Belmont Seeks Members For Police Chief Screening Committee As Search Begins In Earnest

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Belmont Police patches and shield.

With the Select Board preparing to choose a consulting firm to conduct the search for Belmont’s next police chief, the town has begun seeking applicants for the 2025 Police Chief Screening Committee.

To be considered, select the “Police Chief Screening Committee – 2025” on the town’s Volunteer Opportunities web page to express interest in serving on this committee.

Patrice Garvin, Belmont Town Administrator, told the Select Board at its Monday, Sept. 29 meeting, that two firms – John Parow, Consulting & Assoc. and Municipal Resources, Incorp. – responded to the town’s Request for Proposal for consulting services to recruit the replacement for recently retired Police Chief Jamie MacIssac.

Garvin believes the growing complexity of the position requires the town to seek the assistance of an outside firm to lead the process.

“Policing has changed in 30 years,” said Garvin. No longer simply an administrative position, “a chief encompasses a lot more skill set than of the past, including budgetary issues, personnel issues, union issues, ranking. It runs across the board, and you’re looking to encompass all of those skill sets.”

“The consultant really helps us guide through the process, to not only to do assessments [of potential candidates] but to help with the screening committee, but also with the recruitment. Sometimes these firms have people in mind,” said Garvin, noting MacIssac was hired using a consultant.

“None of us were on the Select Board the last time we did a police chief search,” said Select Board Chair Matt Taylor. “And these firms often specialize in these kinds of positions, they go through it a lot, and have a much more updated, fresh vision of what this process is like, what the market is like, and what kinds of things to look for.”

The two firm candidates will be interviewed by the board at its Oct. 6 meeting, after which a winning bid will be selected hopefully that evening, said Garvin.

The screening committee, will be appointed sometime around Oct. 20. which Garvin said was “good timing, as it will come after the close of Special Town Meeting when the town can “really focusing on the police chief.”

State Rep. Dave Rogers Comes Out With Local Office Hours For October

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Dave Rogers

Belmont’s State Rep. Dave Rogers has announced his October office hours.

  • Tuesday, Oct. 14, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.
  • Friday, Oct. 17, from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Bellmont Caffe, 80 Leonard St.
  • Thursday, Oct. 23, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Tilde Coffee, 2376 Massachusetts Ave., North Cambridge.
  • Monday, Oct. 27, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Robbins Library, Arlington, 700 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington.

Feel free to contact Rogers’ office with questions by phone 617-722-2263 or by email at dave.rogers@mahouse.gov.

Belmont Center Overlay Vote Pushed To 2026, Planning Board Cites Data Delay For Set Back

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Map of the zoning overlay district for Belmont Center

A Town Meeting vote on the proposed Belmont Center Zoning Overlay Plan will likely be pushed back into the new year, as the Belmont Planning Board indicated it will miss a self-imposed drop-dead date to approve or reject the plan that aims to ramp up residential and commercial activity in Belmont’s main business center.

“I feel we are not going to meet [the Planning Board’s] required deadline for the fall Town Meeting,” said Planning Board Chair Thayer Donham, who ran the Thursday, Sept. 18 morning meeting virtually from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

This delay marks the second time the proposal has been postponed, having been tentatively scheduled from the annual Town Meeting in May to the Special Town Meeting in October.

The proposed overlay acts as a second set of rules added to the underlying zoning along Leonard Street and Concord Avenue along and Concord Avenue from the commuter rail tunnel and the land west of Harris Field. The town’s Select Board is advancing the overlay with several goals in mind, including improving municipal finances, revitalizing the business center, and creating more and a greater variety of housing options.

Saying she was eager to wrap up the zoning process, Donham indicated the board was anxious to have an all-important parking study conducted before a final vote on the zoning overlay in the coming week.

Belmont’s Town Planner Chris Ryan told the Board he was still waiting for the draft parking report to be delivered by the Boston office of Desman, which missed the initial due date of Sept. 8. In fact, “there were several milestones missed this week,” said Ryan. A traffic analysis by the town’s consultant, The BSC Group, is not expected until the end of the month.

“I feel we are not going to be able to meet the required deadline,” said Donham. “We want to continue our thoughtful process of hearing from people, and parking is a concern we’ve been hearing about for months. We don’t think we can make a parking decision without the report.”

After a short roundtable discussion, Planning Board members each agreed with Donham that the board could not make a recommendation without the critical data on hand and without a legal reading of the results by Town Counsel.

