Promoting Area Councils

Final Report

Mayor-elect Warren supports the use of neighborhood area councils, as provided in the City Charter. Currently, the only active area council is in Newton Highlands. Consistent with Mayor-elect Warren’s desire to enhance public engagement and participation, the community involvement transition team proposes an effort to promote and encourage the creation of additional neighborhood area councils, with a long-term goal of having all residents living in areas served by such a council.

The transition team recognizes that organized community participation may take many forms and we could employ other methods to increase the level of involvement. One of the advantages of promoting neighborhood area councils, in particular, is that the rules for establishing them are already included in the City Charter.

The chartered status of area councils comes with some difficult requisites. For example, the City Charter requires that area councils prove their community support by collecting the signatures of twenty percent of all the residents in a proposed area. While this task is difficult, it also asks that hundreds of residents become at least somewhat involved at the outset of the process. Other types of participation may achieve the goal of enhanced public engagement without some of the organizing hurdles, and we suggest that alternatives also be explored.

If successful, a system of neighborhood area councils will permit residents across the city to participate in the civic and government affairs of the city and to express their preferences and priorities for the city. Because our existing villages represent small geographic areas with which residents already identify, and which already provide a variety of civic and social purposes, we propose a citywide system of village-based neighborhood area councils.

Article 9 of the Charter provides for “neighborhood area councils” as mechanisms “. . . to encourage citizen involvement at the neighborhood level by permitting limited self-government through the establishment of neighborhood area councils as legal entities of the City government.” The article provides the procedure for establishing such councils, and specifies that the council “shall consist of five to nine members,” elected at large by the voters residing in the neighborhood area covered by the council.

Ward aldermen serve, under provisions in the Charter, as ex officio members of the area councils in their ward(s). The area councils would be expected to work closely with the local aldermen on local issues and the councils could assist the aldermen in reaching more of their constituents and understanding each neighborhood’s priorities.

Success in organizing such councils (Article 9 or otherwise) will depend primarily on the efforts made by the residents of the city, not city hall. The mayor’s office cannot organize area councils and should not do so; the residents of the villages must do it themselves. There are, however, a number of steps the mayor can take to make organizing councils easier and to maximize the chances that such councils will be become a reality.

• The mayor should take every opportunity to express his support for neighborhood area councils, including them as an item for discussion at every town hall meeting.
• The mayor should acknowledge that the boundaries of each council will be determined by the residents themselves, but support the concept of establishing an area council for each of Newton’s village centers. (In order to assist residents in creating village-based councils with boundaries that do not overlap, a sample map has been developed by the transition team.)
• The mayor should continue to explore whether Article 9 councils should be pursued alone, or whether there are other mechanisms that could be equally viable and useful.
• The mayor should engage the Board of Aldermen in a discussion of the circumstances under which the Board would likely approve the creation of new neighborhood area councils.
• The mayor should designate a city employee to provide assistance to prospective council organizers. This employee should create a “neighborhood area council packet” that provides all of the information necessary for residents to get started in creating their council. The packet should include:
• An introduction to the idea and benefits of area councils;
• A set of FAQs addressing potential concerns about councils and their operation;
• A copy of Article 9 of the City Charter;
• A sample petition;
• A sample set of by-laws;
• A set of guidelines outlining the anticipated roles, responsibilities and activities of area councils; and
• Instructions on where to get assistance in city hall, including defining the geographic area to be covered and the number of petition signatures required;
• Instructions on how to gain approval by the Board of Aldermen, including a checklist of items that the Board would require.
• A portion of the city’s website should be dedicated to neighborhood area councils. It should describe the council system, include the packet described above, and provide website space for each defined council.