Lisa Gordon for Newton City Council

04/01/2024

Our annual fundraiser is this Sunday and we have a lot of very cool auction items for weekend getaways, Boston Red Sox tickets, Boston Celtics tickets, a tour of WBUR 90.9 FM with Radio Boston host Tiziana Dearing and so much more! Check it out!
https://event.auctria.com/596a5ffc-21dc-4cad-96aa-98bce611542a/a780d600ec2e11e9ae081db830846aa5

12/08/2023

Passing along this request that was emailed to me:

"Really sorry to bother you!! As we start the festival of lights, I am focused on the remaining hostages and making sure the light shines on them. I was on a Zoom call with one of the hostage's parents today. The families have asked that we all use one blue candle each night in honor of the hostages."

12/04/2023

Dear friends, family, neighbors and colleagues:

After an official recount on Saturday, we came just 15 votes short of becoming Ward 6 Councilor. Prior to Saturday’s hand recount that lasted over 8 hours, the city's uncertified results indicated a 23 vote difference. I am so grateful to all of you who over the course of our campaign hosted lawn signs, attended debates, read email updates, knocked on doors, called voters, gave contributions, held signs, drove to my house to sign petition papers: the list goes on and on.

Thank you to the election workers, election commissioners, city employees, and campaign volunteers who carried out such a smooth and professional hand recount process. And a sincere congratulations to Martha Bixby on winning this race. It is not easy to put your name on the ballot, and I am excited that she cares about Ward 6 and Newton just as we all do.

I retrieved many lawn signs on Sunday, but if you have one that I missed please let me know and we’ll get it picked up. But for now, thank you again for always having my back.

Onwards,

Lisa

11/19/2023

Acton Food Pantry had our Thanksgiving distribution. We served over 449 families in need through our pantry and our newly launched mobile market. When we have extra food that won't make it to our next distribution, but is in great shape and not expired, I bring the food items from Acton to the Newton Community Freedge@420 Watertown Street. Here is my before and after. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

11/01/2023

The MBTA Act requires Newton to zone for an additional 8,330 housing units to meet its requirements. The Zoning and Planning Committe VCOD initiative -- which has no formal deadlines and is not required by the state -- zones for another 6,000 more units, resulting in potentially more than 14,330 additional housing units in Newton when the two plans are conjoined. For comparison, Newton currently has 33,000 units.

To help our community better understand the two separate initiatives (MBTA Communities Act and VCOD) and what is required I will be hosting another community townhall on November 2, 2023 at 8:00 PM on Zoom. We will be joined by Ward 3 Councilor Pam Wright and Ward 1 At-Large Councilor John Oliver, who have spent a lot of time and effort analyzing the zoning impacts from the MBTA and VCOD plans to each ward and precinct map so residents can stay informed of how they are directly affected. They will dedicate time to discussing the effects on local and independent small businesses and look forward to answering attendee questions.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Ward 6 Local & Independent Businesses Townhall. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

11/01/2023

Dear friends, family, neighbors and colleagues:

After my debate on Sunday, it became clear to me that there is still a lot of confusion about the difference between the MBTA Act and the Village Center Overlay Districts (VCOD).

While they are two separate, unrelated initiatives that have been conjoined in committee, residents are beginning to conflate the two and incorrectly assume they are a packaged deal. I've done my best to explain the history and difference between the two plans below, and hope you will read it all the way through.

Some History

After the city abandoned its residential rezoning plan, they pivoted to upzoning our village centers instead. VCOD is a process that started in the City Council’s Zoning and Planning Committee in 2021.

At the end of 2021 the Baker-Polito Administration released draft guidelines for The MBTA Communities Zoning Law. In August of 2022 the guidelines were finalized and sent to the impacted municipalities. The legislation mandates that "communities with both subway and commuter rail, like Newton, must zone for a 25% increase in by-right housing." By-right means no public review process is required.

At the end of this past September the Zoning and Planning Committee conjoined the MBTA Community Act requirements with their VCOD plan. Up until this point they were separate and unrelated plans.

The MBTA Act requires Newton to zone for an additional 8,330 housing units to meet its requirements. The Zoning and Planning Committe VCOD initiative -- which has no formal deadlines and is not required by the state -- zones for another 6,000 more units, resulting in potentially more than 14,330 additional housing units in Newton when the two plans are conjoined. For comparison, Newton currently has 33,000 units.

To help our community better understand the two separate initiatives and what is required I will be hosting another community townhall on November 2, 2023 at 8:00 PM on Zoom. We will be joined by Ward 3 Councilor Pam Wright and Ward 1 At-Large Councilor John Oliver, who have spent a lot of time and effort analyzing the zoning impacts from the MBTA and VCOD plans to each ward and precinct map so residents can stay informed of how they are directly affected. They will dedicate time to discussing the effects on local and independent small businesses and look forward to answering attendee questions.

It is important that all residents understand these zoning changes. I am interested in your thoughts about this process and the Village Center Overlay Districts (VCOD) in general. Please feel free to email me or call me at 617-213-0825.

Onward,

Lisa

I will be a collaborative voice and tireless advocate for the residents of Ward 6 starting on Day 1.

10/29/2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfLq3wVkhuk

4 Area Council Debates:Lisa Gordon and Martha BixbyModerated by Marjorie Arons-Barron

10/25/2023

https://youtu.be/iYXqYZ60wCk

The City of Newton will hold a Municipal Election on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. Lisa Gordon is a candidate for Ward Councilor Ward 6.

10/06/2023

Last night at Crystal Lake! Sound over water echos beautifully. Growing up I used to listen to the trains come and go as I fell asleep by my open window. And then the church bells would ring on Sunday mornings.

10/04/2023

I wanted to let you know about an important meeting coming up tonight!

At 7:00 PM the Programs & Services and Finance Committees will hear a request to amend Chapter 21, Art III to ensure that our tree ordinance is updated and made stronger.
https://www.newtonma.gov/.../112256/638315989239600000

Over the last 50 years, "Newton has lost 50% of its street tree canopy, and over 70% of our remaining street trees are in “fair” or “poor” condition."

It is time that Newton addresses this loss of our tree canopy (20% loss of forested land in the last 25 years). This is not a public meeting, but showing up and listening to the discussion will let City Councilors know that you are interested in this subject and care about strengthening our Tree Ordinance.
I support the organization Protect Newton Trees in their efforts to educate Newton residents and City Councilors on the importance of protecting the tree canopy we have and working toward increasing our tree coverage.
http://protectnewtontrees.org/

09/29/2023

Amazing turn out for tonight’s meet & greet, but don’t have the photos yet, so here is a beautiful bouquet of Winston’s Flowers.

If you would like to come to one of our upcoming meetings send me a DM.