Draft:Ruthanne Fuller

Ruthanne Fuller
Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller
31st Mayor of Newton, Massachusetts
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2018
Preceded by	Setti Warren
Personal details
Born	Ruthanne Schwartz December 10, 1957 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Joseph B. Fuller
Children	3
Parent(s)	Alan Schwartz (father), Marianne Schwartz (mother)
Education	Brown University (BA) Harvard University (MBA)

Ruthanne Fuller (born December 10, 1957) is an American politician, currently serving as mayor of Newton, Massachusetts. She is the 31st mayor and the first woman elected to be mayor of the city of Newton.

Early life and education

Ruthanne Fuller was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1957 to Alan and Marianne Schwartz. Alan was a founding partner of Honigman Law Firm, a well-recognized philanthropist, and a Detroit civic leader. Marianne was a leader in numerous cultural and nonprofit organizations throughout greater Detroit, most significantly, including serving on the Board of Directors of the Detroit Institute of Arts for over 30 years.

Fuller was raised with her two brothers, Marc and Kurt. She studied history at Brown University, graduating magna cum laude in 1979. In 1983, she earned her master's in business administration from Harvard Business School and graduated with distinction.

Early career

After graduating from Brown, Fuller worked full-time as the manager of education for the economic forecasting company Data Resources Inc. (DRI). She then returned to school to earn her MBA before joining Temple, Barker and Sloane where she worked for four years as a management consultant. While there, she specialized in financial analysis, strategic planning, and organizational design.

From 1989 to 1997, Fuller served as the manager of strategic planning at WGBH-FM. She created the first ever strategic master plan for a leading public broadcasting station, putting together a comprehensive strategy for WGBH at large and individual sectors including television, radio, and production.

Volunteer and civic engagement

In the early 1990s, Fuller sat on many service-based boards, including Facing History and Ourselves and the Boston Advisory Board of City Year. She later served on multiple committees with the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, using her consulting skills to analyze the efficacy of service organizations in the Boston area.

Fuller also volunteered for her local community, serving as the chair of Brookline's School Financial Practices and Procedures Committee where she helped improve the town's financial sustainability. Upon moving to Newton in 1994, she joined the Chestnut Hill Association—where she later became President—and worked with local residents to advocate for a series of conservation and preservation efforts. From 2011 to 2013, Fuller served on a committee of the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board. Fuller was also vice-chair of the City of Newton Citizen Advisory Group from 2008 to 2009, which helped define the choices facing Newton for municipal and educational service levels and their long-term funding requirements, ways to increase operational efficiency and effectiveness, and opportunities for new or enhanced sources of funding for city services.

City council

In 2010, Fuller was elected as an at-large member of the then Newton Board of Alderman from ward 7 (which later became known as an at-large city councilor). As a member of the Board of Aldermen/City Council, she served as vice chair of the finance committee and chair of the financial audit advisory committee. With her leadership, the city implemented long-term investment plans for Newton's water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure systems. Fuller was also a leading advocate for improving the city's public schools, serving on working groups to remodel three of Newton's aging elementary schools: Angier, Zervas, and Cabot. She championed addressing Newton's significant, unfunded liabilities for retiree benefits. She was an active member on the Council for eight years before being elected Mayor of Newton.

Mayor of Newton

In 2016, Mayor Setti Warren announced he would not seek a third term as mayor. Soon after, Fuller announced her candidacy for mayor. A close race between Fuller and City Council President Scott Lennon ensued. She was elected with 50.7% of the vote and was sworn into office on January 1, 2018.In 2021, Fuller was elected to a second term.

In December 2019, Fuller purchased Newton's largest contiguous forest from Boston College through eminent domain to protect the open land in perpetuity. The Newton City Council voted unanimously to approve the purchase and the land was acquired for $15 million.

During Fuller's first term, the COVID-19 pandemic struck. She inspired the creation of the Newton COVID-19 Care Fund, which was instituted to ease the financial burdens of Newton residents created during the pandemic. The fund distributed over $700,000 to more than 300 recipients. The city also issued grants of $10,000 or $15,000 to 27 brick-and-mortar storefront businesses in village centers. As part of Fuller's weekly subscription newsletter, received by over 38,000 Newton residents, she prioritized transparent communication and extensively updated the community.

The city's first Climate Action Plan for the City of Newton was developed by the Fuller Administration working with Newton residents. The plan outlines the necessary steps to achieve carbon neutrality in Newton by 2050. Most significantly, it advocates for the expansion of clean and renewable energy, greener transportation, energy use reduction in construction, increased energy efficiency, and more thoughtful consumption and disposal. In the Fuller Administration, Newton Power Choice was created, automatically providing Newtonians with 80% renewable energy, while giving them the choice to opt up to 100% or down to the state mandated 18%. As part of her commitment to reduce energy consumption, Fuller added 28 solar panel arrays throughout the city, generating approximately 40% of the electricity for Newton's municipal buildings and facilities. In addition, the city's fleet became all electric.

The city during the Fuller Administration has embarked on an ambitious campaign to update and rebuild aging school facilities. The Newton Early Childhood Program now has a permanent new home, three new schools will be built at Lincoln-Eliot Elementary School, Franklin Elementary School, and Countryside Elementary School, and major renovations and an addition will be built at Horace Mann Elementary School. The Countryside School was accepted into the Massachusetts School Building Authority project pipeline and 40% of the project will be funded through the partnership. In September 2019, the renovated Cabot elementary school was completed; in 2021, the Oak Hill Middle school addition—which included three new classrooms, individualized learning spaces, and support space­­­—was completed on-time and on-budget.

In December 2024, the city updated village center zoning stemming from a new state law. The new zoning passed by the city council will allow affordable and market rate housing mixed in with retail and restaurants to be built "by right" in many of Newton's village centers. The City of Newton is also moving away from fossil fuel in new construction, working to embed electrification requirements in these new developments. The Northland mixed use development currently being built in Newton leads the way as a model for sustainable construction with its LEED for Neighborhood Development certification.

Newton is one of the few municipalities to earn a Triple A bond rating from both Moody's Investors Service and Standard and Poor's. Under Fuller's leadership, the City has maintained this rating. She is aggressively funding pensions and retiree benefits and has significantly increased the city's cash reserves.

In her State of the City address on February 20, 2024, Fuller announced that the new senior center will be called the Cooper Center for Active Living in honor of Newtonian Audrey Cooper. Doors on the new facility that will serve Newton's entire community will open in late 2025.

Personal life

Fuller is married to Joseph B. Fuller, a professor of management at Harvard Business School. In 1994, the Fullers moved to Newton and raised their three sons, Mark, Chris, and David. She is also the proud grandmother to her grandsons, Henry and Jeremiah. Fuller enjoys spending time with her beloved Italian Pointer, Callie.