Newton Council Subcommittee Votes to Extend 48-Hour Rule to Presentations

NEWTON -- April 10, 2025, Newton's Rules Subcommittee voted 4-0 to require that slide presentations be filed under the city council's existing 48-hour advance-materials rule, ending a period of confusion over whether the requirement applied only to written documents. Subcommittee Chair Councilor John Oliver led the April 10 meeting, which also featured a research presentation by CARE intern Malia Thompson Leong recommending the 24-member council adopt a formal code of conduct modeled on practices from Gloucester, Massachusetts, Kirkland, Washington, and several other municipalities, covering treatment of staff, collegial conduct, and harassment prevention. Councilor Baker volunteered to contact the Massachusetts Municipal Association for a model code, while Oliver offered to compile existing council rules, a best-practices document, and Thompson Leong's findings into a single draft. Members also opened a preliminary discussion on streamlining the annual budget review process, with ideas including time-limited department presentations and earlier committee-of-the-whole sessions, agreeing to use this year's budget cycle as a test case before adopting any changes.