Newton Candidate Profile: Susan Albright Ward 2 At Large

NEWTON, MA — There will be several contested races in this fall's election, including for school committee, at-large city council and ward councilor. Patch asked candidates in the contested races to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Susan Albright, 71, is vying to keep her seat as Councilor at Large Ward 2. She's facing off against incumbent Jake Auchincloss and newcomers Lucas Tarik and Jennifer Bentley for two seats.

In 1996 she was elected to the School Committee, and kept that seat through the end of 2003. In 2004 she took a seat as an at-large City Councilor for Ward 2. She still holds that seat.

Albright grew up in Newton and graduated from Newton High, she moved away and then came back in 1978. She and her late husband raised two sons, David and James, now in their 30s here.

She got her bachelors from Tufts University, and at New York University School of Public Administration,she studied for her masters in Urban Planning. Since 2016 she's been a principal at M:ed: Integrate. Before that she worked for 26 years at Tufts Medical School, where she created open source software. She has also worked for people with developmental disabilities and for the Department of Mental Health.

She took a minute to answer a list of question we sent her. Here's what she said. Her answers have not been edited.

Previously: Newton Election Calendar 2019: What To Know About Election

Are you running for office in Newton? Contact Jenna Fisher at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Newton Patch.

The single most pressing issue facing Newton is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Mitigating the effects of climate change is the single most pressing issue and it must drive the conversation with respect to housing, the budget, zoning, and transportation. With respect to housing, our goal should be to create housing in walkable village centers - good for our villages and good to reduce carbon emissions. If we force all new housing out 1/2 hour to an hour's drive away from jobs we will contribute to increasing greenhouse gas emissions. To keep strong village centers we need "feet on the street" to use village businesses.

Climate change mitigation must also drive our push to make sure that public transportation works for the citizens of Newton - including the 3 Worcester Line Train Stations and the capacity on the green line.

We can't do this ourselves but it is up to us to make the Governor understand that if he wants more housing near transit then he MUST put more money into fixing the trains. Our zoning reform efforts should foster the creation of our housing in village centers and near transportation hubs.

The lions share of the greenhouse gas emissions are caused by private homes and businesses in Newton and by the cars, we drive - therefor zoning must guide building sustainable buildings and ask the Land Use Committee to review all projects against sustainable building standards. Our road reconstructions must foster safer pedestrian and bike use. Even a 5% reduction in car use in Newton will reduce congestion and emissions.

Finally, with respect to the budget, I hope that we can find ways to incentivize citizens to upgrade homes to renewable energy. I hope we can put a portion of the funds the city saves by upgrading our infrastructure into financial incentives for those who can't afford to upgrade their homes on their own. I also hope that the budget reflects this priority by having in it a Climate Change Coach who will advise citizens on the best way to upgrade their homes to make them use renewable energy.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

The breadth and depth of my knowledge of Newton's challenges sets me apart from my challengers. I have enjoyed working with Jake Auchincloss over these last 4 years and I hope to continue to work with him.

I've worked on and led a variety of important ordinances. I understand both sides of an issue and come down on the solutions which provide the most benefit to Newton's citizens. I bring a thoughtful problem-solving collaboration, and careful analysis to maintain Newton's tradition of greatness.

Here is an example that sets me apart: One of the important projects the Zoning and Planning Committee studied for two years was our new inclusionary zoning ordinance. The goal of this ordinance is to find the balance between the total units and the percent of these that will be set aside for affordable units.

Over the course of our studies a consultant provided the economics of housing financing, we read national studies and questioned cities and towns in Massachusetts and across the country to understand how far we could increase the set aside for affordable housing.

The Challengers naively say the percent should be higher - maybe even 50%. Years ago Newton passed an ordinance that required 15% set aside and for years no one came to Newton to develop housing because of the imbalance between the cost of land and the cost of subsidizing so much affordable housing. Finally, the economy made this percent work.

My committee decided to push the envelope a bit and added 2.5% workforce housing (for people making between 80% and 110% of area median income) which will increase to 5% in 1.5 years. The total set aside will grow to 20%. If these challenges were to try to push the percent to 50% we would get no new housing and thus no new affordable housing.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)? If you're an incument, what's on your to-do list?

Some things on my to-do list are huge and other things small - but all are important. Zoning reform for the city was put on hold while we worked on the Washington St Vision Plan and zoning code. We need to finish the Washington Street zoning and get back to the city-wide zoning effort.

