Engine 6 gathering at Bram Way in Newtonville
Leadership & Committees
Engine 6 is an all volunteer organization with a Leadership Team and several committees.
Engine 6’s Leadership Team
Fran Godine
Fran Godine enjoyed the lifelong benefits of affordable housing by growing up in Stuyvesant Town in NYC. Arriving in Boston for her master’s degree in communication arts and sciences at Emerson College, she lived in Boston, Cambridge, and Brookline before settling in Newton in 1976 to raise her family with her husband. Her son and daughter attended the Newton Public Schools. Fran was a speech and language pathologist in the NPS for thirty years and at Tufts Medical Center for seven years. She is passionate about community organizing. In addition to her work with Engine 6, she works with the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization.
Doris Ann Sweet
Doris Ann Sweet grew up in a small town in the White Mountains of NH, and earned an undergraduate and two graduate degrees (U.S. History and Library Science) at Columbia University. She moved with her husband and two daughters to Newton in 1978, at a time when one was able to buy a house, even with a moderate income. Before retiring in 2018, Doris Ann worked as a reference librarian and library administrator for 46 years, at Columbia University, Boston University, Harvard University, Simmons College, and Assumption College. Along the way, she both noticed the increasing lack of housing in Newton affordable for average families and was stunned by vehement neighborhood opposition to a modest affordable housing project proposed, and eventually built, on her street. When the unfortunate withdrawal of funding for the Engine 6 project put an end to it in 2013, she joined with other like-minded folks who were determined to not let the nimbyism we had witnessed erase future efforts to address the shortage and resulting high cost of housing in Newton.
Lynn Weissberg
Lynn Weissberg has lived in Newton for over thirty years. She has a long history as a housing activist dating back to the late 1970s when she was a founding member of the Alliance of Cambridge Tenants. She’s a retired lawyer and was a partner in the law firm of Shapiro, Weissberg & Garin. For over 30 years, she was a supervising attorney at the Tenant Advocacy Project, a clinic at Harvard Law School that represents public and subsidized tenants at local housing authorities. She has been involved with Engine 6 since August of 2013. She continues to be disturbed by the anti-housing sentiments expressed by Newton residents.
Nancy Zollers
Nancy Zollers has lived in Newton for almost 30 years. Her daughters graduated from Newton public schools and her grandchildren are currently Newton public school students. Nancy received her Master’s and PhD from Syracuse University. She joined Engine 6 at its inception when housing with support services for formerly homeless individuals was denied. This moment showed Nancy that the need for affordable and abundant housing was apparent and urgent. Nancy just finished an attached ADU on her house so that she and her husband can live there while her daughter and family can live in the house.
Engine 6’s Steering Committee
- Nanci Ginty Butler
- Nadine Cohen
- Tom Gagen
- Jason Harburger
- Judy Jacobson
- Frank Laski
- Sue Parsons
- Jay Walter
Engine 6’s Zoning Team
The Engine 6 Zoning Team has been actively participating in the city council’s Zoning Redesign work since early 2020 and in the amendments to the Accessory Dwelling Units Ordinance which recently passed the City Council.