“I don’t see how we can vote on the zoning overlay [on Sept. 25] without this data,” said Donham. “We’re trying to get all the information needed and vetted, and here we are, a week before we’re required to get to take a vote, and we don’t have a major piece of information.”

“We’re essentially running out of time, and given the delays in getting this information and the request we’ve gotten from everybody to look at this specifically,” said the Planning Board’s Alisa Garner-Todreas. “It feels like we need more time, possibly a February special Town Meeting, and that would be a better deadline for us to cross the t’s and dot the i’s.”

The Zoning Overlay proposal has had a rough row to hoe from the very first public meeting in March, when nearby residents and business owners opposed what they believed was an invitation for large development that would overtax the existing infrastructure. By a June public meeting, resistance to the plan had remained, and there was some talk, even by some board members, that data gathering, anticipated changes to the plan, and a needed public relations effort could not be completed to allow the plan to be presented to the Special Town Meeting. Yet at its latest meeting, the Select Board appeared confident the overlay measure would be before the Special Town Meeting and would receive a favorable vote.

It now appears the Select Board has little option but to remove the Zoning Override from the Special Town Meeting Warrant that is required to be voted on at its Sept. 29 meeting.

Parking in Belmont Center will be front and center the next day. on Tuesday, Sept. 30, when the Select Board, the Planning Board, and the Traffic Advisory Committee hold a joint meeting on parking and transportation in Belmont Center. “I think that is just the big public discussion that is necessary to finalize any zoning,” said Donham.

Town Administrator Garvin Received 2% Salary Merit Increase … Then Gave It Back

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Patrice Garvin

After the Belmont Select Board gave for the second year running an outstanding work performance review to Town Administrator Patrice Garvin, the three member board on Monday, Sept. 15, provided a two percent merit increase to Garvin, totalling $4,681.80.

After hearing the announcement, Garvin quickly gave the amount back to the town.

What?

No, it wasn’t part of an elberate protest on her part or, as one online critic suggested, an attempt by her not to enter a higher tax bracket. In fact, Garvin redirected her increase to help support a town non-union Employee Recognition Program to be run by the town’s Human Resources Department. The funds will awarded to staffers for outstanding work and innvoation that improves the town’s operations.

“That’s incredibly generous, and I think it shows a lot about you as a leader to who watches out for her staff,” said Matt Taylor, Board Chair.

“You have high standards and do a lot with a little. And this is a very generous way to give a bit back to other employees as well. I admire you a lot for this,” said Taylor.

Garvin accepted a $229,500 annual salary in March, 2025 as part of a financial package to counter an opportunity to take over the head administrator post in Danvers.

“I love what I do,” Garvin told the board. “I love working with the board to solve problems that come up. Sometimes it feels like there’s more problems and solutions. We take it day by day, and I hope to just improve the town in small increments every day I come to work. It’s about doing what’s best for the town.”

As for the performance review conducted by Belmont’s HR Director Kelley King who created an executive summary from answers to a questionaire on Garvin’s overall job performance. And just like last year’s review, Garvin knocked it out of the park, earning the top score of five out of five from the board, “reflecting her outstanding leadership, professionalism and dedication,” said Kelley.

“[Garvin] consistently demonstrates integrity, resilience and creativity, effectively managing complex issues while maintaining a positive and collabrative approach with staff, the Select Board and the community,” said King.

The review noted Garvin’s work on maintaining balance budgets while helping to create a revenue-based annual budget process, improved organizational efficiency such as incorporating the Council of Aging into a newly-created Human Services Department, enhancing municipal services during a time of fiscal constrains, while using out-of-the-box approach to provide needed assets, e.g., securing $1 million from in-town non-profits and the town’s electric utility to provide a solar array for the Belmont Sports Complex which will house the town’s skating rink.

“Garvin’s expertise, problem solving skills and commitment to make her an invaluable asset to Belmont and a driving force behind the town’s continued success,” said King.

Board members praised Garvin after the review.

Elizabeth Dionne said most of the “public do not see what she does behind the scenes. They do not appreciate how much work she does.”

“I don’t know if this … officially shows up in the job description but you’re kind of like our problem solver,” said Taylor. “Something comes up and we need someone to ramp up on that quickly and figure it out because there isn’t a playbook for it. You’ve done that multiple times,” Taylor told Garvin.

A Fluke Goal The Difference In Belmont Field Hockey’s Epic Struggle Vs Watertown

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Action in the Belmont/Watertown game

In an early season contest between two of the top-ten high school field hockey teams in Massachusetts, a fluke goal would prove to be the difference as Belmont (2-1-0) fell to perannual state champion Watertown (3-0-0), 2-1, in most competitive match between the neighbors since the 2011 North 2 Division championship which the Raiders won 2-1. The win extended Watertown’s winning streak to 100 games, the second time Watertown under the four decade helm of Head Coach Elieen Donahue has reached consecutive triple digit victories.

“I think things didn’t always fall the right way for us today, but we didn’t stop playing our game,” said Belmont’s Head Coach Jess Smith, after the game held at Victory Field. “We didn’t stop trying the whole time as we had some outstanding performances on the field. And I thought we had more opportunities than Watertown. We just didn’t make it happen.”

And the margin between the teams was the width of a standard Post-it note. Field hockey is one of quirky sports which limits where a team can score. A ball struck from beyond the Circle – a 16-yard D shaped area in front of the net – is not counted. The best tactic a defending team should do with a long-distance attempt is steer well clear of the ball as it goes out-of-bounds or ends up in the back of the net.

And Belmont coaches shouted to sophomore goalie Zoe Bruce to move away from the ball as the clearing shot by Watertown came from well beyond the scoring circle. But the ball did not go out or in the net; rather, it barely clipped the 2-inch wide left goal post and rebounded onto the field of play where Watertown’s Aisling Brennock ran onto the easiest of easy goals late in the first quarter.

“[Bruce] did everything right. She was not her fault. We all thought it was going out,” said Smith. “I have never seen that in 20 years of coaching.”

Watertown doubled its lead in the second quarter in a more conventional manner off a penalty corner as Kaylee Master snuck the ball just inside the left post. Watertown held the upper hand in the first half as the Raiders held Belmont’s all-time points record holder senior co-captain Mackenzie Clarke – who is Donahue’s neice – in check by dedicating players primarily Taylor Foley to stick close to Belmont’s scoring threat.

But Belmont would flip the script of Watertown’s first half dominace from its own penalty corner. Junior co-captain defender Elsie Lakin-Schultz took a strong pass from senior midfield/inserter Gigi Masterangelo and beat Watertown’s first-year goalie Natalia Keuchikarian by her outstreched right pad.

“I really think it’s the same mindset playing defense and scoring,” said Lakin-Schultz of her first goal of the season. “I feel like a lot of people think scoring is the most important part of the game, but locking down on [an opponant] and stopping them on defense and scoring is the same thing.”

The third quarter saw Belmont withstand an early push from Watertown to take over the game’s momentum as the Raiders hunckered down into a defensive stance with three defenders in front of a sweeper to limit passes and runs at Keuchikarian. Despite dominating the sidelines, Belmont shots were mostly from distance with two attempts by Clarke soared over the net and was knocked by Watertown’s net minder.

Watertown worked hard in the final quarter to bottle Belmont in the center of the pitch while launching long balls forcing Belmont to drive the length of the field. It appeared Belmont had scored in the final four minutes when a ball from outside the scoring circle was tipped into the net by senior Caroline French but the officials didn’t see it that way. As time ran out, Belmont earned a coveted penalty corner, packing the scoring circle with 10 players. But Clarke’s shot when high and the Raiders survived the annual encounter.

While a loss is a loss, Smith admired how her team performed against the best team in Massachusetts.

“We played hard. We were in it the whole time,” said Smith. “And I really felt like it could have gone either way. And it makes me more excited for the next games coming up.”

Belmont High Volleyball Takes Powerhouse Melrose To Five Sets In Season Opener

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Belmont High’s Kat Hsu (No. 11) and Sadie Boas (No. 8) at the net vs Melrose

For the past decade, Belmont High School Volleyball has been paired in the season opener against perennial Middlesex League powerhouse Melrose. In the early years of this competition, it was a humbling experience for the Marauders as the Red Hawks would walk through the opposition.

But over the past three years, the competition between the teams has become competitive with Belmont falling 3-2 last season, after defeating the Red Hawks, 3-1, in 2023.

The season opener at Belmont’s Wenner Field House on Wednesday, Sept. 3, had all the feel of a changing of the guard in the opening sets as Belmont’s lineup of first time starters out hustled the visitors to take a two set lead (25-20, 25-20). Belmont’s new head coach Raylynn Kauila had the players performing at a tournament level against a talent-laden opponent.

