The Town Clerk is the brains of Belmont’s Town government. The Town Clerk acts as the Town’s chief election official, recording officer, registrar of vital records and statistics, public records officer and licensing officer and is the point for general information to Belmont’s inhabitants, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Federal Government and the general public. The Town Clerk also plays a key role in facilitating Town Meeting and other government activity.
Three year term (vote for one)
Only one candidate is listed on the ballot for this position, our current Town Clerk Ellen O’Brien Cushman.
Ellen O’Brien Cushman (candidate for re-election)
| Name | Ellen O’Brien Cushman |
|---|---|
| I’m a candidate for: | Town Clerk |
| I am running as a: | Candidate for re-election |
| I am seeking my ___ term in office: | 5th |
| Volunteer & community activities? (optional) | Belmont Garden Club, Member and past President Belmont Board of Cemetery Commissioners, Member Land Management Committee for Lone Tree Hill, Member and former Chair |
| Candidate’s Statement | Serving as Town Clerk since 2010, i am honored to act on your trust by representing the interests, concerns, needs and suggestions of every resident of the Town of Belmont, whether a homeowner, a home renter, adult, senior, child, business owner, voter or non-voter. The years 2020 to 2022 have been challenging years for the Town Clerk’s office to run safe, accessible and accurate elections, hold remote-access Town Meetings, produce certified vital records and licenses. We’ve expanded our communications to make information accessible by deploying broad-distribution emails, comprehensive web pages, easy-to use public records portal and targeted Facebook posts. Over the last decade we’ve made many of our process self-service or virtually so, including online payments. In typical years the Town Clerk’s office greets about 15,000 visitors and fulfills hundreds of public records requests. During COVID we needed to create new ways to perform our work, even greeting people outside of the closed Town Hall building to hold marriage license appointments, administer oaths of office and accept nomination papers. The advance work we had performed to digitize records made remote work possible and productive. I would appreciate your vote. |
| Accomplishments | 2018 Town Clerk of the Year for Massachusetts, elected by my peers in Massachusetts Town Clerks’ Association. |