I was pleased to sit down at Bruegger’s Bagels on Friday morning and chat with one of our Selectmen, Dan Leclerc, about the coming override(s), some of the challenges facing the town, and life as a Selectman. This was a ‘get-to-know-you’ meeting and my reporter’s notebook stayed closed for most of it, so I won’t make like I did a real interview, or try to recall in too much detail what Dan said (beyond those bits that I did jot down). What I will say is that I left very impressed, and encouraged by what Dan had to say. A career educator who served as Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Ashland and currently teaches at Fitchburg State College, Dan understands the challenges facing public school systems like Belmont’s viscerally. He spoke thoughtfully about the danger of letting class sizes grow too large, about the difficulty of finding savings in budgets (both town and school) that consist mostly of employee salaries, and of how much the environment has changed since his children attended the BPS, and he was a Belmont School Committee member in the early 1990s. (You can read more on his biography here.)
During our meeting, Dan spoke strongly in support of the upcoming debt exclusion vote to build a new Wellington Elementary school, arguing that, if nothing else, the question was one of public safety, given the faltering physical plant there, to say nothing of civic pride. The Selectmen, including new addition Ralph Jones, have all spoken in favor of the Wellington, but more recently, B2 has been hearing about some hedging by certain members on whether support from some of the Selectmen would still be there should State matching funds fall short of the town’s expectations.
With a June 9 date set for a roads override, Dan also voiced support for the whole sequence of Prop 2 1/2 override votes before the town — which currently includes the roads vote in June, a vote on the Wellington that will coincide with a decision from the state about whether to approve matching funds for the school’s construction, as well as predicted $3.5m or more operational override for FY 10 to repair a structural deficit in the town’s finances. There’s something of a religious debate going on now about which of these votes should come first: is it schools then roads, or roads then schools? Should backers of the public schools oppose money for the roads? Should those tired of potholes hold out on funding for an elementary school or needed improvements to Belmont High?
But Dan said that kind of debate misses the point. The goal for Belmont, he said, should be to maintain town services that residents need and use, which includes improvements to both the roads and the schools. Rather than shoot down each other’s projects, town residents need to come together and vote for the increases necessary to maintain the quality of life that have made Belmont such a desirable town to live in — even if that means making a habit of override votes to keep the town’s finances in step with rising costs for fuel, salaries, health benefits and so on.
B2 is inclined to agree — while developments like those planned for Cushing Square promise to improve the flow of commercial tax revenue into the town’s coffers somewhat, property taxes are sure to make up the bulk of the town’s tax base for the foreseeable future. Barring any letup in the demands of town residents for quality education, facilities for seniors to meet and socialize, public libraries and police stations and passable roads, Belmont will need to come up with the money to pay for those services. Given that nobody disagrees with the need for improvements, it will be that much easier if the different constituencies within Belmont join hands and support each other’s goals, rather than keeping a zero sum mentality, in which the other guy (or gal) winning automatically means that your side loses.
Of course, I’d bet that folks supporting the construction of a new Wellington (including myself) would be happy to vote for a roads override if they knew that the folks pushing for the roads money (including the town’s political leadership) would get behind them when (and if) the state gives the green light for their project. When you lean over to kiss someone, after all, the thing you want to know most of all is whether they’re gonna kiss you back. A clear message from the political leadership in town that the Wellington is a top priority and that they will push for it – hard – might ease the mind of a lot of folks in town who are wondering whether the political will is there to see school improvements through after the potholes are gone.