Belmont High’s new head coach Raylynn Kauila

“The players did play very well defensively,” said Kauila, who coached at Springfield Central previously. “They kept that ball up. They kept it in. They were talking and moving really well and were doing really well with our serving too. We didn’t have too many missed serves.”

But Melrose was holding a very big weapon in its arsenal: senior Sabine Wenzel. At 6’6″ and 175 pounds, the Division 1 commit to East Texas A&M, is THE presence on the court both at the net blocking and especially on the attack. “Melrose were so good at finding [Wenzel on the] right, and they adjusted really well later in the match,” said Kauila.

In the third and fourth sets, Wenzel was the Red Hawks offensive stalwart, winning multiple points on set shots with deadly accuracy. While the Marauders kept both sets close, they could not narrow the margin to within a point, dropping Belmont 25-21 and 25-19.

Melrose High Volleyball senior Sabine Wenzel in action vs. Belmont High

The match came down to Melrose’s better finesse and fitness as Belmont’s earlier performance slipped as the match wore on.

“We got tired, and it definitely showed,” said Kauila. “We were not being able to finish and made some hitting errors. Once we got down in that third set, it was really hard to come back.. We closed it just a little bit. But just not get over the hump,” she said as Belmont fell, 15-11, in the deciding set.

[Belmont would take two of the next three matches – defeating Reading and Watertown while losing to Wayland – to end the first week at 2-2.]

But there was a lot to take from the match: a player that impressed Kauila was junior middle blocker LeeLee Kozelian, who was matched up against Wenzel. “It’s very intimidating to play against someone with that big of a height difference. And she surprised me by really committing to playing there and not being scared. She had some good fight in her and it’s important at that position.” Three times in the match, the junior stuffed Wenzel’s attempted spikes to win the point.

Belmont senior Libero Zulal Merdinian

In the back court, senior Libero Zulal Merdinian was ‘talking, reading the game, adjusting to the defense, and just doing a phenomenal job,” said Kauila.

Despite the loss, Kauila did find encouragement for the rest of the season.

“It’s a nice baseline for game one. So I can’t wait to see their growth over the next couple of games,” she said.

Freshman, Senior Leads Belmont Girls Soccer To 2-0 Win In Season Opener

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Belmont High Girls Soccer senior Danica Zicha (number 10) scored in the season opener vs. Melrose

Belmont High Girls Soccer freshman Mackenzie Tierney has one special thing in common with her teammate, senior Danica Zicha: each scored a goal in their first high school game. The pair of forwards scored with Tierney picking up the assist on Zicha’s goal as the Marauders put in a solid performance against a physical Melrose squad to win 2-0 in the 2025 season opener held at Harris Field.

Couple the victory with an away win on Saturday, Sept. 6 against Westford Academy (the only team to beat the Marauders during last year’s regular season), 2-0, and fourth-year Head Coach Jemmy Cange continues his winning ways coming off last year’s 10-1-7 record.

“This year … we have a lot of new starters,” said Cange after seeing the team graduate double digits of players from last season. “We have a lot of great players here, a lot of great freshmen … and returning players. We should be good this season.

Zicha’s strike came midway in the first half at the end of a classic counter attack. Running strong down the middle of the field, sophomore Catherine Greiner kept possession after a challenge and found Tierney streaking down the right sideline. The first-year passed to Zicha who teed up the ball onto her right foot and directed the ball into the left side of the Melrose net.

The senior’s game-winning strike has been a long-time coming as it came nearly two years after a serious knee injury in Zicha’s sophomore season took her effectively off the pitch for nearly two years.

“It feels great because I’ve been gone for a while,” said Zicha. “[The team] has been working really hard in practice … working on connecting passes and so [scoring again] was great.”

Tierney tallied on the final kick of the game, pouncing on a rebound to secure the victory. While scoring in her Inaugural high school game, the goal was not her first wearing the crimson and white as she scored on a memorable solo breakaway against 13-win Arlington for the high school’s ice hockey team.

Also returning to the team is junior goalie Martha Dimas who suffered her own knee injury in the penultimate game of the season during which she secured 13 clean sheets.

Belmont’s speedy defenders never allowed Melrose the opportunity for a clean shot against Dimas. Junior midfielder Madhavi Ramadas turned in a standout performance with solid defending while connecting with several spot-on passes in transition.

