Newton Committee Backs Petition to Raise Police Hiring Age to 39

NEWTON -- September 17, 2025, Newton's Programs and Services Committee advanced a home rule petition to raise the city's police officer age limit from 31 to 39 and approved four new Youth Commission members at its September 17 meeting. Acting Chair Bill Humphrey presided over four unanimous 4-to-0 votes, including one supporting a state climate change superfund bill modeled on New York and Vermont laws that would collect roughly $25 billion over 25 years from major greenhouse gas emitters. Police Chief McMains, who disclosed he is retiring, told the committee that Newton's pool of residents sitting for the civil service exam has collapsed from roughly 100 applicants in earlier years to just 12 this year, and said the age change is intended to attract career-changers and veterans. The committee also held, on a 4-to-0 vote, the reappointment of Election Commission member Marjorie Butler, with Councilor Julia Malaki citing unresolved questions about the commission's certification of 2021 election results that contained missing spreadsheet data; both reappointments carry a November 1 automatic-confirmation deadline.