After a long hiatus that included the Thanksgiving holiday and a trip to Moscow, I’m back and sitting in on Tuesday evening’s omnibus School Committee meeting, at which a number of issues are being tackled, including plans for a new…
Category: politics
Parsing the election results in Belmont
Yes we can! Tuesday, November 4, 2008, was a wonderful and historic day in the life of our nation, and Belmont’s voters turned out in force yesterday to be a part of it. So how did we come down on…
Rep. Brownsberger: Thoughts on Question 1
There is a moral dimension to this vote. It is morally wrong to abandon the mentally ill, the mentally retarded, the abused children, the working single mothers who can’t afford health care for their kids and the many others who depend on the state for assistance in one form or another. That’s really what we are talking about — it’s not about optional services and it’s mostly not about waste. – Will Brownsberger on Ballot Question 1
Opponents: Question 1 would sap $11.2m from Belmont
One of the interesting revelations…is what a vicious spiral we would find ourselves in, were Question 1 to pass. Why? Because so much of the federal aid we receive is contingent on the level of state aid…As we slash programs to try to shrink our budget, we will also watch federal dollars being sucked out of state and back to Washington D.C., leaving Massachusetts poorer and more desperate than ever.
(Updated) No on Question 1? You betcha!
Question 1 is a gimmick — it’s a ham fisted and poorly thought out effort to “make a point” to those hated bureaucrats on Beacon Hill, consequences be damned. As MTF notes, the state could fire all 68,000 people in its employ and still save only $5b, leaving $7b left to cut. While Belmont might pay more out in taxes than we get back, we’re not an island. Major corporations don’t look for cute little towns to invest in — they’re looking for states that are encouraging innovation, producing educated workers and building an infrastructure to support and encourage commerce. Question 1 would make those kinds of investments impossible.
PJ’s Paradox: planning for the future in a troubled economy
Reading the comments that B2’s loyal readers leave is usually more interesting than reading my blog posts. While I’m usually content to leave them as comments, occasionally readers suggest ideas that are so interesting they deserve their own post (and…
Changes afoot on Board of Selectmen?
Rumors are swirling about town that there could soon be a vacancy on the Board of Selectmen, with current Chairman Angelo Firenze declining to stand for another term. But Firenze tells BloggingBelmont that he hasn’t made up his mind yet and is still weighing his options.
No November vote on Wellington??
A town-wide vote on a debt exclusion for the construction of a new Wellington Elementary school is unlikely to coincide with this November’s general election, according to a story posted on The Belmont Citizen Herald’s Web page. BCH editors and…
Warning shot: roads override defeated. (But it was close!)
Voters in Belmont, Massachusetts sent a warning shot on Monday, voting down an effort to pass a Prop 2 1/2 override to fund road maintenance and reconstruction in the town. According to data posted on the Belmont Town Web site today by Town Clerk Delores Keefe, the vote was a close one with 2602 voters saying “No” and 2269 saying “Yes” – a difference of just 333 votes.
Roads override? Bring it!
The results of the first-ever bloggingbelmont readers’ poll are in, and they show strong (if statistically suspect) support for the upcoming roads override vote on June 9, as well as for the likely debt exclusion vote for Wellington Elementary. Forty…