“I’m proud with how everyone played. Danica is back and Martha was solid. Great game,” said Cange.

Belmont High Football Salutes Retiring Police Chief In Season Opener

By Leave a Comment

Photo: James MacIsaac, Belmont Police Chief and Head Coach of the Belmont Junior Marauders

Belmont High School football will honor retiring Belmont Police Chief James MacIsaac before the Middlesex League season opener on Thursday, according to Belmont High School Athletic Director Adam Pritchard.

While mostly known for this more than quarter century career in public safety, the life-long Belmont resident is instrumental in promoting football by establishing the Belmont Junior Marauders football club, recuiting Belmont Middle School students – both boys and girls – to learn and play games against opponants throughout eastern Massachusetts.

The ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 4 at Harris Field. The Belmont High football team will get its season underway at 7 p.m. against Waltham High School.

What’s Open, Close On Labor Day; Trash Pick Up Delayed A Day

By Leave a Comment

Photo: In 1999, the US Postal Service issued a stamp of Rosie the Riveter, the labor icon (credit: USPS)

With Belmont and regional schools set to open their doors this week, Labor Day, held this year on Monday, Sept. 1, ends the last big getaway weekend of the summer.

Trash and recycling collection is delayed ONE DAY due to the holiday: If your pickup day is Monday, this week it will be collected on Tuesday, etc.

The holiday is rooted in the late nineteenth century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being. 

Before it was a federal holiday, Labor Day was recognized by labor activists and individual states. After municipal ordinances were passed in 1885 and 1886, a movement developed to secure state legislation. New York was the first state to introduce a bill, but Oregon was the first to pass a law recognizing Labor Day in 1887. During that year, Massachusetts joined four other states passing laws creating a Labor Day holiday. By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday.

Boston will be holding its first Labor Day Parade in downtown Boston on Monday, Sept. 1 at 9:30 a.m.

Labor Day is one of ten holidays recognized by the federal government, although the feds don’t require employers to pay workers for this holiday. Businesses traditionally provide their employees with a paid holiday as part of a benefits package because most others do the same.

Closed:

Belmont Town offices, Belmont Public Library at both the Beech Street Center and the Benton Library, and Belmont Light are closed.

• US Postal Service offices and regular deliveries.

• Banks; although some branches will be open in some supermarkets.

• MBTA: Operating on a Sunday schedule. See www.mbta.com for details.

What’s Opened:

• Retail stores

• Coffee shops; Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts are open.

• Supermarkets

• Convenience stores and,

• Establishments that sell beer and wine are also allowed to be open.

Belmont Fire Chief DeStefano Earns Merit Bump, Contract Extended To 2028

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Belmont Fire Chief David DeStefano

The Belmont Select Board approved a two percent merit pay increase to Belmont Fire Chief David DeStefano as part of his annual performance review at its Aug. 25 meeting. The board also extended DeStefano’s contract for an additional year to 2028. DeStefano’s salary as of October 2024 is $168,642.79.

I just like to thank the Select Board for their past support,” said DeStefano. “I look forward to working with [the Select Board] continuing in the future, [with] the town administrator and town staff as well.”

DeStefano began his career in 1989 at the North Providence (R.I.) Fire Department, becoming Belmont’s top firefighter in March 2021.

Before the board’s vote, Belmont Human Resources Director Kelli King discussed the results of DeStefano’s performance review, collated from comments by the Board and Patrice Garvin, the town administrator. In what she called a “little executive summary, the overall assessment is that [DeStefano] provides a steady professional leadership during a period of fiscal constraints and staffing challenges.”

“The theme amongst all of your comments is that the chief is a strong leader. He has great financial discipline, great financial aptitude in working within the constraints of the budget. He’s very active in engaging with the community, and he’s working on deepening the relationships internal to the department, and … being open to constructive feedback and willing to make changes, something that’s hard for a lot of other folks to do,” said King.

“He has strengthened the Fire Department through fiscal discipline, long term planning and active community engagement, while opportunities remain to deepen internal relationships and guide the department through the evolving EMS Focus model, his commitment adaptability and integrity have made him a valuable leader for the department and the town,” read the summary.

DeStefano said while the review relates directly to him, “anything that’s accomplished with the Fire Department is a team effort. I’m fortunate as chief in the town to have the dedicated firefighters that we have working hard, training hard, and putting together all the elements to make fire and life safety services happen in the town of Belmont.”