of aging boilers, windows, and roofs. We believe that the return on investment in energy savings alone more than justifies this work and that deferring it because of pressing space needs is short-sighted."

- Alderman Ken Parker

Long-term planning for effective maintenance of Newton's capital assets will be a hallmark of a Parker Administration.  To read more about his plan, please click here.

Alderman Ken Parker has a strong track record of identifying real solutions for Newton that control costs and improve services over the long term.  In 2003, Ken led the implementation of the Hopkinton Bill over the objections of the Cohen Administration, and the city has benefitted ever since.

The campaign just issued this press release for the 2009 Hopkinton Bill numbers:

The City of Newton received an additional $219,807 in revenue during fiscal year 2009 from the adoption of the Hopkinton Bill. This amount, combined with the previous five years' revenue, brings the total additional revenue realized by the City as a result of the Hopkinton Bill implementation to more than $1.4 million.

"I'm pleased that even in this difficult economy," said Alderman Ken Parker, "the Hopkinton Bill is generating more than $200 thousand a year for Newton, allowing us to pay for services that we might otherwise have had to eliminate."

In late 2003, Ken Parker worked to get the City of Newton to adopt the Hopkinton Bill by local option, allowing mid-year tax assessment adjustments for new construction. This proposal passed over the objection of the Cohen Administration, which said it would be too difficult to implement and would not result in significant additional revenue.

When arguing for local adoption of the Hopkinton Bill in Newton, Ken estimated that it would bring in an additional $200 thousand per year. To date, it has averaged nearly $240 thousand per year and the fear that it would be difficult to implement turned out not to be justified.

A couple hundred thousand here, a couple hundred thousand there, and pretty soon.....