Parks, Privacy, Plans!

Surveillance and Facial Recognition Technology It’s important to me that our local government respects your civil rights and right to privacy. It is also important that, any time the city, state or nation acquires a new way to compile data on you, the reasons and guardrails around unwarranted intrusion are clear and openly debated.
 So on Feb. 9th, I invited the Massachusetts ACLU’s privacy and surveillance expert, Kade Crockford, to the Public Safety & Transportation committee meeting. Crockford laid out the dangers of “policy by procurement.” This is when police or other departments buy surveillance technology, often using grant funds, without a full Council discussion about what the technology does, how it works, and how it will be used.
 We also learned about the fallibility of facial recognition technology for identification, and how it particularly mis-identifies women, the young, the old and people of color. You can read the report here:
 Our next steps will be to examine ordinance language to limit facial recognition in Newton—building on what Sen. Cynthia Creem has done at the state level—and to ensure that Council properly vets any technological surveillance and the use of and access to any collected data.
 
 Short Items: 

• Albemarle Road: My #1 road safety priority is streets near schools—the latest stretch up for repair serves two schools, soon to include the city preschool program, plus a park and the Gath Pool. This stretch would also create a safer walking and biking connection from Washington Street (about to get a safety pilot) to the Charles River Paths. A public meeting on the improvements is March 10 at 5:30 pm on Zoom. Details here:
• Northland The Needham-Oak Street development is going to start construction this year. Plans have been refined, and improved. There’s more greenspace, more trees, AND more buildings are going to be built to the highest sustainability standards. I am also pleased that new streets are now getting names.
• Northland 40B Across the street, Northland is planning more housing and some small retail, building along the spine of Charlemont Street (which they extend to the Upper Falls Greenway) and Christina Street. I am pleased that they plan to construct a large park along the former rail spur that, we hope, will eventually again cross into Needham over the river. 
• Trash--I wrote in my December update about trash. Here’s a tool from the EPA that helps measure the greenhouse gasses we might save by wasting less. Thanks to Tom Gloria of Newton Centre for sending this. 
• The High Cost of Housing: Not everyone could open the link in last month’s update on why housing costs have spiked. A shorter article is here. Thanks to Mike Halle of West Newton for the link.   Also for this one.
• Winterfest: It was great to gather at the Soup Social last Saturday, and also a blast to walk in Cold Spring Park (picture above) in the snow on Sunday! Newton Community Pride is looking for more good ideas—and has micro-grants available for those willing to pull them off: