Belmont Votes: 2018 Town Election

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The annual Belmont Town Election takes place on Tuesday, April 3, 2018.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

And below is information that will make the process of casting your ballot all that much easier.

Whose running for town wide and Town Meeting 

Click here for the Belmont League of Women Voters Guide for candidates and their campaign message.

Polling Places

For voting purposes, Belmont is divided into eight voting precincts, located as follows:

  • Precinct 1 – Belmont Memorial Library, Assembly Room, 336 Concord Ave.
  • Precinct 2 – Belmont Town Hall, Selectmen’s Room, 455 Concord Ave.
  • Precinct 3 – Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.
  • Precinct 4 – Daniel Butler School, Gymnasium, 90 White St.
  • Precinct 5 – Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.
  • Precinct 6 – Belmont Fire Headquarters, 299 Trapelo Rd.
  • Precinct 7 – Burbank School, Gymnasium, 266 School St.
  • Precinct 8 – Winn Brook School, Gymnasium, 97 Waterhouse Rd. (Enter from Cross Street)

Please adhere to the posted parking restrictions and use caution to ensure the safety of pedestrians around the voting precincts.

Are You Registered to Vote in Belmont and Eligible to Vote April 3? 

If you are wondering if you are a registered voter and your voting precinct, go to the Town Clerk’s web page or phone the Town Clerk’s office at 617-993-2600.

Arrive early, consider traffic and limited parking 

Belmont Police will designate some voter parking at each of the polling locations however with a  busy election, parking close to the polling places is often a challenge.

Plan ahead: consider walking, carpooling with a friend or voting “off peak” during the middle of the day. Only voters who arrive at the precinct and are in line for the Voter Check-In before the close of polls at 8 p.m. can be permitted to vote; those who arrive too late will miss out.

Election Day campaigning

The Town Clerk and the Board of Registrars of Voters remind all residents that campaign signs, stickers, buttons or materials may NOT be displayed within 150 feet of each polling place. This prohibition, per Massachusetts General Laws, Ch. 54, §65, even extends to a candidate whose name is on the ballot, when the candidate is not actively voting.  The Town Clerk’s website posts a map displaying the 150-foot radius under Campaigning: Running for Elected Office and Town Meeting.

Election Results – How Do I Find Out the Results?

Election results for each precinct are announced by the Warden of each precinct after the close of the polls. The unofficial town-wide results will be announced at Town Hall and posted on the home page of the Town website as soon as they are available Tuesday evening or phone the  Town Clerk’s office at 617-993-2600 on Wednesday morning. Campaign representatives are welcome to wait at Town Hall for the printed results.

Sold In Belmont: Colonial, Cape and Townhouse All Top Seven Figures

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A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven days in the “Town of Homes.”

• 51 Prentiss Ln., Colonial (1926). Sold: $1,700,000. Listed at $1,799,000. Living area: 2,718 sq.-ft. 9 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 147 days. Last sold: Aug. 2004, $1,556,000.

• 39 Gilmore Rd., Cape (1941). Sold: $1,150,000. Listed at $1,050,000. Living area: 2,775 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 29 days. Last sold: Aug. 2017. $765,000

• 30 Holden Rd., Condominium (1926). Sold: $627,000. Listed at $600,000. Living area: 1,761 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 66 days. Last sold: May, 2012, $590,000.

• 52 White St., Townhouse (2017). Sold: $1,060,000. Listed at $999,999. Living area: 3,060 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 44 days. Last sold: First sale.

Belmont World Series Presents ‘All the Dreams in the World’ on Monday, April 2

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Photo: Pamela Ramos stars in “All the Dreams in the World”

The North American premiere of the France/Portugal film “All the Dreams in the World” (“Tous les rêves du monde”) will be screened on Monday, April 2 at 7:30 p.m. at Belmont’s Studio Cinema, 376 Trapelo Rd., as part of the Belmont World Film 17th annual International Film Series.

Loosely inspired by renowned Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa’s poem, “I am nothing. I’ll never be anything. I couldn’t want to be something. Apart from that, I have in me all the dreams in the world,” the film portrays a teen living with her first-generation Portuguese parents in France is caught up in her contradictions, failures, and unconditional love for her family. After reconnecting with a childhood friend during her annual summer holiday in Portugal, she finds the courage to choose the path of freedom and the unknown.

Speakers include the film’s director Laurence Ferreira Barbosa and José Rui Velez Caroço, Consul General of Portugal in Boston.

The night is sponsored by the Boston Portuguese Festival and the Camoes Institute.

