Daniel Gaynor Is Running For Newton City Council, Ward 2

NEWTON, MA – Daniel Gaynor is running for Newton City Council, Ward 2.

Gaynor grew up in Newton on Cabot Street, and credits the city with shaping him into the person he is today.

“I couldn't imagine a better way to give back and say thank you to the community that helped turn me into the person I am than to run for this seat,” Gaynor said.

He served as a presidential appointee in the Obama administration in the U.S. Agency for International Development, before working for Nike on diversity and sustainability, innovation launches, and global communications strategy. He is currently the entrepreneur of a business that uses AI and big data to help companies act as better corporate citizens.

His policy platform rests on three main issues: smart development, stronger schools and sustainable innovation.

Smart Development

Smart development, Gaynor said, is especially important for the city because of its status as an MBTA community.

“If we are to develop and build more housing in the city, we need to be able to preserve the green space that Newton is known for, while also offering a greater diversity of options for the folks who are now living here,” he said.

He has assured Newton residents wary of new development that it doesn’t mean losing the character of a city they know and love, he said.

“We can strike a pragmatic balance between preservation and progress by taking the community's engagement up front as part of the planning process and by ensuring that developers focus on sustainability options, affordable housing, and walkability by investing in better sidewalks and smoother roads and bike paths,” he said.

Stronger Schools

As a father of a soon-to-be-student at Cabot Elementary, Gaynor said building stronger schools is an essential part of his platform, and it begins with making sure schools have the support they need.

Specifically, he said this means devoting funding toward support staff, counselors, and extracurricular teachers.

“[Newton’s schools] are our crown jewel, they are the reason that families want to move here and stay here and grow up here,” he said. “We need to continue to invest in those facilities.”

Sustainable innovation

The last pillar of Gaynor’s policy platform is sustainable innovation, which he said focuses on addressing and fighting against the effects of climate change.

“We've got to contribute what we can to the fight against climate change, even though it is a metaphorical drop in the bucket,” he said.

Specifically, he said changes to infrastructure, such as making sure roads are smoother to improve efficiency, adding more bike paths in a connected network, and creating more pedestrian-friendly streets by widening sidewalks or closing off areas to cars, are some of the many ways Newton can become more sustainable.

Gaynor earned a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis. He lives with his wife Cara and baby daughter in Newtonville.