Among the 2011 zoning reform roadmap mandates are; to recognize that every village center and commercial corridor should be treated in a unique manner, encourage mixed-use development in village centers with "soft transitions" to residential neighborhoods, rationalized and streamline parking requirements, protect the character and scale of neighborhoods, and improve natural resource conservation and sustainability.

We may yet pass some environmental zoning code this term - but whatever does not get finished by December should be finished in the new term to assure that new buildings are built with sustainable methods.

On a slightly smaller scale, I want to create additional off-leash dog areas and get ticketing power for the Parks and Recreation off-leash dog specialist to enforce the ordinance. I want to continue to press, with Representative Khan, MassDOT to enhance public transportation in Newton - especially make sure that the state fully funds both the redesign and rehabilitation of the 3 stations but also makes one station accessible to both tracks to enhance service at least at one station in newton.

I want to continue to encourage the development of diverse housing options. We need to continue our way down the list of elementary schools in need of renovation. I hope we can press the reset button on NewCAL and start fresh to find a site for a new and appropriate senior center.

Finally, I think a public conversation about our budget is needed. We all need to understand whether or not our expectations for what we want to achieve matches the revenue we have. If not - what can we do about that.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

I consider the problems my constituents bring me to be a very important part of my portfolio. The problems can be as small as a faulty sidewalk, speeding on a street scaring playing kids, needing a new tree in front of a house to large or daunting issues like - help me find a place to live so i don't have to leave Newton in face of rising rent.

Once I helped prevent the eviction of a family whose new downstairs neighbors complained that they were making too much noise. These issues help make a difference in individual citizens' lives.

Of course I have "bigger" issues as well as part of my platform that effect Newton writ large - such as enhancing public transportation and creating diverse housing opportunities. Shortening the winter parking ban crosses over from helping an individual to helping all Newton's citizens. I received a call from someone who had just purchased a home without a driveway and the seller told him to call me to help. I knew neither one of these people but I took this on, researched it and developed the proposed ordinance to shorten the parking ban.

Sometimes my greatest joy is helping individuals and I hope to be able to continue to do so.

What accomplishments would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I led the taskforce that wrote the ordinance to create off-leash dog areas which was extremely controversial, I led the effort for the drone ordinance to protect citizens' privacy, I worked on and got passed the accessory apartment ordinance.

As chair of the Zoning and Planning Committee I shepherded the inclusionary zoning ordinance, the short-term rental ordinance, the Needham St and Washington St Vision Plans as well as the Climate Vulnerability Plan and the Economic Development Plan.

I shepherded the ordinance to reduce the time of the winter parking ban. I led the group that developed the Welcoming City Ordinance. I have supported the creation of diverse housing options in Newton. In sum, I know what is possible and how to achieve it.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

My favorite aspect of this city is...

The diversity, strength and knowledge of our citizens and our tree-lined streets. We are losing diversity every day as the price of housing soars.

Your social media info (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook)

https://www.facebook.com/susan.albright.7798, @AldermanSusan

What's your take on all the new development in the city?

Some of these projects are before the Council's Land Use Committee and therefore inappropriate to speak about until the hearing is closed. In general, however, we must both increase housing and commerce and preserve our beautiful neighborhoods by channeling growth to appropriate areas with proper planning.

Newton cannot maintain strong schools and services without growing our tax base. As mentioned above - housing in the close in (to Boston) suburbs should be part of our solutions to mitigate climate change. This means that we need to increase our housing for every price range in Newton along with the other "inner core" suburbs.

Through our inclusionary zoning ordinance applies to new multi-family housing, we will increase our supply of affordable housing - also an important goal of development. Mixed-use projects also provide new commercial entities to enhance our tax revenue.

More on Newton Elections:

• Newton Election Calendar 2019: What To Know About Election
• Ward 5 Residents To Head To The Polls Sept. 10
• Humphrey, Winters Win Preliminary Election In Newton's Ward 5

More candidate profiles:

• Kathryn Winters - Ward 5
• Bill Humphrey - Ward 5
• Rena Getz - Ward 5 (write in)
• Andreae Downs - At Large Ward 5
• Deb Crossly - At Large Ward 5

• Emily Norton (Incumbent)- Ward 2
• Bryan Barash - Ward 2
• Jake Auchincloss(Incumbent) - At Large Ward 2
• Susan Albright (Incumbent) - At Large Ward 2

Are you running for office in Newton? Contact Jenna Fisher at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Newton Patch.