Big Street Closures/Delays Monday, April 2 in Belmont

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Photo: Upper Concord Avenue between Winter and Marsh streets.

The Belmont Police Department has issued a pair of street advisories that will impact traffic in and through Belmont on Monday, April 2.

On Monday and Tuesday, FE French Construction will close the outbound (heading towards Lexington) upper Concord Avenue between Winter and Marsh streets starting at 7 a.m. The detour will impact westbound traffic on Concord.

Also on Monday, Grove Street road construction resumes.

Expect delays and detours on these important Belmont thoroughfares.

Pats Are Back! Tixs, Sponsorships Are On Sale Today For May 23 Game

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Photo: To the hoop with the Patriots and Boosters.

The New England Patriots are returning for another visit to Belmont!

The Belmont Boosters will be holding its fifth annual New England Patriots Basketball Fundraiser on Wednesday, May 23, at 7 p.m. at Belmont High School’s Wenner Field House. Members of the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots will compete against the Belmont Booster All-Stars, consisting of various members of the Belmont community. Attendees will have autograph and photo opportunities with the players, as well as a chance to win an autographed football.

ASK US HOW YOU CAN PLAY IN THE GAME! Business sponsorships that involve a direct solicitation of the entire Belmont community are also available.

Tickets and business sponsorship sales have begun. For information, please call 617-904-7542. You can also email the Boosters at belmontmaboosters@gmail.com.

 

The Belmont Boosters Club a 501(c)(3) organization is a community organization made up of volunteers excited and committed to promoting the athletic experience at Belmont High School. The Boosters’ mission is to provide funding for items that are outside the athletic budgets.

Controlling Trash And Rats: Carry-In/Carry-Out Trial Set For Joey’s Park, Town Field

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Photo: Goodbye, rat magnet.

There were two photos projected on the wide screen at the Board of Selectmen’s Room during the board’s meeting on Monday, March 26.

On the left of the screen was a collection of garbage loaded up on a broken water fountain including what appeared to be a dirty diaper. The right side showed what appeared to be a birthday party but with all the paper plates and napkins, balloons, containers and food left on the benches and tables as if the people were suddenly taken in the Rapture.

The scenes presented to the board of recent conditions at Joey’s Park in the Winn Brook neighborhood was just the spark to light the fuse to launch Selectman Mark Paolillo into orbit.

“That’s disgusting! How do people do this? It’s so disrespectful!” said Paolillo in an extended animated response, sending a message to the community that he and the town have had enough of those who litter and run.

“Those of you at home who did this; it’s outrageous!” said Paolillo.

The evidence of residents and possibly visitors from surrounding communities behaving badly by illegal dumping trash in the parks is prompting the town to reintroduce a program removing all trash barrels in town’s eight parks and playground to be replaced with a program where if you bring something into the parks, you’ll have to take the resulting waste out yourself.

“While there is no silver bullet that will end illegal dumping, this [policy] will be a long-term benefit,” said Jay Marcotte, Belmont Public Works director, as he presented the plan to the board.

While many residents were not in favor of the program known as Carry-In/Carry-Out when it was first introduced a year ago, the proposed policy is now also being used as a weapon to attack another issue facing residents: rats.

The rodent infestation has begun to plague certain parks and neighborhoods as the rats have discovered a ready source of food, coming from compost piles, pet food left outdoors, birdseed dispensers and household trash. And one of the easiest is the waste and food scraps left in and around the many barrels located in each park.

Currently, the town empties barrels Monday, Wednesday and Friday and whenever they are called, said Marcotte. But just by having trash containers creates a problem. “If you build it, they will come. And if you have trash barrels, the trash will come. It’s just the nature of what humans do, even if its overflowing,” said Marcotte.

While some residents contend the problem can be solved with more barrel pickups, Marcotte believes the best long-term approach is a conscious and sustained effort of re-educating the public.

A pilot program at Joey’s Park and Town Field between Beech and Waverley streets beginning in the next few months. The policy of taking away the trash is gaining in popularity locally and around the country. Nearby Walden Pond in Concord, the Boston Harbour Islands, the National Park System and the municipalities of Gloucester, Beverly, Reading, and Needham have joined the trend.

The DPW is working with the Board of Health to bring its expertise in educating the public. 

Board of Health member Dr. David Alper said while the board had reservations on a complete ban of receptacles, “Let’s try it. It certainly doesn’t cost us anything to hit the two big parks.”

“It comes back to education. You wouldn’t think you’d have to educate the public to pick up after themselves but you do,” said Alper. He also said the DPW will work with Winn Brook Elementary students to create signs and message to be placed around the parks to reinforce the policy.

