With less than one month until the Municipal Election on November 3rd, the three Area Councils of Ward 5 are jumping into the electoral season on October 4th and producing the first candidate showcase event since the preliminary election.

With 39 candidates to be introduced to the voting public in seven citywide races, the three Councils (Newton Highlands, Newton Upper Falls and Waban) have determined that two events would be necessary to manage the logistics of this unusually large program properly. Consequently, there will be two sessions, both on the same day, designed to bring all the candidates running in Newton’s contested citywide races into public view.

On Sunday, October 4th from 2:00 – 4:30pm the first session will convene at the Hyde Community Center, 90 Lincoln St., Newton Highlands, and will feature introductions and questions for the 22 candidates running for the Charter Review Commission. This session will be moderated by Gloria Gavris, a retired lawyer and lobbyist and the recent author of E is for Election Day, a book for young readers that encourages children‘s interest in electoral politics. Attendees may submit written questions on cards that will be provided.

Later that same day, the second part of this showcase will feature the candidates for Aldermen-at-Large from Wards 2, 3, 5 and 8 and the School Committee candidates from Wards 2 and 5, all of whom are running in citywide contested races. This second event will be held from 7:00 – 9:30pm at the Woman’s Club of Newton Highlands, 72 Columbus St., Newton Highlands. The moderator for this session will be Marjorie Arons-Barron, President of Barron Associates Worldwide, a communications consultancy, and a distinguished print and broadcast journalist, recipient of Emmys and national awards for excellence as editorial director of WCVB-TV, Channel 5. Questions will be taken from the audience.

This is the second time that the Ward 5 Area Councils have sponsored a Candidates’ Showcase. These contested races are citywide and voters in every Ward have a stake in their outcome and can vote for the candidates of their choice in all of them. Meet the candidates and take your measure of them to inform your vote on November 3rd.