Julie Irish has an extensive background in psychology research and has worked in academic medicine for much of her career, including leadership roles at Tufts Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She’s also a dedicated volunteer and serves on her local area council.

And she beams with pride talking about Upper Falls.

“It’s not too big, it’s cozy, and it’s kind of quirky sometimes,” she said, sitting down in front of Little Luke’s Café. “I love it. I think it’s the best village. I know everyone says that about where they live, but not everyone has a village like this.”

Irish has spent her professional life learning about people and her personal life helping people. And now she’s bringing that energy to the race for the City Council’s Ward 5 seat, formerly held by Bill Humphrey.

From Buckeye to Bostonian

Irish has had a long journey to Newton. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and she still has family living there. But her family moved to New York State when she was a kid and she was raised mostly in a town named Whitesboro—so small, it currently has fewer than 3,700 residents—near Utica.

But when Irish was in eighth grade, a trip to Boston University to visit her brother in graduate school would open her eyes to city life.

“And I fell in love with Boston,” she said. “I’m like, ‘That’s it. I’m getting out of here, whatever it takes. I don’t care. I’m going to Boston.’ We drove along the Charles River, went to Harvard Square and had lunch. I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m coming here!’”

And after graduating from high school, she did just that.

Irish attended the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, majoring in health psychology, and went on to earn her PhD in social psychology from Northeastern University.

At Northeastern, she met a man named Dean Whitney who would eventually become her husband.

And after a postdoctoral stint at the Yale School of Medicine, the couple returned to Greater Boston and lived in Watertown for a bit before moving to Newton in 1999.

Irish wanted public transportation to Boston, and her husband wanted a garage in which he could fix up his old Volkswagen. Newton offered both, and the couple set down roots in Upper Falls.

Stepping up

Irish and her husband raised two kids in Newton—son Asa and daughter Cleo—and Irish joined the Upper Falls Area Council, eventually becoming its president.

“I’ve really enjoyed finding out about the city, helping the residents, helping them get their problem solved, at least around Upper Falls,” she said.

Irish also served on the Executive Committee of the Council on Aging and as co-president of the Countryside PTO.

A few months ago, with chaos consuming our national politics and uncertainty on the horizon for Massachusetts and Newton, Irish decided to step up her local involvement with a run for City Council.

Money matters

Inflation and health insurance cost hikes have put quite a strain on Newton’s budgets, and the president of the United States threatening to take away federal funding isn’t making matters look any better for the Garden City.

Voters rejected Mayor Ruthanne Fuller’s request for a $9.2 million Proposition 2 ½ override in 2023, but a teacher strike in 2024 and another budget crisis in 2025 have brought the idea back to the forefront of budget conversations.

Irish said she’d only support an override if it’s a last resort.

“You have to look at other options first, obviously,” she said. “Can we increase our revenue stream? Can we restructure what we have, the way things are financed? Also, does it make sense in terms of the timing? I think you have to be very cognizant of the economy to start asking for an override.”

If an override is needed, Irish continued, city councilors will have to work hard to sell it to voters.

“If you’re going to do it, people are cautious—as they should be—so you’d also have to talk to constituents about it first and help them understand and see where you’re coming from,” she said.

And in the end, she added, it’s a matter of priority and restraint.

“I’ve had research grants, and you have a budget, you get this amount of money, and then you have to figure it out,” she said. “So you have to plan it out X amount of dollars. You have to live within the budget with careful planning, and you can’t do everything you want.”

Tiny house dreams and red tape nightmares

The tax levy limit imposed by Proposition 2 ½ does not pertain to new growth, so new housing and new businesses can shore up the city’s finances without an override.

But housing has been a touchy topic for Newton politics, with many in the city saying there have been too many apartment complexes approved in recent years while others say the city hasn’t kept up with housing demand and needs a lot more. The last local election, in fact, saw several city councilors lose their seats after supporting the Village Center Overlay District plan that allows higher-density housing by-right.

Meanwhile, housing inventory has shrunken nationwide—especially in Massachusetts—as population has increased, creating the biggest housing crisis in recent memory.

How does a city navigate a regional and national housing crisis locally while creating some affordability? It won’t be easy, Irish contends, and she wants the city to be realistic with expectations.

“I have family in Ohio and Florida, where it’s not quite as bad, but still… And I have friends and family in California. It’s all over. It’s strange times,” Irish said. “It’s all building up from before when we were behind [in affordable housing production], and then came COVID and everything else. Here we are. How do you make it affordable? You have to be creative. And I think (we have to) realize that we can only do so much.”

What the city should do, Irish said, is look at existing properties that can be turned into affordable housing, similar to what the city did with the West Newton Armory.

Caught up in the housing crisis are seniors. A recent study shows that by the end of this decade, almost a third of the city’s residents will be 60 and older, as young families have been unable to move to Newton and older residents are holding on to their houses longer.

That means older Newtonians are paying more of the tax burden in Newton, at a time when they are unable to find affordable condos in Newton to downsize to.

“The whole idea of retirement is you work hard and then you get to enjoy your retirement,” Irish said. “I have so many neighbors—I think they’re in their 80s—who own homes and now they’re asking, ‘What should we be thinking?’”

For Irish, it’s all about downsizing—a lot. She envisions communities of tiny houses on a swath of land.

“I swear I could live in a tiny house,” she said. “There isn’t much space around here, but why can’t we find some land and build a community? You’d have a little yard and a little common space, you’d see your friends and neighbors. That’s how you build community, and that can get you so far.”

To get more businesses to set up in Newton, Irish wants to streamline the permitting process and show businesses that the city wants them here.

“I know of some businesses that moved right over the line. They just moved to Needham,” she said. “It’s the permitting process, and they basically said it’s the red tape. There’s too much of it.”

Newton’s local election will be Nov. 4.