The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office is inquiring into the doings of an informal, private gathering of some of the Town’s top elected officials with questions about whether the group ran afoul of the State’s Open Meeting Law, according to the Belmont Citizen Herald.
Tag: Massachusetts
Closed government? Questions hang over new Town-School consolidation plan
Belmont’s latest consolidation plan is the product of an informal and closed door group of the Town’s senior elected officials that some have dubbed the “Officers’ Group.” Is Belmont closing the doors on Open Government?
NYT: Literary legend Ray Bradbury fights for local libraries
With all the debate in town about preserving our elementary school libraries, I couldn’t help but note this story on the front page of today’s New York Times about sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury’s crusade to preserve public libraries in his home, Ventura County, California.
Proposed cuts from House, Senate would hit education hard
Proposed cuts to local aid and a variety of programs supporting public education programs could hit Belmont, and other towns, hard.
State’s fiscal freefall could jeopardize local aid
A precipitous drop in State revenues could jeopardize local aid payments and eviscerate funding for social services and education. Suddenly “Read my lips: No new taxes!” doesn’t sound so cool.
(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.
A better Citizen Herald?
Is the Belmont Citizen Herald doing a good job covering the town? Discuss!
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…
Holland: pay increase controversy was just bad timing
This is the final part of a three-part interview with outgoing Schools Superintendent Peter Holland. The first part of the interview can be read by clicking this link, and the second installment is available here. In this post, Peter and…
Holland looks back on 20 years (part II)
I think the tenor of the debate has degraded. I think instead of being at issue level with some people, it gets to the personal level. It becomes attacking and they denigrate other people. My sense is that that’s never helpful. When someone speaks to you in a personal way, you never forget that. It makes it harder for you to move on and work together.