Input for Community Involvement Topics

The Community Involvement team met with Newton residents on November 22. We invited a group in to brainstorm on our goals of improving the city website, promoting the neighborhood Area Councils, creating a Newton Volunteer Corps, holding town hall meetings across the city, and involving our residents with the implementation of a performance management system. Here are some of our results.

In today’s environment, a City website can and should be a powerful tool for communicating with residents, providing vital information about City programs and services as well as allowing for residents to take advantage of online capabilities like emailing and bill paying.

Click to read more and comment on Improving the City Website

Mayor-elect Warren supports the use of neighborhood Area Councils, as provided in the Charter. Currently, the only active Area Council is in Newton Highlands. Area Councils might conduct meetings with local politicians and policy experts, do independent research on projects, and make recommendations to city government on how to best serve their areas.

Click to read more and comment on Promoting Area Councils

Click to read and comment on the final report.

Mayor-elect Warren would like to create a Newton Volunteer Corps aimed at increasing volunteering in the City and tapping into resident talent to expand participation on the numerous boards and commissions.

Click to read more and comment on Creating a Newton Volunteer Corps

Mayor-elect Warren wants to hear from citizens and answer questions about key issues through a series of town hall meetings across the City.

Click to read more and comment on Conducting Town Hall Meetings.

Click to read and comment on the final report.

Seeking Community Input on the City's Performance Management System

Mayor-elect Warren will be implementing a performance management system designed to measure and report on how well each department is delivering critical programs and services. We asked our group to identify ways in which residents could contribute to the process of determining what to measure and provide input in the measurement process.

Click to read more and comment on Seeking Community Input on the City's Performance Management System.

Click to read and comment on the final report.

Community Involvement

Mission Statement

Mayor-Elect Setti Warren is committed to improving community involvement in Newton. He will give a high priority to (1) sharing information with the public; (2) gathering feedback from the community; and (3) engaging residents in decision making.

The Community Involvement Transition Team has identified the following mechanisms for improving information sharing and public engagement:

• An improved City website, that fosters better access to information for and about City departments and services, the School department , the Mayor’s Office and the Board of Aldermen;
• Town meetings with the Mayor in each Newton village dedicated to an exchange of information and ideas among a broad group of residents;
• Creation of a Newton Volunteer Corps aimed at tapping into resident talent and expanding participation on the numerous boards and commissions in the City;
• Promotion of Area Councils, as provided in the City Charter, but currently active only in Newton Highlands;
• Participation in performance management effort by conducting meaningful surveys of residents to measure City performance and identify priorities.

Over the next month, the Community Involvement Team will lay out the short-, mid- and long-term steps required to develop and establish these mechanisms.