OK – we’re a week out from our Town election, so I better get my thoughts down before too much time passes and life moves on. (OK…it already has. But still…) Let’s take the clearest message from this year’s Town…
Belmont goes to the polls on Tuesday (April 7) to elect our local government (Select Board, School Committee, Moderator, Town Meeting, etc.) Here are my picks for the contested races on the ballot.
Belmont Moderator Michael Crowley details a new citizens petition asking Town Meeting to authorize the Select Board to seek special state legislation that would allow Belmont to hold hybrid and remote Town Meetings on a permanent basis.
Got ideas about how to improve parks and open space in town? Take a survey that will help inform the town’s next 10 year Open Space and Recreation Plan! (The survey runs through January 31st 2026.)
Melrose’s successful $13.5 million override vote in November holds valuable lessons for Belmont, which – commercial development or not – will need to keep passing overrides to fund our Town.
In an open letter to residents, the Belmont Education Association (our teachers’ union) looks to set the record straight about ongoing negotiations: expressing their commitment to students, and their concerns over ongoing contract negotiations with the Town. The teachers’ priorities? Reducing class sizes, increasing collaboration time, and providing fair compensation (so: not ‘more work for less pay’). Unfortunately, the BEA writes that our School Committee has been rejecting fair proposals, putting the onus on the community to support teachers and ensure a productive bargaining that seeks to maintain Belmont’s quality educational environment.
In her latest If I May opinion piece, Judith Feinleib calls out the town’s political leadership for what she describes as efforts to dismiss contrary voices and opinions. Feinleib calls on residents to speak up.
The Belmont Education Association says that Belmont’s School Committee is locked in to a “starvation budget” for the Town’s schools and refuses to look at creative funding solutions to address the problem.
Belmont’s Moderator Mike Widmer declared emphatically in a debate Monday evening that, if he is re-elected, Town Meeting Members will not be permitted to speak critically of the Town’s appointed committees, calling criticism of committees “ad hominem attacks” worthy of censorship.
For the first time in years, voters have the opportunity to enact big changes to Belmont’s leadership. It’s not an opportunity we should pass up. Change is on the ballot, Belmont. Let’s make it happen! Here are my picks for the April 2nd 2024 Town Election.