Newton Committee Unanimously Backs Mark Welch as Parks and Recreation Commissioner

NEWTON — May 20, 2026 — Newton's Programs and Services Committee unanimously recommended Mark Welch as permanent Parks and Recreation commissioner and approved three City Council rule changes, one on a close 4-to-3 vote. Welch, who has served as acting commissioner, was praised by Chief Community Services Officer John Rice for building the city's forestry department from scratch and by Chief Operating Officer Josh Morse, an 18-year city employee, as "a steady calm force" with the right mix of empathy and management skill; the committee voted 7-0 to send his appointment to the full Council. Two procedural rule changes — clarifying that the 180-day docket deadline applies to Council and mayoral items and allowing either the finance committee chair or vice chair to sit on the Financial Audit Advisory Committee — also passed unanimously. A third change, rotating the alphabetical starting position of roll-call votes from one full Council meeting to the next, survived 4 to 3 over objections from Councillors Oliver, Baker, and Farrell, with Baker calling the system "simpler to follow" as it stands and Farrell calling the rationale for the change "a terrible reason" to alter the rules.