“And hopefully the byproduct will be the rats will look elsewhere for food,” said Alper.

Three Finalist Up For Wellington Elementary Principal Post

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Photo: Wellington Elementary School.

They have met with teachers and staff, a parents group and administrators. And the selection of the next principal of the Roger Wellington Elementary School is in the home stretch with one of three candidates to be selected to take the reins from Amy Spangler, who left after five years at the school. The finalists will soon meet with Belmont Superintendent John Phelan who will make the final decision in the next few weeks. 

The three finalists are:

  • Martha Wiley of Oxford
  • Jody Day Klein of Newton
  • Allison Franke of Somerville

Wiley is the principal of the Clara Barton Elementary School which is part of the Oxford Public Schools. Wiley has been leading the 3rd- through 4th-grade school since July 2016. She came to her current position in central Massachusetts from the Fitchburg public schools where she spent nearly five years as assistant principal of the K-4 Reingold Elementary. For 17 years, she was an elementary school teacher in the Northborough district.

Wiley has a B.S. in Elementary Education from the University of Colorado at Boulder, an M.A. in Elementary and Middle School Education from Cambridge College and an Educational Specialist degree from Bay Path College.

Klein has been the interim principal of Newton’s Lincoln-Eliot School for nearly two years, after spending a decade as the director of English Language Learning in the Newton School District. She started in Newton as the World Languages Coordinator. Klein is a Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Administrator Trainer for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. She also works with Research for Better Teaching and is an instructor of Studying Skillful Teacher. 

Klein received her B.A. from Washington DC’s American University, her M.Ed. from Boston University, and a C.A.G.S. in School Administration from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Franke is an assistant principal of Somerville’s Capuano Early Education Center, a pre-K, and Kindergarten school, for nearly four years, after working for four years as a literacy specialist at the Franklin Elementary School in West Newton. She’s held numerous posts in and out of elementary education after starting her career as a kindergarten and second-grade teacher in the Los Angeles schools for nearly four years. 

A DC native, Franke graduated with a computer science degree from Amherst, earned an Ed.M in Language and Literacy from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, and a masters in organizational management from Endicott. 

Absentee Voting Available Until Monday, April 2

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Photo: Vote at Town Hall until April 2

Residents who wish to take advantage of absentee voting in the annual town-wide election can do so at the Belmont Town Clerk’s office until noon, April 2, the day before the election. 

To vote absentee, all ballot requests must be made in writing and received before noon on April 2. Absentee ballot applications can be used for one election or for an entire calendar year. A new application must be filed for each subsequent calendar year.

Please note that fax and email requests are not acceptable; only original signatures are acceptable.

Click here for more information regarding Absentee and UOCAVA (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act) Voting.

Finally: Teachers, Educators Ratify Three-Year Contract With School Committee

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Photo: The BEA is Belmont’s largest employee union with 500 members.

The members of three of four bargaining units of the Belmont Education Association have this month ratified new three-year contracts with the Belmont School Committee, all retroactive to September 2017, the start of the current school year. The new contract comes four months after the two sides told the public they had reached a tentative agreement.

The contract will cover approximately 500 union members, of which 330 are teachers and educators in Belmont’s six public schools and those working in the district. The BEA employee contract is the largest in the town; at $26.2 million in fiscal year 2018, it just under half of the school budget of $53.0 million. 

Only Unit C, which represents approximately 18 administrative assistants and secretaries, remains unresolved. John Sullivan, the association’s president, said the members “should vote in the next month.”

Sullivan said educators in Unit A, which is made up of teachers, will receive an annual 2 percent cost of living adjustment under the terms of the contract. There is also “improved language in the areas of teaching and learning,” he noted. 

The MOAs of the three units are below:

Joey’s Park Reopening Tentatively Set For April 9

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Photo: Joey’s Park to reopen mid-April.

With the second attempt to rid the rats at Joey’s Park about to conclude, the Belmont Department of Public Works has set a date when the popular playground in the town’s Winn Brook neighborhood will reopen.

The treatment of the playground for a persistent rat infestation by Assurance Pest Control is expected to end this week, Jay Marcotte, DPW director stated in a memo to Town Administrator Patrice Garvin.

Marcotte said that Assurance anticipates that the playground can reopen within a week to 10 days after the final application of a non-toxic irritant known as Rat-Out Gel. The same treatment was attempted in October but it failed to expel the rodents who live in tunnels under the ground. 

“[W]e are looking at a tentative April 9thopening,” wrote Marcotte.