Dear Mr. Mayor:

You should know that slowly, surely and perhaps irreversibly, you are losing me.

I want to make one thing clear — when you first ran for mayor, I admired you, and was a True Believer. I deeply respected your many years serving our community as a state legislator. I perceived you as a thoughtful, committed and idealistic leader, with a vision for our city. I applauded your call for a “user-friendly” City Hall, and took at face value that open, transparent government would be your hallmark.

My family hosted you at a meet-and-greet in our home, contributed to your campaign and enthusiastically gave you our vote. We voted for you again in your second run. My kids delighted in seeing you at community events and shaking your hand in the grocery store. They loved experiencing the mayor as a real person.

By your third campaign, after disappointments including your incomprehensible sniping with the firefighters, I felt the need to “send you a message” by voting for your opponent. Although I still thought you were the more qualified, I believed that a strong minority vote for your opponent would wake you up to the need to do things differently.

Well, two more years have passed. During this time, watching your leadership around the new Newton North, I feel only frustration and disappointment, and acknowledge that you are not the man I thought you were. So many issues have been mishandled, so many questions have been skirted with misdirection, and so much indifference or arrogance has been displayed.

As a Newton homeowner, business owner, taxpayer and father of Newton schoolchildren, there are certain things I rightfully expect from you on Newton North: accurate information on building issues and cost; an open solicitation of feedback; thoughtful responsiveness; and respect for me as a taxpayer.

Sadly, you have not delivered. The issues are complicated, and many who aren’t paying attention are inclined to take what you say at face value. I did, for a long time. But when I looked more closely, I realized that my trust was ill-placed. Here are some examples:

You recently defended moving ahead on the present course, asserting that voter approval of Site Plan 5a last January proves broad support. But wait a minute, that plan barely squeaked by with a price cap of $141 million! Alderman Paul Coletti’s estimate, unchallenged by you, is now at $171 million and rising. Mr. Mayor, I submit that there is no longer majority support for this plan.

You dismiss charges that asbestos and ledge were known to exist onsite and you should have planned for them, by noting that “…finding it earlier rather than later would not have changed the cost of removing it. It would have only made the estimate of the total cost more accurate earlier.” – TAB, 12-26-07.

Sounds good, but you’ve avoided the central point — with early acknowledgement of asbestos and ledge, we might have saved millions by moving the building away from these affected areas. A fortune will now be spent — not on books, nor classroom space, nor staffing, but instead will be spent messing with the ground. You reference cost savings through “value engineering.” Here’s my submission: Move the building and save $7.5 million.

Last January you said “$141 million is a very important target, in terms of the city’s ability to pay for the project.’” — TAB, 12-4-07. Now you are saying something remarkably different: “And I believe that at whatever the price comes in, we are going to be able to find a way to pay for it.” — TAB, 12-26-07.

Which truth should I believe? How high a price do you think Newton can justify and afford, considering all things that require our scarce taxpayer dollars? Why did you leave it to Alderman Amy Sangiolo to name a price, while to this day you remain silent? Is this your notion of leadership?

Knowledgeable construction professionals widely consider a renovation of Newton North to be more economical than building new. But you’ve dismissed this notion with the unhelpful remark that “…There is…no guarantee that doing anything else would cost any less…”. — TAB, 12-26-07. No guarantee? Well, life has few guarantees. Highly likely? Absolutely!

Even your presentation of the override is disingenuous. You’ve stressed that our structural deficit, and not the ever-increasing cost of Newton North, is driving the need for an override. What you haven’t admitted is that adding debt service for a larger bond to pay for a more expensive North requires more money. More overrides. Mr. Mayor, to imply there is no relationship between a more costly Newton North and tax overrides is false; it is parsing at its worst.

You rejected State Treasurer Tim Cahill’s offer to review the project and help us rein in costs, as he recently did in Lawrence, saying that we already value-engineered the process. But the value of his offer to Newton is not only about finding savings, it is about demonstrating to your constituents that your decision-making process can withstand responsible outside scrutiny. If you did things right, a review by Cahill adds credibility, which is something your administration sorely needs.

So January’s here. Vocal citizens and your colleagues on the Board of Aldermen will ask you to be more honest, accountable, direct, communicative and more respectful of the voters and taxpayers of Newton. I hope the new year brings to you a dawning appreciation for how misled so many of your constituents feel. I hope you seek a Newton legacy grounded in your original promise rather than in a monumental building at whatever the cost.

Steve Siegel is the owner and president of Siegel Associates Inc., a Newton Centre structural engineering firm.